A breath of fresh air 😮💨
For the past 17 years, @nasa’s Aura satellite has watched our air get cleaner.
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is released into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels, such as coal power plants or gasoline and diesel vehicles. This air pollutant has been linked to health problems including asthma. NASA’s Aura satellite has been measuring NO2 for nearly two decades.
This animation shows the yearly average NO2 from 2005 to 2022. You can see the air get cleaner. The cleaner air is primarily due to environmental rules that have helped reduce air pollution from power plants and cars.
#NASA #EarthData #NitrogenDioxide #AirQuality #Earth #NASAEarth
Video Description: A data visualization of average nitrogen dioxide levels over the United States as measured from space from 2005 to 2022. At the start of the animation, dark purple spots are seen over major cities throughout the country indicating high levels of air pollution. Rural areas are shown in light blue indicating low nitrogen dioxide levels. The dark purple spots fade into orange and then yellow as you move away from large city centers, however most of the Northeast is some shade of yellow-purple. As time moves forward the dark purple spots slowly shrink and fade leaving the majority of the map light blue with only small concentrations of dark purple over New York and Los Angeles.
Sustainable construction is moving from ambition to delivery as policy, procurement and building performance converge around whole life carbon, embodied carbon and life cycle cost.
Record uptake of Boiler Upgrade Scheme vouchers in Britain indicates that heat pumps are entering the mainstream for housing, retrofit and low carbon building specification. Germany’s 2045 phase-out of oil, gas and coal reinforces the direction for net zero carbon buildings across Europe: electrification, energy-efficient buildings and low carbon design are becoming market requirements, not optional sustainability claims.
The industry’s capacity to deliver remains the decisive constraint. Calls for stronger construction training and reskilling underline a core risk for environmental sustainability in construction: policy can drive demand, but competent labour determines whether sustainable building design performs in practice. The post-Building Safety Act regime raises the bar for building control, fire-safety competence and verifiable compliance.
Net zero whole life carbon ambitions depend on robust whole life carbon assessment, lifecycle assessment, sustainable material specification and evidence such as environmental product declarations (EPDs), not on poorly installed systems or untested green building products.
Circular economy in construction is shifting into practical specification. New guidance on reusing doors shows how embodied carbon in materials can be reduced through repeatable procurement, inspection, warranties and end-of-life reuse in construction. The next phase of green construction will rely on circular construction strategies, resource efficiency in construction, low embodied carbon materials and low carbon construction materials as much as new technology. Standards including BREEAM and BREEAM v7 will sharpen expectations for building lifecycle performance, carbon footprint reduction and credible eco-design for buildings. The sector’s credibility now rests on proving that sustainable building practices, eco-friendly construction and carbon neutral construction can withstand the scrutiny of installers, inspectors, clients and quantity surveyors.
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