Climate-resilient green infrastructure

To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is essential to address issues such as reducing the carbon footprint of the built environment (both embedded and operational), encouraging sustainable and resilient design and construction practices, and monitoring building performance.  

The required changes include adopting renewable energy sources, implementing rigorous standards and regulations for measuring and reporting material embedded carbon, accelerating the uptake of sustainable and climate-resilient design practices at building and city levels, and standardising performance monitoring and reporting methods. These changes can significantly mitigate the impacts of climate change while providing resilience. 

The SDG framework recognises the need for new technologies to address these challenges. These technologies include accessible renewable energy sources, tools and methods to support product life cycle assessments, technologies to support green buildings (such as decision support tools, water saving devices and waste management systems), and digital twin technologies to monitor building performance. These technologies contribute to the SDGs by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, conserving natural resources, and fostering resilient infrastructure. They specifically target goals such as SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). 

This session consists of several deep dive presentations about the challenges related to the built environment’s response to climate change.