Deep within the Arctic Circle, pocketed between giant glaciers and beneath...

CNN Climate 1 year ago

Deep within the Arctic Circle, pocketed between giant glaciers and beneath polar ice floes, Swedish photographer and content creator Cecilia Blomdahl found extraordinary warmth. The Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, lying roughly midway between Norway’s northern coast and the North Pole, is the site of the world’s northernmost permanent settlements. Blomdahl, who lives in Svalbard’s largest city of Longyearbyen, is one of about 2,500 residents in the region. Here, colorful cabins contrast colossal ice cap backdrops and vibrant celestial phenomena light the sky. “When you live here, you really get immersed in it; the quiet and peaceful nature,” Blomdahl told CNN, “And every day being so close to the nature; it’s infatuating.” Svalbard's largest city, Longyearbyen is warming six times faster than the global average, studies suggest, and thawing permafrost and rising sea levels threaten the local economy and infrastructure. Studies within other Arctic communities show a correlation between climate change and higher levels of mental stress. In Svalbard, people report a high level of satisfaction with their lives despite environmental challenges, but the complications of climate issues like permafrost thaw can leave some feeling disempowered. Tap the link in @cnnstyle’s bio for more. 📸: @sejsejlija

layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 9 hours ago



Homes England’s backing of a multi-million-pound Richborough debt facility shows that sustainable construction is entering a more exacting phase in which finance, planning and build-out matter as much as innovation. Public support is becoming central to decarbonising the built environment because sustainable building design, sustainable design and eco-design for buildings cannot scale without patient capital and a dependable pipeline. Schemes that advance will need credible whole life carbon assessment, lifecycle assessment and life cycle cost evidence, with far closer scrutiny of whole life carbon, embodied carbon, embodied carbon in materials and the carbon footprint of construction to support net zero carbon buildings and net zero whole life carbon targets.

SDCL Efficiency’s planned wind-down is a sharp warning that low carbon building and energy-efficient buildings are not automatically a bankable proposition, even where environmental sustainability in construction is compelling. The Considerate Constructors’ Scheme’s revised checklist and scoring model in the UK and Ireland raises the bar for measurable responsible construction, strengthening demand for BREEAM, BREEAM v7 and stronger building lifecycle performance. Developers and contractors that can prove circular economy and circular economy in construction principles, life cycle thinking in construction, resource efficiency in construction, sustainable material specification, environmental product declarations (EPDs), low embodied carbon materials and end-of-life reuse in construction will be better placed to deliver green construction, eco-friendly construction and sustainable building practices with commercial durability.

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