In under half an hour, learn how you and your colleagues can reduce plastic consumption in the construction industry. Jackie De Burca speaks to Neal Maxwell, a highly successful construction company owner who sold his business to allow him to focus on showing others how to reduce plastic use. His story was originally featured in one of the world's top newspapers: The Guardian, by Henry McDonald. Henry then brought the story to Constructive Voices.

Discover how Maxwell's organisation, Changing Streams, has developed over the last few years to bring valuable resources to the built environment. Benefit from the research work it has done in partnership with the University of Liverpool, and use this within your own company.

Did you know that construction stands as the second-largest consumer of plastic globally, accounting for approximately 20% of total production, which reached 460 million metric tonnes in 2019 and is increasing exponentially year on year?

Changing Streams CIC is a partnership with the University of Liverpool, dedicated to assisting the construction industry in reducing its plastic footprint. This initiative is particularly crucial, considering that after the packaging sector, construction stands as the second-largest consumer of plastic globally, accounting for approximately 20% of total production, which reached 460 million metric tonnes in 2019 and is increasing exponentially year on year.

Changing Streams has recently relaunched their membership model, which now offers even more benefits for those operating within the built environment. Their revamped community boasts a range of new features, including an innovative app-based forum designed to facilitate discussions and idea-sharing among industry experts and academics. They have also created a repository of useful information and research.

Changing Streams' ultimate goal is to foster collaboration across all levels of the construction sector, driving progress through collective insight and action. They believe that by breaking down silos and offering access to a community of like-minded individuals, we can make the sector more sustainable for everyone involved.

Website: https://www.changingstreams.org/

In the first of a new series of short but insightful conversations with construction industry thought leaders, Steve Randall is joined by René Morkos of Alice Technologies.

Are you ready to explore the cutting edge of construction technology? René shares his remarkable journey, from hands-on construction projects around the world to pioneering AI applications in the industry.

Learn how AI is not just changing, but revolutionising the way we plan, simulate, and execute construction projects.

Find out how René's work is paving the way for a more efficient and cost-effective future, and why this might just be the most exciting time in construction history.

Listen and build your knowledge on the AI revolution in construction!

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Building Conversations is a Retuned Media production for Constructive-Voices. © 2024 Retuned Media Ltd.

Host: Jackie De Burca

Guest: Dr. Julian Bolleter, Co-Director of the Australian Urban Design Research Centre

Below are a few of his books and you can check out Dr. Julian Bolleter on Amazon.

Introduction:

• Jackie De Burca welcomes Dr. Julian Bolleter, an influential figure in landscape architecture and urban design.
• Julian shares his personal connection to the environment rooted in his childhood.

Main Themes:

• Urban Development Challenges: Julian discusses his research in Dubai on the city’s rapid construction, environmental impact, and labor practices.
• Climate Performance and Policy: Insight into Julian’s collaboration with state government to enhance climate performance and urban policy.
• Educational Contributions: Julian’s role in academia through teaching and writing, nurturing the next generation of urban designers.

Research Highlights:

• New City Development and Urban Infill: Julian’s exploration into how new urban spaces are created and existing ones are optimized.
• Public Open Space Design: The significance of designing accessible and functional public spaces for communities.

Welcome to Constructive Voices. In Episode 1 of Season Three, we explore the urgent shift within the construction industry towards more sustainable practices, particularly in the face of the UK government’s net-zero targets. 

The construction industry is seeking environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional cement due to its significant carbon footprint, with the UK government setting net zero targets for the sector. A promising innovation in this field is Cemfree by DB Group, a binder made from waste material through alkali activation, offering an 85% reduction in carbon emissions compared to conventional cement. Jackie De Burca investigates Cemfree with Tony Sheridan.

Tony Sheridan is Group Commercial Manager at DB Group (DBG), the pioneering leaders behind Cemfree, an alternative to traditional cement that offers the construction industry unprecedented savings of up to 85% in carbon emissions.

Tony has over 20 years of construction industry experience and has spent the majority of that in management roles within the ready-mix concrete industry. He has remained dedicated to furthering his own knowledge of the industry as well as others, with a degree in civil engineering before completing a further MBA in 2010.

Tony remains committed to influencing the industry to work towards a more sustainable future, and through his leadership of the commercial function of all divisions at DBG, he is championing sustainable practices every day in the role.

This episode features Yaron Dycian, co-founder of WINT, who discusses the integration of AI in water management to combat water scarcity and climate change.

WINT employs AI algorithms to monitor water flow patterns in buildings, identifying anomalies that indicate leaks or damage, which can result in substantial water savings and reduced carbon footprints.

The system is designed to alert staff to these issues promptly, which is crucial given that about 25% of water in buildings is wasted, contributing to significant carbon emissions and financial losses, such as the $100,000 annual waste at the Empire State Building.

Dycian highlights that water damage is now the leading cause of insurance claims, surpassing fire damage, prompting initiatives like the UK’s Joint Code of Practice to enforce Water Leak Mitigation Systems.

WINT not only helps in achieving sustainability by reducing water waste and carbon emissions but also offers financial benefits by saving money for its customers. The technology, adaptable to various environments, including construction sites, uses AI to predict potential leaks, although it does not ensure a 100% success rate.

The podcast also discusses the cost-effectiveness of implementing WINT, with initial prices ranging from hundreds to thousands of pounds and ongoing fees in the tens per month per system. WINT has a presence in multiple countries and is effective in preventing leaks on construction sites, despite the inherent limitations of AI technologies, which can sometimes produce inaccurate results or “hallucinations.”

Overall, WINT is posited as an essential and increasingly standard component in building design, likened to elevators and sprinkler systems, for creating water-sustainable buildings. The adoption of WINT across various projects exemplifies its utility in real-world applications, and the conversation underscores the potential of AI in revolutionising water management in the construction and building management industries.

“I never really saw engineering as the career for me and it wasn’t really pushed. When I was studying subjects like art, science, maths, those subjects were always my passion from school all the way up to college. But I was always looking at different career pathways like medicine, going into maths, or even going into marketing and media. And it wasn’t until I did lots of different work experience placements, that I realized that engineering really was the career for me.”

This intriguing quote above is from this episode’s guest, Melissa Ahmed, who is talking to Emma Nicholson as part of the series Focus on Female Engineers. Melissa Ahmed is the Managing Director at Techwuman Ltd.

“I grew up seeing my Dad as my role model. And he is a civil engineer. So I saw him working with interesting tools and software. I remember he had this huge table with massive white papers. It had scribbles of buildings all over it, and a ruler that was taller than me.

He also had sketches on his computer. He had lots and lots of books. And all of this really fascinated me. I would even do pretend play when he was not looking.”

The wonderful quote above is from this episode’s guest, Dr. Zenan Ahmed, who is talking to Emma Nicholson as part of the series Focus on Female Engineers. Dr. Zenan Ahmed is currently a Senior Energy and Sustainability Engineer at WSP in the United Kingdom. But in her biography below you can read about more of her endeavours.

“Starting early during the formative years. I think that it’s really important how each of us are brought up in our household and how the gender bias rules are passed on from one generation to another. I think it’s really important that we eradicate that preconceived notion from a very early age.

And it’s not really about forcing people to be an engineer when they do not want to be an engineer. It’s more about exposure and validation and telling them look, this is also for you.”

Jackie De Burca talks to Bill Hill, chief executive of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity. The charity has been in existence since 1956 and has evolved immensely over the decades.

The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity and its extensive network are doing phenomenal work through a variety of channels and initiatives. This episode investigates their work and how it has resulted in 125 active rescues to date. Active rescues refer to people who were considering suicide and through the charity’s support did not take that route, after all.

Bill speaks in depth about #MakeItVisible which is a support tool and portal created by the charity with their partners.

#MakeItVisible is a free workforce wellbeing and welfare portal for all in construction

The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity has partnered with CITB and Samaritans to create a wellbeing support tool as part of the industry-wide initiative called Make It Visible.

The Make It Visible campaign and portal aim to make welfare and wellbeing support visible on every construction site, helping to reduce the stigma around the subject and increase awareness of the support pathways available. Having secured over £400,000 in funding from CITB, the #MakeItVisible portal was created earlier this year to support the initiative.

The portal provides a wide range of resources, covering themes of emotional, physical, and financial wellbeing. It aims to help individuals recognise when they’re struggling and how to cope with the challenges they’re facing. For each area, there is an extensive list of organisations that can provide further in-depth advice and support.

Research shows that stress, depression, or anxiety account for 27% of all work-related illnesses in construction. Tragically, the charity also reveals that two construction workers in the UK take their own lives each day. The charity’s mission is to ensure that no construction worker or their family feels alone in a crisis and that they get the support they need before it’s too late.

The Make It Visible campaign also has a taskforce of people who are dedicated to visiting construction companies, builders’ merchants, hire centres, and sites across the UK and Ireland to get the conversation started and raise awareness of the free resources. The team has spoken to almost 30,000 people and visited almost 500 sites since the on site tours started in February last year.