Built environment/wellness
Our cities, buildings and man-made environment plus issues around health and wellness
archiTECHture
The built environment is an important decarbonisation (and efficiency) problem. Tech innovations can help.
Are green buildings more valuable?
Apparently buildings with better sustainability credentials are achieving markedly higher capital values and rents
Hospitals and sustainability
Hospitals and healthcare facilities help sustain human life. But at what cost to the environment?
Energy efficiency is the first step
The cheapest and greenest energy is the energy we don't use. Calls for a national 'war effort' on energy efficiency.
Finding hidden pollution on the tube.
Pollution on the London Underground may be more harmful than previously thought, but the solution may be pure magnetism.
AMR - Spoiling the party with physics and material science
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a macro threat to the sustainability of the human race and other species. Bringing together different solutions we should be able to continue to enjoy the benefits of our microbe partners whilst avoiding their darker side.
PM2.5 linked to heart attacks
Air pollution increasing the incidence of cardiac arrests, even if that exposure is short-term.
AMR, climate change and biodiversity loss
Sustainability themes are rarely mutually exclusive. Three big ones are inextricably linked.
The answer, my friend, is suckin' in the wind
The windcatcher, used for thousands of years, is another example of a simple and ancient innovation that can be a solution today.
Pesticides and PFAS
'Forever chemicals' can get into pesticides in more ways than previously thought.
The risk of actual (and perceived) provenance issues
Provenance of products and raw materials is a key risk factor for any manufacturer. It is essential that companies have appropriate governance measures for their supply chains (and downstream distribution) and have action plans for dealing with disruption to supply and/or sales.
An underground solution to drought?
Whilst the incidence of drought in the Horn of Africa has been increasing, so too have ground stores of water.