Thematic Event: Sustainable Construction – Buildings Meet the Circular Economy

We spend most of our time inside and depend on buildings to provide these environments for us. However, we have little to no influence over how the buildings we live in are built. So we have to rely on the companies that construct them to consider sustainable practices and innovations.

Unfortunately, sustainability and circular economy aren’t top priorities in the industry yet, as the following numbers demonstrate.

Construction…

• is the world’s largest consumer of raw materials with more than 3 billion tons or raw material and almost 50% of global steel production
• is the largest contributor of waste responsible for 84% of the waste in Switzerland
• emits more than 30% and 40% of global and EU GHG emissions respectively
• consumes up to 40% of all energy

This shows why transforming the construction industry will be an important building block in achieving sustainability, and implementing circular models will play a big role in this.

Circularity aims at keeping the value of a material or product in the value chain as high as possible, for as long as possible. It keeps finite natural resources in use and minimises waste. In the building industry, the circular economy drives development of new sustainable materials, reuse of existing materials, innovative building designs, tools and systems and more.

During our event, we will discuss ongoing initiatives and innovations that are being developed in Switzerland. Our speakers will elaborate on what needs to be done to accelerate the transition of the building industry to a circular system, away from the linear model that is largely being used today.

The key questions we will discuss include:

• What are the main barriers to the transition towards a circular economy in the building industry and how can we overcome them?
• How can we reduce the volume of new materials required for construction and maximize the reuse of valuable existing material?
• What are inspiring lighthouse projects and initiatives in Switzerland?