In its initial configuration a building might function as an office block, but components could be taken out and the building changed into a residential building or school.
Ultimately, this type of data would then feed back into the design process itself, creating an open-ended process of continual improvement, and contributing to the next generation of components.. Our sustainable future.Of course, the most pressing, current question is: how do we make a planet which sustainably supports 11.5 billion people?
Population growth coupled with the required infrastructure will generate massive amounts of carbon.We must find ways to deliver what we need using much less.Optimisation of materials, better control of logistics, automation in construction, fewer people on site – all of these factors will help to create an overall lower carbon version of the built environment.
We’re already working hard with concrete manufacturers to find the lowest carbon form of concrete we can possibly use.We’re talking to steel manufacturers about the types of steel which will be made by electric arc furnaces powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
We’re evaluating whether it’s viable to grow enough forests to build buildings using timber.
All of these issues must be addressed now.. Modern construction for the next generation.In the built environment, we didn’t have time to wonder how two-metre social distancing might work, we just had to get on and do it.
COVID-19 forced our hand.We also had a tantalising glimpse of what car-free cities look like and, better yet, sound and smell like (even if things went back to how they were pretty quickly).. We know it can be done.
We’ve seen that in some circumstances we can deliver change, really quickly.The question now is, what are we going to do next?.