Walking around the urban oasis that is Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery, one wouldn't expect to find pawpaws – the largest edible fruit native to North America – growing alongside tombstones. Stroll farther into the cemetery and American persimmons dangle above graves.
Pawpaws and American persimmons are among the rare, native fruits that some farmers and gardeners are exploring as extreme weather becomes more common. Warmer winters followed by sudden cold snaps, have devastated many of the conventional fruit crops people are used to eating like apples, pears and peaches.
Native fruits often exhibit greater resilience to extreme weather and require less water and pesticides than non-native varieties, "especially if being grown commercially," Ben Flanner, co-founder and CEO of Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm, told CNN.
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📸 : Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal /USA Today Network/Imagn Images
The recently completed Nord Pavilion in London highlights the rise of low-impact home extensions that balance architectural quality with environmental performance. By integrating natural light and energy-efficient design features, this project demonstrates how Whole Life Carbon and Embodied Carbon can be reduced through sustainable building design at a domestic scale. It stands as a clear example of eco-design for buildings that respond to both aesthetic and performance demands while contributing to environmental sustainability in construction.
Large-scale energy generation also influences the construction sector. The US programme to deploy next-generation nuclear reactors is reshaping not only energy supply but also methods of modular construction, permitting, and rapid project delivery. These approaches point to a growing recognition of Life Cycle Cost, lifecycle assessment, and Whole Life Carbon Assessment in infrastructure delivery. The adoption of low carbon construction materials and net zero whole life carbon strategies within such projects will be critical to reducing the carbon footprint of construction.
BKV Corporation’s 2024 Sustainability Report underscores the push toward a Circular Economy in construction through its closed-loop model. This forward-looking approach stresses Embodied Carbon in materials and the importance of circular construction strategies. The report aligns with industry adoption of life cycle thinking in construction, emphasising end-of-life reuse in construction and resource efficiency in construction, both essential for achieving net zero carbon buildings and building lifecycle performance.
Shifts in decentralised and flexible energy generation also carry direct implications for sustainable construction. New optimisation and smart grid strategies increasingly affect how energy-efficient buildings and low carbon buildings are designed, powered, and integrated into green infrastructure. Such systems enable the use of renewable building materials and eco-friendly construction practices, reinforcing the alignment between sustainable urban development and carbon neutral construction.
Momentum around international environmental treaties illustrates the broader movement toward regulating the environmental impact of construction and major infrastructure. These frameworks support sustainable building practices and sustainable material specification while compelling the industry to expand the use of environmental product declarations (EPDs) and green building products. Standards such as BREEAM and BREEAM v7 will remain central in benchmarking sustainable design against global goals for carbon footprint reduction.
The construction sector is transitioning toward sustainable architecture that combines low carbon design, green construction methods, and net zero carbon delivery. By prioritising sustainable building design, eco-friendly construction materials, and lifecycle assessment tools, the industry advances environmental sustainability in construction. The path forward depends on embedding Circular Economy principles across every stage of Whole Life Carbon performance, laying the foundation for genuinely sustainable construction practices worldwide.
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