Sustainability and Embodied Carbon

By Carlos Yanez

There are topics that are attractive to the masses by themselves, others that, being more specific or specialized, are attractive to investors, stakeholders or decision makers; but there are also some others in which everyone should be interested and where lines converge in which several of the aforementioned actors intervene, and also have an impact on the lives and activities of everyone. I am referring to sustainability.

All productive activity has great impacts on the surroundings and the environment. Due to the moment of humanity in which we find ourselves, many of these activities must continue to avoid crises and provide solutions that help to face challenges such as water scarcity, climate change or the lack of information on what is currently being done to promote sustainable production methods; for the purposes of what is addressed in our initiative, sustainable construction methods.

This is where communication takes on a vital role. Any advance, achievement or innovation must be known by the greatest number of people so that it can be replicated, adopted or even surpassed. Knowledge and information will always be important allies for those who strive to generate positive change on the planet.

Wood Architecture is based on principles such as ecology, social responsibility, governance and ethics; conditions and characteristics that, if they remain good intentions or do not come to light, would not have the expected effect and would not give impetus to new projects and initiatives that revolutionize the way of carrying out productive and constructive activities, the ways of doing business or how we protect and interact with the environment.

A sample that bears witness to the above is the study The Rise of Sustainable Media carried out by Dentsu and Microsoft Advertisement. The document reveals that 91% of the people surveyed want brands to take into account the environment and the protection of the planet when making decisions.

Giving visibility to good actions, volunteering, programs, studies, construction methods and the ways in which we can all contribute to a better world, generates healthy competition and disseminates the direction that humanity must take in the 21st century, in addition to broadening the vision of consumers so that they promote the initiatives of those of us who are taking action on the matter.

Today, the public is better informed, making purchasing decisions based on knowing where the products they buy come from, how they were produced, what impact their manufacturing has and what their role is in the entire sales chain. All this information must be put into the appropriate channels so that it is available to all those who can do something with it; whether to direct a company towards a new path, legislate on better ways of producing or acquiring goods and services that care about and take care of saving resources, reduce their negative impact and offer tangible solutions that benefit everyone.