Found on seabeds from Alaska to Australia, seagrass meadows are one of the most widespread coastal habitats on Earth. While they cover just one thousandth of the ocean floor, these marine plants play an important role in aquatic ecosystems — from providing nursery grounds for marine species, to storing up to 18% of the ocean's carbon.
But this vital underwater habitat is in decline — with a loss of about 7% a year globally — due to factors like coastal development, climate change, overfishing and pollution.
ReefGen, a company that's working to repopulate lost seagrass habitats around the globe, wants to help. Five years ago, ReefGen was formed by Google X cofounder Tom Chi, who witnessed the decline of coral reefs close to his home in Hawaii and turned to engineering and robotics for solutions.
ReefGen first engineered a robot named Cora that plants coral plugs onto reefs to help regenerate them. Cora provided the foundation for Grasshopper – the startup's seagrass planting iteration.
Read more at the link in our bio.
📸: CNN
Innovation in sustainable construction is entering a decisive phase as technologies for decarbonising the built environment mature. New materials, digital workflows and renewable fuel systems are converging to reduce the carbon footprint of construction and align the sector with net zero carbon objectives. Johnson Matthey’s deployment of biomethanol technology in China demonstrates how scalable low carbon building solutions can reshape global supply chains through sustainable building practices and circular economy principles.
Architects and engineers are re-evaluating Whole Life Carbon and Whole Life Carbon Assessment impacts across retrofit and redevelopment projects. London’s Bell’s Yard retrofit and Stratford’s Ash Mews transformation exemplify sustainable building design that integrates life cycle thinking in construction with eco‑design for buildings to limit demolition waste and improve resource efficiency in construction. The shift from new‑build excess to adaptive reuse illustrates low impact construction driven by whole life carbon assessment and lifecycle assessment methodologies.
Artificial intelligence is now embedded in project scheduling, lifecycle optimisation and performance monitoring. Data‑led tools are refining sustainable material specification, supporting carbon footprint reduction and enhancing building lifecycle performance. Digital integration is accelerating environmental sustainability in construction, helping project teams measure Life Cycle Cost and improve the environmental product declarations (EPDs) of green building materials and low carbon construction materials.
The transition remains uneven. Illegal waste practices and fragmented standards continue to hinder circular construction strategies and the evolution of carbon neutral construction. Progress depends on aligning finance, regulation and design around a coherent Circular Economy in construction model. Achieving true sustainability will require net zero whole life carbon frameworks, consistent BREEAM and BREEAM v7 adoption, and deeper commitment to eco‑friendly construction and sustainable architecture. When such measures become mainstream, green construction will define the language of sustainable urban development and transform the environmental impact of construction worldwide.
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