Building a Sustainable Future Through Material Innovation

The built environment generates 40 percent of annual global carbon emissions. It also makes up our communities, the places where we live, work and play. How can the engineers, designers, planners and builders of the future enhance the sustainability of our communities while keeping them viable for generations to come? A big piece of the puzzle is the materials they use, how those materials are manufactured, what they’re made of, and what will happen to them at the end of their useful lives.  We’ll need to do things differently — and do different things — as we build a sustainable future through material innovation. In this series sponsored by Owens Corning, we’ll take a closer look at material innovation for the built environment, from insulation take-back to wind turbine recycling, and explore the big ideas on the horizon.