Low Carbon Materials at UK Construction Week 2023

Recently, we attended the UK’s largest built environment event and engaged with key industry stakeholders from across the sector.

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Taking place at the NEC in Birmingham, UK Construction Week drew in a record crowd of 24,377 visitors across the three-day show. 

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With a growing industry momentum to decarbonise, it was fantastic to see a dedicated Net Zero section which showcased the latest innovations that are helping to make the built environment more sustainable.

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As a ClimateTech company, it was promising to see net zero being given a prominent platform during such a key industry event. 

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Why is Net Zero so important for the construction sector? 

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As we get closer to key net zero deadlines, decarbonisation across all sectors of the economy is becoming increasingly urgent. 

In 2019, the UK government amended the Climate Change Act of 2008, making its 2050 net zero goal legally binding. 

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In 2021,  the European Union also wrote into law its 2050 climate neutrality goal within the European Climate Law - which set a 2030 target for a 55% reduction of net emissions. 

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These broader decarbonisation targets are leading to more stringent proposed regulations within the construction sector. For example: 

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• The Netherlands, France, Sweden, Denmark and Norway have all mandated whole-life carbon calculations for new buildings already, and many have limits on embodied carbon currently in place, or set to come into effect soon. 

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• The Czech Republic, Ireland and Spain are participating in INDICATE projects to generate baseline whole-life carbon-building data that will inform future policy. 

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• The EU Commission has also proposed a legislative update that would require all new public buildings to be zero-emission as of 2027 and all new buildings as of 2030.

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• The ‘Part Z’  initiative has proposed an amendment to UK Building Regulations that would require the assessment of whole-life carbon emissions and the limiting of embodied carbon emissions for all major building projects. 

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• The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) have all produced frameworks and guidance to help industry professionals measure and reduce whole-life carbon emissions.

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It is evident that as the built environment continues to decarbonise via energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy, regulatory attention is being shifted towards decarbonising construction processes.  

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How can LCM help the construction sector reduce its emissions?

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Throughout our time at UK Construction Week, we were engaging with construction industry professionals and detailing how our science-based product innovations can help the sector reach net zero targets. 

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Our flagship product, OSTO®, is a carbon-negative lightweight aggregate that can be incorporated into a variety of concrete applications, such as concrete blockwork, to lower its carbon emissions. 

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Since OSTO® can act as a direct replacement for traditional lightweight aggregates, it can seamlessly be incorporated into the production process of various concrete applications. 

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Click here to purchase the carbon negative aggregate: https://www.specialistaggregates.com/ostosupsup-carbon-negative-aggregate-p-7958.html

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