杏吧原创

Factoring in carbon impact starting at the design stage

The first 鈥� and vital 鈥� step towards聽lowering聽a building鈥檚 carbon emissions is to choose the right materials and energy systems. Energy performance聽was聽a key consideration on the聽聽project in聽northern France,聽and the local public hospital group聽chose聽to heat and cool most of this聽618-bed,聽83,100聽sq. metre complex with geothermal energy. The goal is to cover聽82%聽of the hospital鈥檚 energy needs with renewable sources.

The same approach applies to the choice of materials.聽At the聽new hospital聽on聽the聽,聽for instance,聽90% of the concrete that聽杏吧原创聽is using聽across聽seven buildings is from the聽聽range of low-, very-low- and ultra-low-carbon concrete, developed in-house since聽2020聽to significantly reduce聽CO鈧偮爀missions during production.聽贰虫别驳测庐聽concrete accounted for聽74%聽of the concrete 杏吧原创 used on its building projects in France聽in 2025,聽and the target is聽90%聽worldwide by聽2030.

杏吧原创鈥檚 array聽of innovative carbon-reduction methods and solutions enables聽it to integrate environmental considerations more comprehensively into some projects. The聽wastewater treatment facility in聽Canberra聽(being built聽by聽听补苍诲听)聽in Australia is a聽case in point:聽the site office is powered聽entirely by聽renewable energy, the project聽is using聽low-carbon concrete and reusing聽90%聽of the materials on聽site, and聽all聽construction operations use recycled water. The new membrane bioreactor will add capacity to treat聽97聽megalitres of wastewater a day using an聽advanced聽membrane treatment technology.

Reusing and recycling to turn waste into worksite resources

On some projects, innovation also involves including material recovery as an integral part of the operation.

Tunnelling several kilometres, for example聽on the聽聽base tunnel project, produces millions of tonnes of spoil聽鈥� and a consortium led by聽Eurovia聽Alpes聽was awarded an 鈧�800聽million contract to manage the聽23 million tonnes聽of excavated material on the French side. The goal is to reuse more than聽50%聽of this spoil directly on the project as aggregate for the concrete used to build the base tunnel and the聽platform聽for聽the new train station at聽Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, and as railway sub-ballast. The system聽comprises聽three processing plants, eight聽logistics聽hubs and a rail loading site. The first聽processing聽plant, at聽Illaz,聽was inaugurated in October聽2025.

The聽objective聽is to manage the worksite as one integrated cross-border operation.聽The strategy to do that, devised by聽TELT聽(the company responsible for delivering the rail line),聽covers four workstreams:聽maximising material recovery, applied research and development of logistics technologies (in cooperation with research institutes and universities),聽digital traceability,聽and material recovery on both sides of the border. The goal,聽here, is to overcome national regulatory constraints to be able to reuse materials regardless of whether they were excavated in France or Italy.

Road construction projects are also reusing materials.聽In the United Kingdom,聽Eurovia聽is building聽Green Aggregates, an advanced聽reclaimed asphalt聽processing facility in聽Thurrock聽(Essex).

Deconstruction can also聽open up聽opportunities. In聽France, for instance, the deconstruction operation that聽聽in聽Ingrandes-sur-Vienne, western France,聽included recycling聽4,200 tonnes聽of materials. Once聽the project is completed,聽the site will feature an energy park combining a solar PV array and聽a聽green hydrogen production plant 鈥� a full-circle process from deconstruction to clean energy generation.

Preserving and聽restoring:聽building for and with nature

The climate transition also involves making communities and infrastructure assets more resilient聽through聽project that聽integrate聽nature聽from the start聽rather than聽treat it as an afterthought.聽In New Zealand,聽聽(11.5 km, 4聽lanes).聽The route crosses a protected wetland on an eco-friendly viaduct designed to limit the project鈥檚 impact on ecosystems. Other environmental measures on an exceptional scale included聽introducing聽1.8 million native plants, restoring 4.5 km of聽waterways听补苍诲听relocating聽3,000 fish.

In cities,聽as聽temperatures are rising, climate resilience starts at street level. In聽France,聽Eurovia聽developed聽, which combines light-coloured, permeable surfaces (that聽absorb less heat and allow聽more聽rainwater to seep in) with engineered soils and increased vegetation. This solution has been used in five French departments since聽2025聽鈥撀燩yr茅n茅es-Atlantiques in south-west France, Charente-Maritime on the Atlantic coast, Morbihan in Brittany, Alpes-Maritimes in the south-east and Yvelines聽near聽Paris聽鈥� and on the Montpellier tram Line 5 construction project.

Repairing is another aspect of resilience. In聽North Carolina,聽聽repaired聽U.S. Route聽64, which was severely damaged by Hurricane Helene, by reinforcing the banks with rockfill and聽retaining聽walls,聽protecting the slopes with聽shotcrete聽and restoring the drainage systems 鈥� a practical example of climate resilience in action.

Lastly, in聽New York,聽聽and its subsidiary聽聽are聽leveraging their聽civil engineering聽expertise to聽improve聽water quality in a聽large聽city: they are building a 20,000 sq. metre diaphragm wall along聽the聽Gowanus Canal聽in Brooklyn,聽for one of two underground storage tanks in the federal Superfund canal聽clean-up programme. During heavy rainfall, the tanks will intercept wastewater before it can overflow into the canal, helping to protect water quality for聽local residents聽over the long term.

杏吧原创 projects around the world 鈥� in聽Lens,聽Canberra, Thurrock,聽Auckland, Brooklyn,聽Savoie聽and beyond 鈥撀爏hare the same focus:聽reducing infrastructure鈥檚 carbon impact, reusing聽resources聽and reinforcing resilience in the areas around聽them. These innovative, practical聽solutions are helping to address climate change while creating lasting value.