The following article is a transcription of a conversation between Andrew Johnson, Communications Director at CirQulor, and Phanos Hadjikyriakou, Co-Founder and CEO of 2050-Materials, a scale-up that’s leading the change to a sustainable and circular future for the built environment.
AJ: Hello Phanos, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with me today. Let’s start with a quick elevator pitch. What is 2050 materials about?
PH: Okay, in a snapshot… we build tools to help architects and construction companies create the green buildings of tomorrow. Now, that’s a broad statement, there are a whole load of levels that contribute to that aim… providing support to materials developers, building collaborations between academia, research labs and industry, championing innovation in materials science…
It’s wide, yes, but all with the focus of making the selection of the right materials easier and aligned with current sustainability and circularity thinking.
A big part of what we do is data. Or more precisely, access to data… to drive better decisions on the design and construction of the built environment.
AJ: One of your main stated aims is to democratize sustainability. What do you mean by this?
PH: For us it’s about sharing relevant data and making that data easy to access… by presenting it in a simple-to-understand format that doesn’t require a deep understanding of sustainability or advanced knowledge of ESG metrics. That’s what we mean by democratization.
Leaving decisions on material selection to the scientists or materials manufacturers can be problematic. Putting materials selection in the hands of the architect, designer and even the public has real benefits and will lead to greater advances in developing sustainable built environments. And, of course, the internet plays a big role in that – using the scale of digital to accelerate the knowledge stream to make widespread change possible.
AJ: I understand where you’re coming from with this. At Cirqulor, we’re similarly positioned. one of our guiding principles, if you like, is what we call universality – the desire to make available information, knowledge, tools and innovation to a global audience and not to lock it away for competitive advantage… or worst still, kill it for protectionist reasons. This runs counterintuitive to business trying to achieve competitive advantage, but, we believe the looming climate crisis necessitates a change in sentiment.
PH: Interesting. These are grand thoughts indeed, perhaps a little too theoretical? Our drive is more pragmatic, based on ease of accessibility and delivering a great user experience. You’re right though, time is not on our side. Perhaps industry does need to be more open this time, to accelerate the change to sustainability. Another of our aims is to promote transparency in manufacturing and construction processes – something we believe is also essential for driving change and allowing people to make better decisions.
Another area we believe can reap huge benefits and supercharge transition to sustainability is by inspiring designers, architects and anyone involved in the built environment to learn more about alternative materials and apply that knowledge to their projects.
AJ: You recently launched a new online materials selection tool. Can you tell me a little about this tool?
PH: That’s right, our new Design Optimization Tool (DOT) compares and assesses the environmental impact of building materials and has been developed for designers, architects, contractors and anyone in the construction planning and design function to demystify, structure and simplify the selection of sustainable materials.
AJ: That’s going to save users hours and hours of research time and it clearly reveals environmental impact too for immediate comparison. Now that’s very impressive… and useful! Just how deep does the tool go in assessing impacts? What are the assessment criteria?
PH: Impact criteria will be different for every user, so we’ve categorized impacts in three ways: the Embodied Component – which includes carbon and CO2 emissions, water and recycled content. The Energy Component, again with impacts on emissions, although this will be variable depending on energy production source. And the Circularity Component – which we are currently developing.
AJ: 2050-Materials is an ambitious scale-up venture, so can I ask about your monetization model?
PH: Yes, we’re a commercially oriented business just like yourselves. Okay, so with our Design Optimization Tool (DOT) as an example… the design, set up and propagation of the database is time-consuming and costly. You know there’s a payoff between charging for access and increasing your user base. As for future monetization, yes we have plans to expand DOT into a premium, multi-level, subscription model for architectural practices and construction companies… offering a host of additional features like deep dives, full scope 1 and 2 reporting, greater granularity in metrics, up-to-the-minute regulatory updates, as well as bringing in more of the wider circularity factors such as supply localization impact, recaptured material as a resource etc.…all while continuing free access to the standard tool.
AJ: We can’t wait to see these features Phanos. It’s a supremely useful tool as it stands. Knowing what’s involved in developing these types of utility, what challenges did you have to overcome?
PH: Yes, there have been challenges, as you would expect. For example, a lot of thinking was required on the taxonomy for DOT and the database. In some instances it simply didn’t exist; or varied across different segments of the industry; and regions of the globe.
Data input, cleaning and refinement can be time-consuming. Yes, there are automated methods available, but however good your input systems there’s always a point where you need human intervention.
AJ: Changing the subject, we’re seeing an explosion in research and development in new materials, not just in building construction but across every sector. How will you keep pace with this change? And is there a danger that early mass adoption of a material could hamper later arriving but greener alternative materials?
PH: As with any market, and the Building and Construction industry is no different, some materials will win through, others will fall back as advances in innovation are made. This is only natural. What I believe is important is to take a holistic view on material selection, by which I mean assess it within the full circularity framework and impact assessment. Yes, there is a concern that early mainstream adoption of a specific material could hamper the adoption of greener alternatives at a later stage. But that is something that we are addressing at 2050-Materials… by adding new materials, providing up-to-date data, and presenting metrics on sustainability impacts.
AJ: Okay, good answer. I personally do have concerns, primarily because markets are sometimes lazy, there’s an element of herd mentality, driven particularly when companies feel the need to be seen to act without thinking through the long-term implications. An example in the packaging industry is the rapid adoption of rPET, which initially may appear to be greener but, in reality, simply kicks the can down the road. Is there a material being adopted by the Building & Construction industry currently that you believe could dominate but that may not be the optimum choice in the long term?
PH: Now that’s a good question. There’s currently massive focus and re-evaluation on timber as a structural material for buildings. Timber, in its’ traditional form, has structural loading limitations which is why as buildings went vertical we adopted steel and rebar/concrete construction techniques. Now, with the development of glue laminates we have tremendous multidirectional strength, lower shrinkage, greater stability, all pushing the material’s previous limitations.
However, there are pros and cons which need to be considered, on a macro as well as the individual project level. On the macro, the source of timber – trees and forests – store carbon as they grow, which is a big plus environmentally and means that buildings become long-term carbon sinks. What happens at end of life? Is that carbon released when the material is disposed of? Can the timber be repurposed or reused? Here, much depends on whether appropriate circularity design principles were applied when the building was initially planned and designed and that is more to do with the project level.
The source of the raw material needs to be sustainable which means good forestry practices need to be enforced. There are environmental impact considerations on transporting timber from forest to industrial units to the development site. There are issues with the industrial adhesives used in laminates. Will it degrade safely, or is it toxic?
Yep, it’s complicated. I can see why you have concerns over a market stampede to the straight swap. But that’s why we exist.
AJ: Talking of herds, you really ran with that one and it was fascinating. Unfortunately, we’ve run out of time. I’d like to wrap up by asking whether you are optimistic for the future.
PH: Being pragmatic, I do see a clear path to achieving the solutions we need to live more harmoniously with the planet – within the safe zones of the planetary boundaries. So yes, I’m confident for the future, but it’s not going to be a smooth ride. I think we will see massive change over the next 10 years and, for me, the key will be to make things simple for everyone. Simple to understand. Simple to access. Simple to act on.
AJ: Thank you Phanos.
Try out the 2050-Materials Design Optimization Tool (DOT) with this working demo.
Photo by James Feaver on Unsplash
