BLUEPRINTS TO DISASTER
The Unseen Impact of Construction on Our Climate.
We will take you on a journey alongside the emissions resulting from how we currently build our cities to how this irreversibly changes our natural environment.
The Built Environment (tBE) is an initiative driven by VAES.AI
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Sources of Information
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Building our homes contributes to CO2 emissions.
Building a 150 m2 apartment yields about
75 tons of CO2
(Lee, 2012)
(Moseman, 2022)
Embodied Carbon
/ɪmˈbɒd.id ˈkɑːbən/ (noun)
Embodied carbon is the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted during the entire life-cycle of a building, including construction materials and products, spanning extraction, manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal (Cao, 2017). It refers to the way a building is constructed rather than how it is used (Habash, 2022).
We are the root cause.
Human-induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are the main cause of climate change. (UNU EHS). GHG emissions contribute about 85% of the annual increase of total global warming (Polunin, N. 2009).
These emissions trap heat within Earth’s atmosphere, leading to global warming followed by climate change, and ultimately climate disasters.
TEMPERATURE INCREASE
Greenhouse gas emissions are the main reason for global temperatures rising. Up untill 2022, global temperatures increased by 0.91°C (NOAA, 2023).
0.9°C
WARMING UP TO CHAOS
Temperature increase fuels climate disasters
In the year 2022 alone, more than 600 climate disasters occurred causing more than 74,000 deaths (EM-DAT).
48
extreme temperature occurrences
61,782 deaths
285
floods
8,038 deaths
183
storms
1,582 deaths
36
avalanche & landslides
403 deaths
27
wildfires
76 deaths
What happens if we continue this way?
TEMPERATURE INCREASE
Along the current trajectory of emissions, global temperatures are projected to increase by 2°C (NIC, 2021). The world will face multiple, unavoidable climate disasters.
2°C
By 2050 the building sector is projected to contribute an estimated 40 billion tons/year.
The increase in global floor area and population drives a heightened need for the use of construction materials (The Use Less Group, 2018; UNEP, 2016; Global ABC, 2019).
SHIFTING DYNAMICS
The Surge of Embodied Carbon in Construction
Demand fuels increased concrete and steel production, with embodied carbon poised to surpass operational carbon by 2050.
In 2022, 35,000,000,000 tons tons of steel and concrete were produced—enough to fill almost 2 swimming pools the size of Dubai, each with a depth of 2 meters.
By 2050, annual steel and concrete production is projected to reach ~43,000,000,000 tons.
Built Environment
/bɪlt ɛnˈvʌɪrə(n)m(ə)nt/ (research platform)
The Built Environment (tBE) is a research platform exploring the impact of the Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry on our expanding cities.
Our research spans across each phase of AEC ecosystem, focusing on efficiency potential to reduce carbon emissions and our impact on the natural environment.
Our research spans across each phase of AEC ecosystem, focusing on efficiency potential to reduce carbon emissions and our impact on the natural environment.
CALCULATE: OUR INITIATIVE
Climate-Tech Engineering
A climate technology platform that optimizes your structures using deep civil engineering, optimization algorithms, and machine learning. The software generates millions of iterations using deep optimization algorithms to find the most optimal alternative design in a fraction of the time.
More Solutions
The Built Environment helps highlight innovation solutions to build more efficiently within each space.
More Solutions
The Built Environment helps highlight innovation solutions to build more efficiently within each space.
PROACTIVE PERSPECTIVES
Explore insightful think pieces.
coming soon
Sinking Deltas.
Cities are sinking due to carbon being released, heat being absorbed, and seas expanding—we are behind it all.