## 1 Introduction  
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) emerged as an initiative to promote economic growth and fulfil social needs, such as education, health, and job opportunities while dealing with climate change. Intended as a roadmap for sustainable development, the SDGs address interconnected global challenges, such as poverty, hunger, health, education, gender equality, clean water, sanitation, and others. This initiative recognises the importance of an integrated approach, promoting economic growth, social inclusivity, and environmental sustainability. Additionally, the SDGs highlight the need to address climate change and its widespread impact on ecosystems, economies, and societies. The United Nations 2030 agenda serves as a timeline for achieving these goals by proposing 17 goals and 169 related targets, in which multidisciplinary approaches at a global level are considered. In general, the construction value chain through new buildings and renovations is essential to meet the UN SDGs, for example, by including safe and affordable housing (SDG 11), providing transportation and energy infrastructure (SDGs 7 and 9), and water and sanitation (SDG 6) [1]. Through a conceptual framework of building materials, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [2] concluded that building materials can help achieve 13 goals, namely SDGs 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 17, and 25 targets of the UN 2030 Agenda. The authorsprovided a state-of-the-art review of the SDGs, focusing on the connections to buildings and materials. They illustrated how building materials play a role in accelerating the SDGs despite highlighting the lack of research in this field [2]. In summary, material choice is recognised as having a significant impact on the UN SDGs, which shows how important they are for creating a better and more equitable future. The construction industry is one of the most polluting activities, accounting for 37% of global operational energy and process-related CO\({}_{2}\) emissions and 34% of total energy use (Figure 1) [3; 4]. It is also a strategic sector that can impact climate change, living conditions, economic growth, and city resilience. Building materials and construction activities also account for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions and 50% of all resource extraction [4]. According to the International Energy Agency report [5], global energy-related CO\({}_{2}\) emissions grew 0.9% in 2022, or 321 Mt, of which 60 Mt CO\({}_{2}\) is associated with heating and cooling demand in extreme weather. During the operational phase of a building, 80% of household energy is related to thermal comfort [6], emphasising the importance of effective envelope and insulation to reduce energy demand. However, embodied carbon on conventional thermal insulation products can have a high environmental impact. In this context, the IPCC's sixth report [7] proposes the adoption of low-carbon materials and nature-based solutions to diminish the long-term embodied carbon in buildings. Additionally, recent publications show that passive strategies and proper choice and use of materials can reduce significant HVAC systems employment in buildings [8]. The 2020 Global Status Report for Building and Construction [4] highlights that building is a domain that lacks mitigation policies on CO\({}_{2}\) emissions despite its impact. As environmental awareness becomes more relevant, driven by the consequences of climate change, some initiatives arise from global governments. In Europe, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) recast of 2022 [9] stipulates the life cycle assessment of the Global Warming Potential (GWP) for new buildings starting in 2030. This directive will significantly impact future thermal regulations, aligning with the European Green Deal [6] goal to decarbonise the EU's building stock by 2050, positioning Europe to lead as the first climate-neutral continent. Material choice becomes essential to lowering the environmental impact of building materials.