Sustainability in construction

Sustainable construction aims to reduce the negative health and environmental impacts caused by the construction process and by the operation and use of buildings and the built environment. It can be seen as the construction industry's contribution to more sustainable development. Precise definitions vary from place to place, and are constantly evolving to encompass varying approaches and priorities. More comprehensively, sustainability can be considered from three dimension of planet, people and profit across the entire construction supply chain. Recent research highlights that emerging sustainable construction materials—such as recycled concrete, bio-based composites, and low-carbon cements—can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining structural performance. Cement production is a major contributor to embodied carbon in construction. Globally, about two-thirds of CO₂ emissions from cement manufacturing come from the chemical process of clinker calcination and one-third from energy use (2018 baseline).

Key concepts include the protection of the natural environment, choice of non-toxic materials, reduction and reuse of resources, waste minimization, and the use of life-cycle cost analysis.