Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1485769
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 NOVEMBER 2022 12 COMMERCIAL A low-resource built environment that makes economic sense The built environment is a primary consumer of cement, aluminium, steel, and plastic, four of the five materials which account for 55% of the world's industrial carbon emissions. The sector needs to reduce these emissions by embrac- ing the principles of a circu- lar economy. There are many out-standing core conditions which need to be in place for a truly circular system in the built environ-ment. These in- clude design and construction innovation, fiscal incentives and prioritisation, and updated ethical business models. To achieve a net-zero tran- sition, it will be necessary to strengthen the supply of and access to 'cir-cular material' on global as well as regional scales. Circular material is defined to be material that is pre-used, low or/zero-carbon, recyclable, or recycled. The Maltese Building Indus- try must help in identifying sustainable alternative con- struction materi-als, and then scale the supply of such mate- rials consistently across core construction growth mar-kets. This is essential to enable de- signers to select and adopt alternative materials. Policy- makers and regulators must support new forms of low-car- bon building material with en- couragement and supporting regulations so that these can compete financially against lower cost standard materi- al. The management of con- struction and demolition waste needs reform to maximise re- use and sal-vage of existing components and materials. To meet the demands with sufficient supply, government, the private sector and research- ers must collaborate together to accelerate the adoption and approval of practical codes and standards that encourage the use of alternative materials in built environment assets. New skills and services are neces- sary to evaluate and provide quality assurance for pre-used materials. Financial institutions includ- ing banks have a major role to play not only to check compli- ance with ESG regulation but also to create long term value. ESG risks cover issues ranging from a business's response to climate change, to the promo- tion of ethical labour practices, to the way a company grapples with questions around priva- cy and data management. The local banking sector, both in- sti-tutional and retail look at ESG risks as an opportunity to educate and transition an economy while discriminat- ing their product packaging to direct and accelerate a much needed uplift of quality in our built environment.