Engineering a Circular Economy in the Built Environment
Channel: Engineering for Change
Date: 07/03/2022

MARCH 4TH | 11AM TO 12:30PM ET 

The construction industry is highly extractive and uses enormous volumes of natural resources. The sector accounts for 40 percent global raw material use and 25 percent of carbon dioxide emissions. Furthermore, estimates suggest climate change could push an additional 100 million people into poverty by 2030. This requires proactive thinking on the design and delivery of housing products and services, especially to people in low- and middle-income countries.

Our homes and businesses offer vast potential for reducing the impact of the built environment. Through creative engineering and design, organizations around the world can drive circular economies for a more sustainable future.

View this webinar, in celebration of World Engineering Day, March 4th, as we present a virtual round table with experts in sustainable engineering and design. Up for discussion, circular economies and the built environment in the Global South. This work advances the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda in the run-up to 2030.

On the agenda:

THE NEED FOR A SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE ON SUSTAINABILITY IN HOUSING AND OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCEPT OF CIRCULARITY TO VULNERABLE POPULATIONS, AND HOW THEY CAN BENEFIT
THE UNIQUE ROLE ENGINEERS TAKE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CIRCULAR ECONOMY
HOW ENGINEERING PROFESSIONS ARE CONVERGING TOWARD INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION TO ACHIEVE THE SDGS, EXEMPLIFIED BY WORLD ENGINEERING DAY
INSIGHT INTO INNOVATION IN MECHANICAL, MATERIALS AND STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING, INTERNET AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY AND 3D DESIGN TOOLS IMPROVING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF CONSTRUCTION AND THE PLACES WHERE WE LIVE.

Panelists

Cristina Contreras,  Research Associate at the Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure at Harvard University. 

Nzambi Matee, Founder and CEO of Gjenge Makers Ltd, a social enterprise that upcycles plastic waste into paving and building blocks. 

Patrick Kelley, who leads Habitat for Humanity International’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter. The Terwilliger Center works to develop market-based solutions for improved and affordable housing by strengthening affordable housing value chains, stimulating innovation and enterprise solutions for shelter, mobilizing investment capital to move housing solutions to scale, and leading research and thought leadership that influence more vibrant and resilient housing markets.

Rick Bohan, Senior Vice President, Sustainability for the Portland Cement Association and coordinates all of PCA’s sustainability related activities including the development and delivery of PCA’s Roadmap to carbon neutrality and its ongoing implementation. 

Karen Ohland, 141st president of ASME and will serve during the 2022-2023 term of office. 

Martín Ignacio del Pino, an Industrial Engineer of the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Senior Associate en McKinsey.org and past E4C fellow working in a landscape analysis of circular economy and sustainable housing in Mexico and Kenya.