National infrastructure projects, can they be done better?

We often hear about buildings that are rated as energy-efficient but in seeing how much pollution the concrete and cement industries create, I started thinking about the actual building process. Are there ways of building that are more environmentally friendly? Yes, I know there are many alternative materials but nothing that I have found seems to be a real replacement of cement. And what about running a building site, what are the energy resources?

This thought was initially triggered by a conversation I had with my father about the UK’s HS2 project. We started talking about concrete and then he mentioned that this project would require a mass amount of it and of course sand. (There is a misconception that sand is abundant, but it is not.) So then I thought, why are we not putting more focus on talking about how to build with less environmental impact.

The recent UK court ruling about the third runway for Heathrow is an example in that direction. If a project, so large, is not going to support an environmental goal, then it does not serve. And I wonder, will this influence governments and companies to start thinking more about these projects in light of their environmental declarations, responsibilities and commitments?

Considering the huge investments in property development and infrastructure and this sector’s contribution to climate pollution, perhaps we need to have the same attitude to construction as we have to fossil fuels? And what I mean by this is, let’s put more research and development into finding alternatives for all the industries that create huge portions of environmental pollution. Let’s put more into understanding the bigger picture and the small details.

Governments will now have to coordinate (this really should be a given, but it’s not) their national plans across all their national and international commitments. This is the current status quo for many policies and legislation in other areas but climate seems to have slipped through the cracks. But court cases as the one regarding Heathrow can help bring climate into the project development and management system so that governments and companies who have also signed similar global declarations adhere to their commitments, no longer with only words but actually action.