Are there teams? Low carbon materials? Invests in start-ups addressing the issue of embodied carbon in the built environment.
There is no shortage of companies touting the climate benefits of intelligent operational control systems that can fine-tune the energy efficiency of the built environment. Ten years ago, many of my first articles for GreenBiz were on this topic. (Eep.) The argument is compelling, and you’ve no doubt heard it many, many times: the structures in which we work, play, shop, eat, heal, love and sleep account for about 40% of global emissions. . (Not small.)
Historically, less attention has been paid to the early stages of a building’s life cycle, especially the construction phase. But over the past year, a growing number of investors, start-ups and real estate firms have begun to develop plans to reduce embodied carbon — emissions from building materials and construction technologies. In fact, London-based venture capital firm A/O PropTech reports that funding for companies involved in green building design, materials sourcing and low-carbon building methods has reached $2.2 billion this year, an all-time high.
Gregory Dewerpe said: “We are in the early stages of this transition, but the tailwind is getting stronger… The world is slowly but surely realizing that we cannot solve the climate crisis unless we fix the world we live in.” I built.” Founder of A/O PropTech and Chief Investment Officer. Embodied carbon could account for half of total built-world emissions by 2035, roughly double the current impact estimate, according to McKinsey’s analysis, according to the firm’s research.
The McKinsey report outlines some of the building technologies and alternative materials that could have the biggest impact in reducing carbon emissions or as a form of bonding. Anyone in the industry knows that addressing concrete-related emissions is one source of huge potential impact: about 8% of the world’s emissions are related to cement, which is used to bind these materials. Steel (not recycled) is also a big culprit (about 8% more). As a result, there is growing interest in low-carbon versions of these materials, as well as alternatives such as the use of solid wood in increasingly tall buildings.
For example, Walmart’s new 2.4 million-square-foot Arkansas headquarters will be the largest wooden building of its kind in the US (sourced from Structurlam, the Canadian company building the Arkansas plant). According to A/O PropTech research shows that a number of European projects also use large amounts of wood (where permitted by regulations), including HAUT, a 21-storey wood-concrete hybrid residential building in Amsterdam, and the Wooden City project in Helsinki, which includes office space. buildings and hotels. (This is a column-worthy topic, so let’s stick it out for now.)
Not just wood as an alternative: According to A/O PropTech, interest in bio-alternatives such as bamboo, straw and hemp has increased, as well as increased funding for business models that encourage the use of more recycled building materials.
New York-based venture capital firm Fifth Wall provides funding and advice to more than 100 of the world’s largest real estate and project management companies, and interest is growing as low-carbon materials move to industrial scale. Greg Smithies, a Fifth Wall partner who leads investments in climate technology, said the big challenge for venture capital in the area is the current regulatory and licensing system, which is delaying the introduction of new materials. “We strongly discourage materials that do not require certification or retraining,” he told me.
One of Fifth Wall’s 2022 investments is Brimstone, which has created a CO2-free way to produce Portland cement – by making lime from calcium silicate rather than limestone. It is part of a $55 million Series A round in April that also included Breakthrough Energy, Amazon and DCVC. “It’s the same thing, they just make it differently,” Smith said.
Fifth Wall and A/O PropTech also noted increased interest in companies specializing in prefabricated and modular building technologies. Two companies in particular are Veev, which raised $400 million in Series D in March, and Assembly OSM, which raised $38 million in Series A this summer. for assembly. Construction productivity in developed countries has lagged markedly in recent years, and companies promise to reverse this trend. “The idea is that someone can assemble it with a wrench,” Smithies said. “By using prefabricated structures and modularity, you will have a lot less waste.”
Ryan Poole, global head of sustainability at DPR Construction, a construction and engineering firm based in Redwood City, Calif., said these trends are showing up in projects across the US, where interest in prefabricated homes is “exploding.”
In addition to reducing waste, this method promises to make building retrofits easier, a priority for the DPR design team. “The most sustainable buildings are those that already exist,” he said. “We thought about how we can give the object a second chance.” This could mean turning an old factory into a data center, to name just one recent project. Pool notes that this approach requires more collaboration during the planning phase to ensure that the right materials are obtained.
Companies engaged by DPR to address embodied carbon include CarbonCure, which injects carbon into concrete during curing to facilitate sequestration and offset emissions; Prometheus Materials, which produces concrete using biocomposites; and Vitro Minerals, which offers a range of recycled glass. powder for concrete, water filtration, glass production and other applications.
One area that needs more attention in the coming months is how to accurately calculate the environmental impact of these new processes and new materials so that property owners and tenants can convert them into progress reports, Poole says. “Carbon accounting is the wild west.”
First, one of the best places to look at this data is the Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator, a free and open source resource backed by reputable architecture, construction, engineering and technology companies. Another Ecomedes, mentioned by Pool, has data on more than 750,000 building products, including ratings associated with more than 35 eco-label certificates. The company’s seed investors are one of Microsoft’s venture capital funds, as well as building materials company Saint-Gobain. Another tool he’s eyeing is the Tangible Materials database, a secretive startup that’s less than a year old.
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