Sustainable infra is just not about the materials, architect says

“The difference between a sustainable concrete and a non-sustainable concrete is very, very small. You have to go from bamboo to concrete before you can see anything really sizable. But then you cannot build vertical bamboo,” said William Ti, principal architect of WTA Architect and Design Studio, in a chance interview with GMA News Online.

Ti added sustainability in architecture also means that the materials and the technology used are locally sourced and done. 

“You can do vertical wood now, but whether it’s sustainable or not — it’s actually not because we only have hardwood. So if we start importing wood from Scandinavia to the Philippines, it makes it unsustainable na,” he said pointing to the carbon footprint of imported wood. “A lot of these technologies are only sustainable when done in their countries of origin.”

The United Nations Environment Programme earlier reported that the building and construction sector accounted for over 34%  of energy demand and around 37% of energy and process-related CO2 emissions in 2021.