Sustainability – Challenges and solutions

“Several factors, which are interactive in nature, are affecting as well as threatening the existence of our planet Earth. They include overpopulation and urbanisation (which have multitude of effects), transportation in cities, energy use and global warming, excessive waste generation and subsequent pollution of air, water and soil, and limited supply of resources. A brief discussion about these challenges is provided and some solutions are given. The building industry consumes about 40 percent of the extracted materials and is responsible for 35 percent of CO2 emissions. Green and smart buildings will substantially impact the energy consumption and volume of emissions. Life cycle analysis of building materials and life cycle management of products are necessary in order to select the materials for high performance green buildings. Concrete with cementitious materials such as y ash, silica fume and slag can be used to build such sustainable constructions.”