The construction industry is among the biggest contributors to global heating, and one of the toughest sectors to decarbonize.
Constructing buildings and manufacturing and transporting materials accounts for about 11% of all global carbon emissions, according to the World Green Building Council. Now, Abu Dhabi-based company Desert Board says it has found a way to reduce those emissions by using waste from date palm trees.
The United Arab Emirates has an estimated 40 million date palms, and is the world’s fifth-biggest producer of dates. But when date palm fronds are cut down they become a problem, according to Kamal Farah, director of Desert Board.
Desert Board uses the palm tree waste left over from pruning to create a construction material named Palm Strand Board, which can replace plywood in furniture, flooring, walls, doors and shelves.
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📸: CNN
Recent developments in sustainable construction indicate measurable progress in reducing embodied carbon and addressing the full spectrum of whole life carbon. Research breakthroughs in passive fire protection for cross-laminated timber position renewable building materials as credible alternatives to concrete and steel, broadening the potential for low carbon design in mid-rise developments. The evolution of sustainable building design now extends to evaluating embodied carbon in materials through scientific whole life carbon assessment and lifecycle assessment methodologies that align with circular economy principles.
In the waste infrastructure sector, Enfinium’s plan to retrofit carbon capture at its Parc Adfer energy-from-waste site reflects the growing need to quantify the carbon footprint of construction-related operations. Carbon management practices are tightening across supply chains, driving a new phase of accountability in environmental sustainability in construction. Such progress underscores the economic case for life cycle cost evaluation when selecting low carbon construction materials and designing net zero carbon buildings that support national decarbonising the built environment targets.
Infrastructure trials in Norfolk demonstrate that green construction can deliver real carbon footprint reduction through recycled aggregates and low carbon plant use. These results reinforce the importance of circular construction strategies and resource efficiency in construction when applying eco-design for buildings. Financial mechanisms such as Unity Trust Bank’s £100 million green tariff fund offer crucial leverage for sustainable building practices and retrofitting programmes that move from prototypes to fully operational low carbon buildings.
Global policy uncertainty around forest protection highlights the strategic value of sustainable material specification, ensuring traceable sourcing and verifiable environmental product declarations (EPDs). The shift towards net zero whole life carbon thinking in sustainable architecture demands consistent life cycle thinking in construction, credible environmental impact measurement, and transparent reporting frameworks such as BREEAM v7, driving measurable progress toward truly carbon neutral construction.
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