Blog: In search of treasure and redemption: Inaugural Lecture at the University of Birmingham by Professor John Dyson

Understanding how we can attract more people into the sector is vitally important when we consider shaping the future of the construction industry.

Designing adaptable buildings enables the function to change depending on its users’ needs.If COVID has taught us anything, it’s that workplaces and homes both need to be flexible to account for changing work patterns.

It’s a balancing act to make sure a building can be adaptable without over-designing the structure, architecture and MEP.But when we build smarter we can do this.Repeatable building modules which can be switched in and out depending on requirements, such as glazing vs solid cladding modules, or heating vs heating and cooling fan coil unit modules, are simple features which may prevent a building from being torn down mid-way through its life expectancy.

Through a small number of new parts, the building has a whole new lifespan, limiting its embodied carbon when compared with the alternative of a new build.. Building less volume reduces costs, embodied carbon and operational carbon.And with more thought to whole life performance, low carbon, sustainable buildings can keep delivering benefits even after their lifetimes.

Truly a win-win scenario..

If you'd like to continue to learn about our Design to Value approach and Modern Methods of Construction, sign up for our monthly newsletter here:.Even with carbon capture, blue hydrogen still uses fossil fuels, so in some instances carbon capture needs to be used effectively.

It isn’t a blanket fix for every process..Even though CCU is currently at a low TRL, as funding comes in and progress is made, the development of this method, in conjunction with water electrolysis, would see greater reductions in industry electricity usage to perform these reactions and, therefore, greater reductions in GHG emissions..

Even with all the progress into modern renewable power, including wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and ocean power, these only account for 1.7% of global final energy demand.To reduce our CO. 2. emissions correctly, industrial plastics production would ideally be designed with sustainable electricity production in mind to power their production in conjunction with CCU to reduce the carbon footprint further.. Reducing Our Carbon Footprint.