21st Century Construction

We know that the linear way we build now – where materials make a one-way trip from the earth to landfill – is dangerously unsustainable.It assumes too many infinites: Infinite raw materials; infinite space for waste; and infinite capacity of the biosphere to absorb the greenhouse gases that the one-way trip produces.But what can we do? This month we explore the possibility of

By now, many people in construction are used to thinking about cutting CO2 emissions.But the industry’s impact on nature – the planet’s and our life-support system – has been largely overlooked.That is until this year when, in February, it became mandatory for developers in England to deliver a “biodiversity net gain”, or BNG, of 10% on sites that are half a hectare or

The Labour Party pledged in its manifesto to build 1.5m new homes over the next Parliament if it got into power. But does the UK have the necessary skills, capacity and infrastructure to achieve this target?

In the latest episode of the 21CC podcast, three leaders of successful megaprojects delve into the nitty gritty of what it takes to lead them.On the panel are:• Jake Mumm, head of Bechtel’s global Public Infrastructure division, whose projects include the Keeyask hydropower project in northern Canada, and the new metro system for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;• Davendra Dabasia, CEO o

Veteran plant journalist Peter Haddock is with us this month to help make sense of the rapidly changing landscape of construction machinery and sustainability. Should we go all in on electrification? Is hydrogen coming on stream anytime soon? What’s the current state of enabling technology? Join Peter and Global Construction Review editor Rod Sweet for a high-energy romp thro

Following World Environment Day 2024, we dig into a complex and difficult question.Construction is the single biggest source of greenhouse gases.It produces vast amounts of waste.The resource extraction needed to feed its demands puts enormous pressure on habitats and biodiversity.Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of buildings stand empty, even as we prepare to build hundreds of tho

Building Saudi’s Red Sea high-end tourist giga-project From bare sand to a collection of 50 separate resorts with its own international airport on Saudi Arabia’s remote west coast, The Red Sea giga-project is a high-end tourism scheme like no other. We speak to Andrew Tyson, head of construction at Red Sea Global, who’s in charge of bringing it all together.

Robotic micro-factories for housebuilding?[00:25] High-tech companies down through the years have often seen construction as a tantalising frontier, ripe for disruption by new ways of putting things together.Now, the Swiss multinational manufacturer ABB has entered the fray, with an idea for building affordable housing using robots at site-based micro-factories.They’ve

Happy Birthday, CIOB! Three young professionals look ahead [01:00]To celebrate the 190th anniversary of the founding of the Chartered Institute of Building, we speak to three young CIOB people from around the world – members of the Tomorrow’s Leaders network – about the one thing they’d like to change about the industry and how the CIOB can help with that.This stimulating e

Crushed by a horse, now crushing prejudice [00:32]Elite Australian athlete Hacia Atherton spent seven months in hospital recovering from a near-fatal accident in 2017.She was told she may never walk again, but she was having none of it.It took many months after leaving hospital, but she fought the pain and self-doubt to get back on her feet.In the process, she hatched a new mission