🌊🧊☁️ @NASA climate scientists travel far and wide to study water in...

NASA Climate Change 2 years ago

🌊🧊☁️ @NASA climate scientists travel far and wide to study water in all its forms. Celebrate #EarthDay by sharing a #GlobalSelfie with us – and bonus points if it’s near water! Image descriptions: 1: A woman kneels down in the snow, wearing snowshoes and a bright orange jacket. She is looking down at a scientific instrument in her hands. 2: A man wearing a black leather jacket and brown shirt takes a selfie in front of a light blue glacier. Between the man and the glacier is a small area of patchy grass. A second person in the background is walking toward the glacier. 3: A woman sits on a wooden boat with her legs stretched out toward the camera. She is smiling and wearing a bright orange life vest. In the background is a light blue body of water. A blanket of white clouds cover most of the blue sky. 4: A woman sits on a tan-gray rock to the right of the image. She is wearing a deep purple colored shirt and black pants. One of her legs is tucked up while the other hangs off the side of the rock, and her arms are gently crossed. The woman is at a higher elevation than the background, so the landscape behind her can be seen a far distance. The landscape to the left of the image is a nearly flat ground in dark green, brown, and orange colors, and centered in the image is a lake which is reflecting the color of the sky off of it. Above the horizon, the sky is a bright blue color, but is covered slightly by sparse gray clouds.

layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 11 hours ago



Compressed earth block projects in Kenya’s drylands are signalling a shift towards sustainable construction that balances material performance with environmental sustainability in construction. By replacing kiln‑fired bricks and cement with locally produced low embodied carbon materials, these buildings achieve reduced embodied carbon while enhancing thermal comfort through passive design. The combination of thermal mass and vapour‑open walls supports sustainable building design adapted to warmer climates and delivers measurable gains in lifecycle assessment and life cycle cost efficiency.

As whole life carbon and embodied carbon in materials become central to regulation and procurement, codification and quality assurance will dictate how rapidly such natural materials scale to mainstream use. Compressed earth blocks in Kenya exemplify how local innovation aligns with sustainability targets and social benefits for communities adapting to climate stress.

European policy is steering the supply chain towards a circular economy in construction. Tighter controls on plastic imports are designed to foster a stable market for compliant recycled polymers and strengthen traceability. For manufacturers pursuing higher recycled content, this supports circular construction strategies and improves environmental product declarations (EPDs). For specifiers and project teams, it provides a stronger evidence base for whole life carbon assessment within sustainable building practices and reinforces the commitment to resource efficiency in construction.

The UK’s accelerating offshore wind capacity, now exceeding 16GW, deepens the transition towards net zero carbon buildings and reduces the carbon footprint of construction by decarbonising energy supply. As sites electrify and equipment integrates renewable sources, the alignment between energy‑efficient buildings and carbon neutral construction grows closer. This shift enables data‑driven evaluation of whole life carbon performance and encourages contracting models that value carbon intensity alongside cost, advancing low carbon design and net zero objectives across the sector.

In alpine zones and high‑risk regions, the integration of climate‑informed planning, geotechnical monitoring and enforceable safety zones underscores the need to view climate adaptation as a core aspect of sustainable architecture. Infrastructure such as Spain’s high‑speed rail demonstrates how green construction combined with whole life carbon accounting can deliver deep emissions cuts while improving resilience. The global construction industry must merge such systemic decarbonisation with eco‑design for buildings, green building materials and sustainable material specification, ensuring that every project contributes to long‑term building lifecycle performance and to decarbonising the built environment.

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