This guidance is primarily aimed at public procurers involved in a range of contracting agreements related to building materials and products. This includes the purchase of building materials for construction works, but may also extend to material extraction, manufacturing, building, retrofit, refurbishment, design, interior fit out, and end-of-life demolition or deconstruction processes. 

This report highlights the urgent need to develop new models for cooperation on the decarbonisation of building materials, if the world is to reach its goals for net zero emissions from the built environment sector by the mid-century.

Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) is by volume the largest waste stream in the European Union. Although a vast majority of CDW is recyclable and reusable, one of the common barriers to recycling and reuse of CDW is the lack of confidence in the quality of recovered materials and components.

This book intends to clarify the concept of Sustainable Buildings and Construction (SBC) in Africa. It is based on primarily African research and building projects implemented in different parts of the region. The publication is meant to be read by real estate developers, building industry professionals, researchers, planners and policy makers, and users of buildings.

Until recently, little attention has been paid to the carbon impacts of the construction and refurbishing of buildings, with the majority of focus on their operational performance. Yet our buildings are constructed using materials, components, and products. These materials have to be extracted from the ground or grown, transported to a facility for processing, transported again to be transformed into a product, and finally transported to a construction site.

Aluminium - Analysis and key findings. A report by the International Energy Agency.

Developed in conjunction with JLL and the Forum’s Real Estate CEO community, the Green Building Principles: The Action Plan for Net Zero Carbon provides a clear sequence of steps to deliver net-zero carbon buildings and along with globally applicable guidance on implementation.

With approximately 70% of the UK’s non-residential building stock constructed before the year 2000, if energy and carbon targets are to be achieved, and the UK’s 2050 net zero targets realised, significant energy efficiency and embodied carbon reductions are needed. As a result, much of the sector will have to undergo some form of retrofit by 2050.

Since 2002, the United States Federal Government has outlined its intent to advance sustainable building principles and practices throughout its portfolio established through a number of statutory and executive policies that every Federal agency has integrated and utilized. 

The increased attention paid to resource efficiency, sustainable use of natural resources and sustainable buildings has raised awareness of the potential of the building sector to contribute to Europe’s goals in these areas.

The Resource Efficiency Roadmap identifies the building sector as one of the sectors that is key to addressing the challenges of energy, climate change and resource efficiency. The Roadmap recognises that increased waste recycling, among other measures, will contribute to a competitive construction sector.