Sustainability Series: Week 4: Sustainability - beyond carbon​

The refreshed UK Concrete Industry Sustainable Construction Strategy Framework has four key areas of focus and goes beyond carbon. The Concrete Centre’s 2024 Sustainability Series has already shared latest updates and information on Carbon and Circular Economy. This fourth and final week of the Sustainability Series focuses on the remaining two areas within the framework; Natural Environment and Social Value. 

Reduction of carbon emissions must go hand-in-hand with strategies that also reduce inequality, promote responsible sourcing, spur economic growth and improve health, wellbeing and biodiversity.

Week 4 brings together the latest guidance and showcases projects which have holistically achieved positive social outcomes and nature-enhancing  work within the concrete supply chain and the built environment.

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Webinar: Sustainability - beyond carbon​

This event included presentations on:

• The Concrete Industry’s Social Outcomes Framework - Liam Forde, Construction Manager, The British Ready-Mixed Concrete Association.
• The Salvation Army HQ London - a building that has achieved positive social outcomes through its design and use of concrete - Jonathan Pinfield, Associate Architect, Tate Hindle
• How the concrete supply chain is achieving biodiversity net gain and environmental resilience -  Marian Garfield, Sustainability Director, Heidelberg Materials

Catch up on-demand: The event was recorded and is available as an on-demand resource. The webinar is available here.

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Spotlight on: Concrete’s role in supporting biodiversity and nature 

The UK concrete sector, as part of the wider mineral products industry, recognises the importance of the impacts on nature during the manufacture of materials. As a responsible landowner, the industry works closely with bodies including Natural England, the Wildlife Trusts and the RSPB to enhance biodiversity. Around 93% of UK concrete is produced in the UK and mineral quarries continue to build upon an established legacy of supporting nature.  

In addition, concrete can play an essential role in the integration of green spaces in the built environment.

• The Supporting biodiversity and nature using concrete webinar explains the concept of embodied biodiversity and the credentials of the UK’s locally and responsibly sourced concrete. It also demonstrates some of the ways in which concrete supports regenerative design through greater integration of nature in the built environment and innovative concrete eco-engineered for the creation of habitat for biodiversity.
• The Concrete Centre’s updated Biodiversity Compass collates useful information on concrete’s role in supporting biodiversity

Spotlight on: Health and Wellbeing

Material selection of the building fabric is only one part of the many considerations necessary in the design of buildings to support the health and wellbeing of its occupants. There are, nevertheless some important areas of positive contribution that the use of concrete can provide. 

• The Healthy, resilient homes and buildings webinar explains the concepts of health and wellbeing, the design strategies that can be adopted using concrete to achieve good health and wellbeing in buildings and communities, and covers topics including provision of good indoor air quality, thermal comfort, flood resilience and biophilic design.

Spotlight on: Climate Change Resilience

The inherent resilience of concrete and masonry to the impacts of floods, heatwaves and wild fire hazards provides opportunity to embed effective and passive climate change resilience within our built environment through simple design choices.

• The Concrete Centre’s new climate change resilience compass has been developed to navigate our evolving resources and design guidance to help designers and other construction professionals make informed decisions for climate-ready development.

Spotlight on: Concrete flood defences

Concrete plays a crucial role in protecting homes, businesses and communities from flooding, providing reliable, low maintenance and durable marine and river flood defences. But the nature of these flood defences is evolving.

• The Environment Agency has recently been exploring and using lower carbon concrete mixes in its projects. This video shares information on the Environment Agency’s recent use of lower carbon concrete in its projects.
• This year, The Concrete Centre’s design competition for UK students of architecture and the built environment invites submissions for a re-imagined and inhabited tidal flood defences. To find out more about the competition, which is free to enter and has a prize fund of £3000, refer here.
• Concrete coastal and river defences are being designed and made, in collaboration with local communities and ecology experts, to incorporate texture to encourage growth of underwater flora and fauna, and to recreate rockpool habitat otherwise lost as sea levels rise. Find out more from this recorded livestream ‘Shaping better places – creating habitat for biodiversity using concrete’ from the Artecology workshop on the Isle of Wight. Also available is this webinar  ‘Embracing ecological principles in infrastructure design’ presented by the marine ecologists and concrete manufacturer collaborating on the project for the development of eco-marine concrete mix designs in Wales.