It’s not just our diets which need to change to tackle the climate emergency. Building materials such as steel and concrete need to be replaced by lower-carbon, ‘healthier’, plant-based alternatives, writes Dan Stokes

As the construction industry comes to terms with its role in tackling the climate emergency, is it clear is that we cannot continue the way things currently are. It’s critical we consider not just how we use our buildings, but what we put into them in the first place.

Just as our dietary preferences are moving away from carbon-intensive meat and dairy foods, carbon-intensive construction materials such as steel and concrete need to be replaced by lower-carbon, ‘healthier’ plant-based alternatives. Fundamentally, the construction industry cannot decarbonise without embracing its own vegan diet.

So, what are these ‘vegan’, or bio-based materials, to use a more established industry term?

Bio-based materials are simply materials that grow or are a natural part of the biosphere – think timber, straw, hemp, cork, clay, and earth. These typically have lower embodied carbon. Timber has around three times less embodied carbon than steel and over five times less than concrete. These materials also sequester carbon, meaning that as they grow, they absorb carbon and store it, locking it in to the material for the lifespan of its use.

And this is where architects, engineers and designers can really make a difference – by innovating and bringing these materials into our buildings.

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