Chennai alone will emit 220 MT of carbon…
– Dr Ashwin Mahalingam, Professor, IIT Madras
India has only completed 30 per cent of its necessary construction, leaving two-thirds yet to be built. Concrete is the predominant material choice due to its structural strength, longevity and affordability but its production emits significant carbon dioxide.
Predicting Chennai’s future emission
At IIT M we build models that predict the future of construction industry. For eg., how would Chennai look 25 years down the lane, how will the cement industry transform in the future,… These help to make sustainable decisions. One of the models developed, predicts that Chennai would emit 220 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in the forthcoming decade. This will be due to the massive construction that will leave behind both embodied and operational carbon.
Mitigating emissions in construction
Mitigating emissions involves various strategies, including sustainable building design with natural ventilation and reduced material usage. Reusing construction and demolition waste, incentivising the use of recycled materials and implementing solar panels are additional measures to curb emissions and promote circularity in construction practices.
Building Materials and Circularity
From a materials perspective, the concept of circularity in construction is paramount. While new buildings often utilise fresh materials, the end of a building’s lifecycle raises questions about reusability. Embracing circularity entails repurposing materials from demolished structures, such as doors and windows and exploring opportunities to reuse other components. This strategy not only reduces carbon emissions but also addresses the mounting issue of construction and demolition waste. Despite promising experiments demonstrating the viability of recycled materials in construction, widespread adoption faces economic barriers. The current cost of recycled materials often surpasses that of virgin materials, presenting a challenge to mainstreaming sustainable practices in the construction industry.
