The Latest Technology Advances In Low-Carbon Construction Are Promising


credit: Flickr

"If there was any doubt that climate change is an enduring part of the business agenda, the increased focus on sustainability by leaders over the past year should put it to rest," says Joe Ucuzoglu, CEO of Deloitte Global.

He's referring to the fact that about two-thirds of the total heating influence of all human-produced greenhouse gases comes from concrete and steel, which account for more than 50% of the embodied carbon footprint in commercial buildings, reports Fast Company.

"We may be witnessing a rapid sea-change in innovative green building materials like mass timber and carbon-negative concrete," he says.

Mass timber, or cross-laminated timber, is engineered by gluing or nailing together sheets of wood in cross-grain patterns and treating them with flame retardants.

It's a renewable, recyclable, and biodegradable choice for low-carbon construction because it reduces the energy, resources, and emission-heavy impacts of producing concrete or steel.

There are other environmental impacts from CLT, but "with proper forestry management, I believe the benefits of replacing steel and concrete with mass timber outweigh the potential downsides," says Tommy Linstroth, founder and CEO of FutureMass, a company that produces CLT and has more than 1,600 projects in the US under its Read the Entire Article


Selected Grant News Headlines

A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.

Sustainability: More Than Just Preventing Climate Change

When you think of sustainability, you probably think of things like meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. But there's...more

Partnerships Drive Global Decarbonization of Heavy Industry

India and Sweden are teaming up to help the world's steel, cement, and construction industries cut their greenhouse-gas emissions by 50% by 2030, the Guardian reports. According to a press...more

Definition and Characteristics of Climate-Adaptive Cities: a Systematic Review

How do cities fare in the face of climate change? According to a study published in the journal BMC Public Health, they can either be "resilient" or "resilient"with "resilient" cities becoming more...more

Funding Will Support Further Wine Research at Brock University

A Canadian university is preparing to open what it says will be the country's first "clean plant farm"a greenhouse-free operation where grapevines will be grown to make wine, the BBC...more

Ai Innovation Challenge

The New York Climate Exchange is putting its money where its mouth is. The nonprofit is holding its first-ever AI Innovation Challenge, and it's looking for students to come up with solutions to...more

Climate Solutions: Fg, Unido Award $32,500 To 3 Nigerian Startups

Three young entrepreneurs in Nigeria have won $32,500 for their clean-tech solutions to climate-related problems, the Guardian reports. Schrodinger Tech, Givo Africa, and E-Sam Energy Solutions...more

Caltech Turns Jellyfish into Climate Researchers

Scientists at the California Institute of Technology think they've figured out a way to turn jellyfish into ocean researchers, the Los Angeles Times reports. They're working on a "go-faster cap"...more

Can Climate Change Pakistan'S Economy?

"We are grappling with uncertainty about how to deal with yearly floods," says a 55-year-old resident of Pakistan's Shikarpur. "My home has been destroyed, cattle drowned, and yearly crops...more

Opportunities and Challenges for Financing Women'S, Children'S and Adolescents' Health in ...

Women, children, and adolescents in low-income and middle-income countries are some of the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and they're going to bear the worst of it, even if they...more

Future Works Announces Official Launch: Unlocking Leaps in Innovation with Bespoke Ai Solutions

If you're in the business of using artificial intelligence to improve your products and services, you may want to check out a new company called Future Works. It's a merger of two tech companies...more





William D. Eggers and Paul Macmillan of Dowser write about the social entrepreneurs slowly and steadily dirsupting the world of philanthropy. According to Forbes, philanthropy disruptors are those that believe “no one company is so vital that it can’t be replaced and no single business model too perfect to upend.”