We know that the linear way we build now – where materials make a one-way trip from the earth to landfill – is dangerously unsustainable. It assumes too many infinites: Infinite raw materials; infinite space for waste; and infinite capacity of the biosphere to absorb the greenhouse gases that the one-way trip produces. But what can we do? This month we explore the possibility of a so-called “circular” construction industry, one where high-value inputs are not thrown away but instead are...

By now, many people in construction are used to thinking about cutting CO2 emissions. But the industry’s impact on nature – the planet’s and our life-support system – has been largely overlooked. That is until this year when, in February, it became mandatory for developers in England to deliver a “biodiversity net gain”, or BNG, of 10% on sites that are half a hectare or more in size. In this episode, we explore the practicalities and business implications of this new requirement to protect...

The Labour Party pledged in its manifesto to build 1.5m new homes over the next Parliament if it got into power. But does the UK have the necessary skills, capacity and infrastructure to achieve this target?

In the latest episode of the 21CC podcast, three leaders of successful megaprojects delve into the nitty gritty of what it takes to lead them. On the panel are: • Jake Mumm, head of Bechtel’s global Public Infrastructure division, whose projects include the Keeyask hydropower project in northern Canada, and the new metro system for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; • Davendra Dabasia, CEO of Mace Consult, whose portfolio includes the 2012 London Olympics, the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, and...

Veteran plant journalist Peter Haddock is with us this month to help make sense of the rapidly changing landscape of construction machinery and sustainability. Should we go all in on electrification? Is hydrogen coming on stream anytime soon? What’s the current state of enabling technology? Join Peter and Global Construction Review editor Rod Sweet for a high-energy romp through the issues as they stand today.

Following World Environment Day 2024, we dig into a complex and difficult question. Construction is the single biggest source of greenhouse gases. It produces vast amounts of waste. The resource extraction needed to feed its demands puts enormous pressure on habitats and biodiversity. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of buildings stand empty, even as we prepare to build hundreds of thousands more. So, what does enough look like? To explore this issue, 21CC editor Rod Sweet is joined by some...

Building Saudi’s Red Sea high-end tourist giga-project From bare sand to a collection of 50 separate resorts with its own international airport on Saudi Arabia’s remote west coast, The Red Sea giga-project is a high-end tourism scheme like no other. We speak to Andrew Tyson, head of construction at Red Sea Global, who’s in charge of bringing it all together.

Robotic micro-factories for housebuilding? [00:25] High-tech companies down through the years have often seen construction as a tantalising frontier, ripe for disruption by new ways of putting things together. Now, the Swiss multinational manufacturer ABB has entered the fray, with an idea for building affordable housing using robots at site-based micro-factories. They’ve teamed up with UK architects Automated Architecture (AUAR) to develop the idea. Global Construction Review’s David Rogers...

Happy Birthday, CIOB! Three young professionals look ahead [01:00] To celebrate the 190th anniversary of the founding of the Chartered Institute of Building, we speak to three young CIOB people from around the world – members of the Tomorrow’s Leaders network – about the one thing they’d like to change about the industry and how the CIOB can help with that. This stimulating exchange features: • Tadiwa Taimu, 23, a junior project manager building a retirement complex in Cape Town, South...

Crushed by a horse, now crushing prejudice [00:32] Elite Australian athlete Hacia Atherton spent seven months in hospital recovering from a near-fatal accident in 2017. She was told she may never walk again, but she was having none of it. It took many months after leaving hospital, but she fought the pain and self-doubt to get back on her feet. In the process, she hatched a new mission in life: to make the construction trades a beautiful career for women and men. Her unique approach with...

The home of great construction stories. We go behind the headlines to meet the people who envision, create and manage the built world. Brought to you by the Chartered Institute of Building. Got a topic you'd like us to cover? Email the podcast editor Rod Sweet [email protected] In this episode: New-homes confidence crisis [01:20] In December, CIOB published results from a survey that showed an overwhelmingly negative public perception of new-build houses. It asked 2,000 UK adults what...

The home of great construction stories. We go behind the headlines to meet the people who envision, create and manage the built world. Brought to you by the Chartered Institute of Building. In this episode: Refugees building Britain [00:50] Yemeni refugee Omar tells Cristina Lago how important his construction job is. Jargon Buster [16:27] What exactly do IFC and Cobie mean? And do you really need to know? Building Egypt’s Grand Museum [20:49] Hill International tells David Rogers about its...

The home of great construction stories. We go behind the headlines to meet the people who envision, create and manage the built world. Brought to you by the Chartered Institute of Building. This episode: [01:25] Abbi Taylor describes what happened after her dad broke his back falling from a ladder on a construction site when she was three. [09:16] 21CC jargon buster in chief Justin Stanton decodes the mystery of smart objects and how they work in modelling [12:55] Meet ‘Defectorist’ Will...

The home of great construction stories. We go behind the headlines to meet the people who envision, create and manage the built world. Brought to you by the Chartered Institute of Building. In this episode, CM’s Cristina Lago grills ex-Arup engineer Stevan Lukic about the AI chatbot he developed for construction projects. Does it hallucinate? [01:23] [08:44] Our expert panel discusses where AI sits in the digitalisation of construction. Hear from David Philp FCIOB, chief value officer at...

Welcome to the fourth episode of the 21CC Podcast, brought to you by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB). The home of great construction stories. We go behind the headlines to meet the people who envision, create and manage the built world. This episode, Will Mann reports on an AI tool developed to detect RAAC in buildings[11:38]; Rod Sweet explores a proposal to build a Roman-style colosseum for Bath Rugby [00:54] ; two young engineers describe what it’s like to build in Antarctica...

Welcome to the third episode of the 21CC podcast, brought to you by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB). The home of great construction stories. We go behind the headlines to meet the people who envision, create and manage the built world. This episode we explore why a line is the worst possible layout for a planned new city in the desert [01:44]. Pioneering female crane operator Katie Kelleher tells how she started out in construction and explains why women are just as capable...

Welcome to the second episode of the 21CC podcast, brought to you by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB).21CC is short for 21st Century Construction, which means we’ll be looking ahead to the challenges the industry faces, such as Quality and Safety, Sustainability, and Skills. In this episode 1979’s Usborne Book of the Future set out what life would be like in the 2000s. How correct was it? Justin Stanton and Tom Cheesewright discuss what it got right about today, and what it means...

Welcome to the first episode of the 21CC podcast, brought to you by the Chartered Institute of Building. 21CC is short for 21st Century Construction, which means we’ll be looking ahead to the challenges the industry faces, such as Quality and Safety, Sustainability, and Skills. In this episode With all eyes on Ukraine just now, we hear from a Canadian architect whose team has developed a modular, precast concrete system for fixing apartment blocks damaged by Russian...

The home of great construction stories. We go behind the headlines to meet the people who envision, create and manage the built world. Brought to you by the Chartered Institute of Building.Editor Rod Sweet outlines in one minute how we hope to bring the people stories behind the headlines...brought to you by CIOB