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In the effort to halt and reverse climate change, the embodied carbon of building materials matters more than anyone had thought. We are in technological reach, within a generation, of creating buildings and cities that generate more energy than they use, reverse the emissions engine, cool the climate and make nicer places to live and work.

The Society for Technology & Action for Rural Advancement (TARA), a three-decade- old social enterprise based in New Delhi, develops greener technologies and processes for the construction industry. Three of these – EcoKilns, Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3), and new methods for the reuse of construction waste – have been proven at commercial scale and are being adopted by companies small and large.

In a world where data is ubiquitous, it might seem easy to monitor material and energy flows through urban systems. Policymakers and society as a whole rarely acknowledge resource, energy, or water scarcity. More often than not, they are not properly measured, or only partially so, even though a misleading indicator can be as detrimental as no measure at all: both can steer us in the wrong direction.

The LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction ensures that its activities are aligned with the leading-edge of sustainable development across architectural, scientific, cultural and policy concerns. The important role of setting strategic direction is the responsibility of the Board of the LafargeHolcim Foundation.

The global urban population is projected to increase by 57% to 2.4 billion in the next 30 years – and material consumption is predicted to grow even faster. Without a new approach, the high demand for raw materials far exceeds what the planet can sustainably provide. A promising opportunity for reducing carbon emissions in the built environment and infrastructure is incorporating the principles of the circular economy into all phases of a building’s cycle, which can help meet the needs of the built space while contributing to the goal of carbon neutrality.

Buildings and infrastructure account for almost 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions and the sector consumes finite resources at the rate of 40 billion tons of raw material every year. The LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction has produced six short videos that each focus on an important aspect of circular materials flows. The videos follow-on from expert discussions at the LafargeHolcim Forum on Re-materializing Construction and cover a selection of solutions to help reach net-zero targets for the building and infrastructure sector.

A jury of nine experts will meet to select the global prize winners of the 6th International LafargeHolcim Awards for Sustainable Construction. 33 finalist projects from 25 countries will take part in the global phase of the competition. The LafargeHolcim Awards promotes innovation in how the built environment is engineered and designed – a crucial requirement to enable the transition to low-carbon construction and circular material flows.

The LafargeHolcim Foundation for SustainableConstruction looks forward to doing its part in 2021 to promote Carbon Neutral Construction that reduces CO2 in materials and processes; Circular Construction that recycles materials such as building and demolition waste; and Design Innovation & Digital Design to build more with less.

Although cities are engines of economic development and concentrations of human activities, they are also hubs for consumption with the resulting environmental degradation. An urban metabolism study of two diverse districts of Cairo – a formal district and an informal one – aims to understand flows in these districts and propose locally-responsive interventions.

Buildings consume energy in two main ways. Firstly, through their use of building materials and the energy required for the construction process, and secondly through the operation of the building. A large (and growing) contributor to this skyrocketing energy demand is the rapid growth and reliance on mechanical air-conditioning.

Experts including members of the Academic Committee (AC) of the LafargeHolcim Foundation and from top management of the LafargeHolcim Group took an active role in the first ever “internal” Roundtable for Sustainable Construction led by Marilyne Andersen, professor at EPFL Lausanne. The virtual meeting was the launchpad to define topics and speakers for the next symposium of the global LafargeHolcim Foundation – the LafargeHolcim Forum on “Re-manufacturing Construction” is scheduled for early 2022 in São Paulo, Brazil. The Forum will focus on sustainable construction in the scientific field to promote interdisciplinary dialog, bring forward new ideas, and examine potential solutions.

Marilyne Andersen, Professor of Sustainable Construction Technologies at EPFL Lausanne, in her role as head of the Academic Committee of the LafargeHolcim Foundation, was a member of all five regional LafargeHolcim Awards juries. She found the differences between the juries substantial – and important.

The highlight of 2020 for the Foundation should have been the regional LafargeHolcim Awards. However, the face-to-face jury meetings and the prize hand-over ceremonies in five regions of the world had to be cancelled. What’s next for the competition? Edward Schwarz provides information.

For the first time, the jury meetings for the LafargeHolcim Awards were held virtually. One of the biggest challenges was that the jury members were located in many different time zones.

Foundations 24, the magazine of the LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, is dedicated to the 6th cycle of the regional LafargeHolcim Awards and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the activities of the Foundation.

Construction of the LafargeHolcim Awards winning net-zero energy greenhouse at Wellesley College, USA was completed in 2019. Sustainable design is at the very core of the structure, form, and system – meeting sustainability metrics as a matter of course and then goes much further to achieve a virtuosity of integration. The Global Flora conservatory at the Margaret C Ferguson Greenhouses will open to the general public when renovation of the Science Center is completed, planned for early 2022. More than 1,000 varieties of plants are housed in the bio-friendly greenhouse – and are showing signs of handling the transition well.

To mark World Water Week 2020, we celebrate LafargeHolcim Awards Next Generation winners – with a focus on design solutions for climate change and water issues.

A global discourse on materials must address the issue of the harvesting and repurposing of waste. Traditional waste management systems in the Global South are embedded in realities that are often too complex for systems based on the European model to understand. These informal, socially constructed systems are difficult for city planners to accommodate because they developed from the needs and realities of urban inhabitants and were not determined or implemented on a governmental level. They derive from the residents’ knowledge of informal markets and trading systems and provide the most destitute segments of society with incomes, livelihoods, trades, occupations, and economic growth opportunities that other sectors do not provide.

To speak about the materials of construction, as a designer, is to take into account the context of the materials. Starting with history: it’s been said that if you want to look far into the future, first look far into the past. History is inseparable from place. Sustainability, similarly, is inseparable from nature.

For each region of the world, nine jurors spent two to three days reviewing submissions and selecting the best projects and visions in sustainable construction. The expertly managed process nominates the potential winners and runners-up in the 6th International LafargeHolcim Awards competition. A multi-step verification process must confirm the winners now which will be communicated in 2021. Physical jury meetings and prize hand-over events had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.