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INTRODUCTION
Linear trends in the built environment
Our current economy, which is based on exploiting
non-renewable energy sources, and the linear way in
which we harvest, consume and discard materials,
has detrimental effects on our climate and the
environment, and cannot be sustained anymore.
Global warming, resource scarcity, acidification of
oceans and disruption of ecosystems are some of
the consequences of our current behavior, which are
becoming increasingly threatening to our economy
as well.

The way we develop cities can mitigate these impacts,

by designing and constructing our buildings for
low energy and resource consumption. Though our
cities occupy only around 3% of the world’s land
surface area, their residents consume 75% of natural
resources and account for 60 – 80% of humanity’s
greenhouse gas footprint. The global trend towards
urbanisation is projected to continue, with the global
urban population rising from 54% at present to over
60% by 2025. The growing pace of urbanisation
leads to increasing demands on infrastructure and
buildings, and growing consumption of product and
services. This makes cities one of the most critical
intervention points for reducing human impact on the
environment, creating sustainable local economies,
and increasing the average quality of human life.

Within cities the built environment has the potential

to play a key role in reducing environmental impacts,
as this is the place where the energy transition and
circular transition come together. The construction
industry accounts for about 50% of our total use of
raw materials. Furthermore, the built environment
is responsible for 40% of CO2 emissions and 36%
of energy consumption. Addressing these impacts
through circular and climate neutral development is
thus crucial.

Sustainable building frameworks are pushing the

industry forward
Sustainability frameworks have emerged in the last
decades to account for responsible and sustainable
practices. BREEAM is the world’s leading sustainability
assessment method for masterplanning projects,
infrastructure and buildings. It addresses a number