A building’s overall embodied carbon is inextricably linked to the composition of the products from which it is built. Manufacturing of materials like steel, concrete, aluminum, and glass for use in building construction accounts for 11% of global carbon dioxide emissions. The following products feature admirably carbon smart formulations that are largely available in the market today.
Respirer Living Sciences helping in understanding the air you breathe
Respirer Living Sciences, a startup founded in Mumbai, has built a real-time IoT-based air quality monitoring device that can measure particulate matter, temperature, and humidity. Monitoring the air quality helps in identifying the trouble spots and assists in identifying the correct measures to be taken to rectify it.
Tesla is focusing on solar and energy storage
With the ramp up in the production of Model 3 resulting in Tesla posting quarterly profits again, Elon Musk hinted at ramping up the solar and energy storage business of Tesla. He has claimed that Tesla Energy will be a huge part of Tesla’s activity in the future.
Circulytics – the new digital tool that all companies need
Circulytics is a digital measuring tool which gives companies a fully comprehensive picture of their circularity across all operations. At a time when companies around the globe are adopting the circular economy as an opportunity to create thriving businesses that meet the challenges of global issues such as climate change and pollution, Circulytics provides quick understanding for those actively moving away from the current ‘take, make, waste’ linear economy.
Amazon making the right moves to fight climate change
Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge, a commitment to meet the Paris Agreement 10 years early. It is now committing to reach 80% renewable energy by 2024 and 100% renewable energy by 2030 on its path to net zero carbon by 2040. Also, Amazon is launching the Right Now Climate Fund, committing $100 million to restore and protect forests, wetlands, and peatlands around the world in partnership with The Nature Conservancy.
Nexity announces its first Green Bond
Nexity, a French company that focuses on real estate development and the provision of related services, announced the issuance of its first green bond worth €240 million to qualified investors. This Green Bond fits within the Group’s CSR policy, the fight against global warming and the contribution to the transition to a low-carbon economy, in line with Nexity’s ambitious target of a 30% reduction in tonnes of CO2 eq. per home delivered by 2030.
There’s a net-zero energy building in every climatic zone today!
The World Economic Forum notes that net-zero energy buildings are quickly becoming mainstream, with NZEBs already operational in each climate zone found in the world! So, while University of Hawaii’s Maui College demonstrates NZE strategies in a tropical setting, Norway’s Powerhouse Brattorkaia shows the way forward for achieving NZE in continental climates. These model NZEBs are only growing, with a study reporting 950 organizations across 20 countries that are planning on building atleast one NZEB in this decade.
Net zero energy community in Pontardawe
Neath Port Talbot council approved Sero Homes to provide ecological support for their proposal to build 35 Zero carbon homes at Parc Hadau, Pontardawe. The two-, three- and four-bedroom homes will be equipped with solar panels and energy-storing batteries, ground-source heat pumps and innovative ventilation systems.
Amazon India Introducing Electric Delivery Rickshaws
Amazon India is launching a new fleet of electric delivery rickshaws in India. This year itself, Amazon India will operate its electric vehicle delivery fleet in in over 20 cities in the country, including major cities like Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Nagpur, and Pune. They have announced that there will be 10,000 such EVs in India by 2025. The move comes as part of the company’s global Climate Pledge, as announced in September 2019.
Converting carbon dioxide to liquid fuel
Scientists at Rice University have devised an environmentally friendly way to take carbon dioxide and turn it into liquid fuel. The device uses a catalytic reactor to transform the greenhouse gas into formic acid which can be used in several ways.
Super cool material are potential game changers in building envelopes
First introduced in 2014, super cool materials reflect a broad spectrum of light, in much the same way as mirrors or white paint do. In the crucial 8–13-µm part of the infrared spectrum, however, they strongly absorb and then emit radiation. When the materials point at the sky, the infrared rays can pass straight through the atmosphere and into space. That effectively links the materials to an inexhaustible heat sink, into which they can keep dumping heat without it coming back. As a result, they can radiate away enough heat to consistently stay a few degrees cooler than surrounding air; research suggests that temperature differences could exceed 10 °C in hot, dry places. Paints, plastics and even wood can be engineered to stay cool in direct sunlight.
The future for use of super cool materials looks promising with several researchers and companies (SkyCool Systems, MetaRE, InventWood, etc) working on finding and improving upon them.
Microsoft targets carbon negative goal by 2030
Microsoft has set for itself an ambitious plan to be carbon negative by 2030 and remove all historical carbon produced by the company by 2050. The company has launched an aggressive program to cut carbon emissions by more than half by 2030, from it entire supply and value chain. For this they have pledged an investment of $1 billion in carbon reduction and removal technology. It is very heartening to see Microsoft come forward, take responsibility and pledge to do their part in saving the environment. Hopefully, Amazon and Microsoft are just the start and more companies will follow suit.
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