The built environment contributes significantly to energy and resource consumption, accounting for 50% of all extracted materials, 30% of water usage, 40% of energy consumption, and 36% of CO2 emissions during use. Additionally, the embodied carbon in the built environment is estimated to be 10-12% of total carbon emissions in certain member states.
To decrease embodied emissions and improve the sustainability of the built environment, research and innovation must address the following challenges:
- Lack of reliable data
- Shortage of qualified professionals to implement solutions
- Incompatible business models and contracts for sustainable construction along life cycle
- Improve the consideration of the needs and preferences of stakeholders, particularly from building inhabitants and owners
- Inflexible and inadequate legal framework, including public procurement rules, and the time to adopt the innovation by policies and regulation
- Need for a shift towards a circular economy and innovation in "repair," "reuse," and "renovate" rather than new product manufacturing.
The Built Environment Decarbonisation (BED) Committee of ECTP (new name of the Energy Efficient Building Committee) aims to develop a strategic vision and research agenda to decrease the carbon footprint of the construction sector, and achieve a decarbonised built environment. The committee's activities will focus on four macro-objectives:
- near zero and positive built environment,
- renewable and clean energy,
- circularity and resource efficiency,
- regenerative and nature-based built environment.
ECTP Built Environment Decarbonisation (BED) Committee Chair: Javier Bonilla (ACCIONA)
ECTP BED Committee Executive Board Members
- ACCIONA (Javier Bonilla, Chair)
- VTT (Isabel Pinto-Seppä, Coordinator)
- ARUP (Jan Wurm)
- BOUYGUES CONSTRUCTION (Christian de Nacquard, Paul Cartuyvels)
- CEMOSA (Noemi Jimenez Redondo)
- HEIDELBERGCEMENT (Christian Artelt)
- MOSTOSTAL (Juliusz Zach)
- NOBATEK/INEF 4 (Germain Adell)
- PTPC (Rita Moura)
- RINA Consulting (Donato Zangani)
- RMIT EUROPE (Marta Fernandez)
- STAM (Stefano Carosio)
- STRESS (Carmine Pascale)
- TECNALIA (Juan Perez)
- TNO (Olaf Adan)
- UNIVERSITAT STUTTGART (Jürgen Frick)
- UPONOR (Ilari Aho)