Buildings fit for the future

To share ideas and encourage debate, Tata Steel and Pauley Creative have collaborated on this white paper with the intention of exploring the topic of sustainability in construction. Buildings fit for the future: designing out unintended consequences of material specification in a climate and biodiversity emergency covers these key areas:

● What does ‘acting today to protect tomorrow’ mean?

● Why is adopting a whole life approach the right thing to do?

● How to make whole life-focused design decisions

● Specifying materials for long-term outcomes

● Conclusion: Mitigating unintended consequences

Faced with a barrage of information and sometimes conflicting advice about creating sustainable buildings, construction professionals are seeking clear guidance on how to meet new expectations and needs, and avoid ‘throwing problems over the wall’.

The climate emergency is happening today, so people want ‘quick wins’. However, the rush to adopt new solutions can mean design becomes a box-ticking exercise. If we are not careful, other people, and eventually the planet, could be left to deal with the unintended consequences.

Thinking about the potential consequences of specification choices - particularly the long-term impact on the planet - is essential. We must act today, but we also must protect tomorrow by not creating problems that weigh down the next generation.

Now is a moment to reflect on what we want construction projects to achieve. Our industry is committing to lower carbon emissions and better sustainability.

What does that mean?

Just because something is ‘sustainable’ now, will it be in the future?

How do we specify the ‘right’ material?

Is there a ‘best’ sustainable material?

We cannot promise all the answers in this document. What we can do is help to show what unintended consequences could look like when specifying materials, so that we can all make informed decisions about trying to avoid those consequences.