The Climate Change and Construction Industry: A Battle in 21st Century

Abstract

As we approach completing the first quarter of the 21st century, we experience the development of Industry 4.0 in
many areas. Remarkably, after the mid-2010s, significant changes took place in the operations and production of
many sectors. However, the construction industry still falls far behind these speed-up changes as “the construction
industry remains climate-unfriendly*”. Many reports state that the construction industry is responsible for 38% of
annual greenhouse gas emissions globally. As the dominating material, concrete is responsible for 7% of all global
carbon emissions. Although environmental considerations have become undeniable in the sector and moves such as
Carbon Neutrality, Green Deals, Net-zero-buildings, etc., have emerged, the industry still does not show any radical
change as a response. This paper focuses on the construction industry to understand its role in climate change. It
aims to clarify how the conventional practice in the sector contributes to carbon emissions and energy consumption
from the start of production to life cycle assessment. The paper primarily focuses on the cement production and
novelties adopted in order to combat climate change and reviews the approaches to reduce the environmental
impact of the industry.