Willmott Dixon has secured a contract to construct a Passivhaus-certified primary school in Glyncoch, Wales. Designed for energy efficiency and thermal comfort, the new school supports the decarbonising of public infrastructure through sustainable construction aligned with Passivhaus standards. This project fits within a broader strategy prioritising sustainable building design and low embodied carbon materials in education environments, reducing the carbon footprint of construction across the public sector.
In Edinburgh, Cruden has received planning approval to transform a former church site into affordable housing that meets modern environmental sustainability in construction criteria. The project plans feature energy-efficient buildings with upgraded insulation and climate-aware layouts. By blending social impact with green infrastructure ambitions, this development reflects the growing need for sustainable urban development and life cycle thinking in construction.
DP World is substantially expanding its carbon insetting effort at UK ports, targeting emissions in the maritime sector’s final docking stages. Electrified operations and alternative fuels are enhancing sustainability performance, supporting the circular economy in construction-linked logistics. Reducing operational emissions enhances the whole life carbon profile of imported construction materials and intermodal transport.
Emerging research in the US has revealed that most critical metals for decarbonisation—such as lithium and cobalt—could be extracted from current mining activities using improved recovery processes. Unlocking these overlooked streams may significantly affect low carbon construction materials supply chains over time, contributing to reduced embodied carbon in materials and promoting resource efficiency in construction within the circular economy.
Developments in food waste recovery in Hong Kong, while not strictly construction-related, highlight viable circular economy models that could eventually support sustainable building practices such as bio-based insulation. Innovations such as these open up new possibilities for eco-design for buildings and show potential for future integration into low carbon building components through renewable or repurposed inputs.
A European study has underscored the carbon intensity disparity between short-haul flights and rail travel, drawing attention to how transportation choices influence the embodied carbon and whole life carbon assessment of global construction projects. These transport-related emissions increasingly factor into lifecycle assessment tools and have a growing impact on achieving net zero whole life carbon across building portfolios.
