Why sustainable infrastructure?
Sustainable construction is everywhere in buildings, but sustainability principles are gaining traction in another category: infrastructure. That’s why this year the LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction has devoted its triennial forum to this topic. Why is sustainability becoming a major topic in infrastructure? The worldwide transition from predominantly rural to urban living and mounting climate change-related issues make the need for sustainable infrastructure more crucial.
“Infrastructure is most often sustainable by nature, as it contributes to the community and urban development. What’s more, a lack of infrastructure is a clear handicap to achieving sustainability,” says Head of Sustainable Development at LafargeHolcim Bernard Mathieu. This has prompted the United Nations to include the sustained investment in resilient infrastructure among its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
For Bernard Mathieu, the next step is building “high performing, resource-efficient, environmentally-friendly infrastructure that can provide tangible values to communities, as a response to this massive urbanization or by protecting them against earthquakes or the adverse effects of climate change such or flooding.”