As vast parts of Florida sweltered in oppressive heat over the weekend, South...

CNN Climate 1 year ago

As vast parts of Florida sweltered in oppressive heat over the weekend, South Florida TV meteorologist Steve MacLaughlin criticized the state’s new legislation that deleted most references to climate change from state law, and urged his viewers to vote. “The entire world is looking to Florida to lead in climate change,” NBC 6’s MacLaughlin said during a May 18 segment. “Our government is saying that climate change is no longer the priority it once was.” MacLaughlin’s comments come as South Florida swelters in exceptional heat for the month of May. The extreme temperatures prompted the National Weather Service to issue the first May heat advisory in 15 years on Friday. The month so far has been the warmest May on record for much of South Florida. Just days earlier, Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a controversial bill that deleted many references of climate change from state laws – a measure that MacLaughlin called in his X post, “Don’t Say Climate Change.” It made several changes to the state’s energy policy, in some cases deleting entire sections that discussed the importance of cutting planet-warming pollution. It also gave preferential treatment to fossil fuel and banned offshore wind energy, even though there are no wind farms planned off Florida’s coast. Read more at the link in @cnnclimate’s bio. 📸: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Getty Images

layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 6 hours ago



The construction sector is entering a decisive stage in its push toward sustainable building design, shaped by new policy advocacy, improved regulation, and demonstrable industry commitments. The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products (ASBP) has formally supported the Architects Climate Action Network’s Circular Economy Policy Campaign, a move signalling broader acceptance of circular economy principles as central to environmental sustainability in construction. The focus on reuse, adaptability, and end‑of‑life reuse in construction reflects a maturing understanding that the carbon footprint of construction extends across a building’s entire lifespan. Introducing whole life carbon assessment as part of standard design processes is becoming a practical necessity for both cost management and long‑term resilience.

Equans UK & Ireland’s status as a Building a Safer Future (BSF) Champion highlights how sustainable design and accountability increasingly overlap with safety and social responsibility. The company’s recognition shows that decarbonising the built environment demands organisation‑wide transparency backed by measurable sustainability targets. Integrating lifecycle assessment across the supply chain ensures that embodied carbon in materials and operations is quantified and reduced. This shift towards low carbon design complements broader frameworks such as BREEAM and the forthcoming BREEAM v7 updates, both reinforcing the importance of life cycle thinking in construction.

Regulators are beginning to respond to industry calls for a streamlined approach that maintains ecological rigour while reducing unnecessary bureaucracy. The proposed reforms to environmental permits illustrate that practical compliance can coexist with high environmental performance when founded on evidence‑based life cycle cost analysis. Clear guidance on sustainable material specification and environmental product declarations (EPDs) can support consistent measurement of carbon footprint reduction across projects. This regulatory evolution encourages wider adoption of resource efficiency in construction, particularly as governments commit to net zero carbon and carbon neutral construction targets.

Recent research into circular economy in construction, inspired by modular telecoms infrastructure, demonstrates tangible potential for embodied carbon reduction. Applying circular construction strategies to wider sectors could significantly improve building lifecycle performance and deliver major financial and environmental savings. Modular, renewable building materials and low embodied carbon materials extend the service life of assets and underpin the shift to low‑impact construction models. As net zero whole life carbon frameworks become embedded, reuse and refurbishment will play equal roles alongside green building products and renewable design innovation.

The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions continue to fall, driven in part by energy‑efficient buildings, low carbon construction materials, and a stronger focus on whole life carbon metrics. Challenges remain in housing retrofits, supply chain emissions, and verifiable reporting, but sustainable building practices are advancing rapidly. The convergence of eco‑design for buildings, sustainable architecture, and green infrastructure shows that sustainability is no longer a niche aspiration but a defining measure of quality. Genuine progress depends on integrating evaluation tools, transparent data, and consistent application of sustainable construction principles so that every low carbon building actively contributes to the net zero carbon future the sector now strives to achieve.

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