Sustainability happens to be a top priority when it comes to the E&C firms. The fact is that it goes on to sync with the business strategies as well as the company mission.
Sustainability goes on to be a business requirement for the construction sector. E&C companies happen to face a multidimensional issue when it comes to this front as they embrace evolving market trends as well as environmental regulations and go on to meet customer demands in terms of greener buildings, and at the same time also ensuring to save construction costs from rising too rapidly.
As per the IEA, buildings comprise 30% of worldwide energy consumption and 26% of worldwide energy-related emissions. 1 With the rising adoption of efficient building materials as well as sustainable construction practices, the sector is anticipated to be better positioned so as to accelerate changes and also align with the IEA’s Net Zero Emissions by 2050 scenario, which wants all new buildings and 20% of existing structures to go on to become zero-carbon-ready by the end of this decade. 2
As per the US Green Building Council’s 2023 report, sustainability happens to be a top priority for most examined E&C firms, as it goes on to sync with their organizational mission along with their business strategies. 3 Strategies like decreasing the embodied carbon of major construction materials, passive design principles, as well as the use of energy-efficient equipment can speed up decarbonization by decreasing the overall carbon dioxide emissions that are associated with both the construction as well as operation of a building. 4
The US government is also looking to prioritize sustainable construction by way of Federal Buy Clean Initiative. For example, the initiative has led to the specification of over US$2 billion when it comes to the procurement of lower-carbon construction materials such as asphalt, concrete, as well as steel for federal procurement and their usage across federally funded projects. It also resulted in the allotment of US$100 million so as to support state, local government, as well as public utility purchases of building products that happen to be derived from converted carbon emissions. 5
Notably, the IRA incentivizes businesses when it comes to energy-efficient improvements like insulation, lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems by way of funding over US$1.7 billion over additional tax credits. 6 Efficiency, which means delivering structures that reduce resource usage while optimizing operational performance, is most likely to be the key when it comes to sustainable construction. The upfront costs that happen to be associated when it comes to sustainable construction can be offset by decreased long-term life cycle costs. Reductions such as these in costs may be derived from the use of high-performance facades as well as energy-efficient systems. 7
Moreover, firms can also go on to experiment with numerous passive design techniques so as to bolster building efficiencies and also lessen energy demand. These techniques may have in them orienting structures—buildings—so as to avoid or even capture solar heat, designing green roofs to lessen heat absorption as well as provide insulation, incorporating energy-efficient fixtures along with daylight-responsive lighting controls in order to reduce energy consumption, in addition to designing building envelopes in terms of effective insulation as well as moisture control to balance the indoor temperatures. 8 Delivering sustainable structures when in a very cost-effective manner is a major thing for E&C firms when it comes to differentiating themselves in the market and also satisfying customer priorities. E&C companies are most likely to continue discovering innovative and technology-led strategies so as to balance sustainability as well as efficiency in 2024.
Apart from balancing sustainability along with efficiency, the rising occurrences of critical weather events like hurricanes, floods, as well as wildfires have raised the emphasis on resilient design. As underscored by the US Green Building Council, building owners as well as customers are stressing greater interest when it comes to green building approaches that go on to address a range of resilience demands.9 With these new demands when it comes to both sustainability and resilience, the sector is all set to take advantage of the rise in the development of advanced as well as emerging materials like self-healing or high-performance eco-friendly concrete, graphene, electrical steel, as well as carbon fiber composites. Such new purpose-driven materials happen to be engineered to go beyond the capabilities of naturally occurring materials and also offer benefits like durability, flexibility, stability, circularity, and also efficacy.10
Sustainable materials like treated wood, low-carbon bricks, along with silica fumes11 may also see a rise as E&C firms work to lessen the carbon footprint when it comes to new buildings.
Regardless of the methodologies for getting sustainability, E&C companies are anticipated to begin prioritizing sustainable design tactics and also structural performance across the conceptual phase. Such early planning can go on to result in a substantial decrease when it comes to carbon emissions.12 E&C companies can also have in them circular economy principles early in the design as well as construction processes. Based on these principles, companies may go on to engage in the reusage of materials, designing structures when it comes to disassembly, and also reducing waste so as to address environmental concerns and even offer support to the business progress.
Making use of technologies and techniques like optioneering powered by generative design, simulations, along with building information modelling- BIM can enable companies to model a building’s performance and its carbon footprint and also forecast both cost and schedule before construction, hence enabling seamless project delivery. These techs can also elevate efficiency, raise delivery confidence, and also hone resource allotment, thereby ultimately lowering project expenses as well as risks. Moreover, BIM, IoT sensors, energy optimization techniques, and data analytics can go on to contribute in terms of reducing emissions.
REFERENCES
1. International Energy Agency, “Buildings, – https://www.iea.org/energy-system/buildings” accessed October 6, 2023.
View in Article – https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/engineering-and-construction/engineering-and-construction-industry-outlook.html#endnote-sup-5
2. Ibid.
View in Article – https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/engineering-and-construction/engineering-and-construction-industry-outlook.html#endnote-sup-6
3. S. Green Building Council, Green building trends and sentiments – https://www.usgbc.org/sites/default/files/2023-06/2023-USGBC_Green-Building-Trends.pdf, June 2023.
View in Article – https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/engineering-and-construction/engineering-and-construction-industry-outlook.html#endnote-sup-7
4. Larry Strain, “10 steps to reducing embodied carbon, – https://www.aia.org/articles/70446-ten-steps-to-reducing-embodied-carbon” The American Institute of Architects, accessed October 6. 2023.
View in Article – https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/engineering-and-construction/engineering-and-construction-industry-outlook.html#endnote-sup-8
5. Office of the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer, “Federal buy clean initiative, – https://www.sustainability.gov/buyclean/” accessed October 6, 2023.
View in Article – https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/engineering-and-construction/engineering-and-construction-industry-outlook.html#endnote-sup-9
6. The White House, Building a clean energy economy: A guidebook to the Inflation Reduction Act’s investments in clean energy and climate action – https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Inflation-Reduction-Act-Guidebook.pdf, January 2023.
View in Article – https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/engineering-and-construction/engineering-and-construction-industry-outlook.html#endnote-sup-10
7. Michelle Meisels, Faisal Yousuf, and Aijaz Hussain, “Sustainable buildings: Designing, building, and operating to help create a greener future, – https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/energy-and-resources/articles/delivering-sustainable-construction.html” Deloitte, 2023.
View in Article – https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/engineering-and-construction/engineering-and-construction-industry-outlook.html#endnote-sup-11
8. Ibid.
View in Article – https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/engineering-and-construction/engineering-and-construction-industry-outlook.html#endnote-sup-12
9. S. Green Building Council, Green building trends and sentiments – https://www.usgbc.org/sites/default/files/2023-06/2023-USGBC_Green-Building-Trends.pdf.
View in Article – https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/engineering-and-construction/engineering-and-construction-industry-outlook.html#endnote-sup-13
10. David Yankovitz, Robert Kumpf, Kate Hardin, and Ashlee Christian, The future of materials – https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/oil-and-gas/the-future-of-materials.html, Deloitte Insights, June 2, 2023.
View in Article – https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/engineering-and-construction/engineering-and-construction-industry-outlook.html#endnote-sup-14
11. StartUs Insights, “Explore the 10 leading circular economy examples in 2024, – https://www.startus-insights.com/innovators-guide/tag/construction/” accessed October 6, 2023.
View in Article – https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/engineering-and-construction/engineering-and-construction-industry-outlook.html#endnote-sup-15
12. Natalie Terrill, “How the integrated process can make decarbonization easier, – https://www.usgbc.org/articles/how-integrated-process-can-make-decarbonization-easier” U.S. Green Building Council, February 24, 2023.
View in Article – https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/engineering-and-construction/engineering-and-construction-industry-outlook.html#endnote-sup-16
