Ingenuity

Managing water: how digital twins reveal hidden leaks

Water infrastructure is often underground out of sight. New digital tools can make the invisible visible, and offer a solution to the perennial problem of leaking pipes

Water: climate change brings new risks for industry

Major users can no longer take water for granted. Climate change is forcing companies to confront an array of heightened risks — from shortages and flooding, to reputational damage and conflict with neighbours

Water: New Zealand applies Maori philosophy to 21st-century challenges

Aotearoa New Zealand is taking a radical approach to water management — based on Māori principles that prioritize the health of water above all other needs

Blank Canvas: How do we isolate pathogens, but not scientists?

High-containment labs are among the world’s most secure buildings. Three teams take on the challenge of making them into smarter workplaces

The realist’s road to zero

We can’t build a net-zero world without using steel and concrete, and these industries are relying on the same limited pool of green resources as many others to decarbonize. In this series, The Possible explores the tough choices ahead

The realist’s road to zero: #5 Carbon capture and storage

As things stand, almost all decarbonization roads eventually lead to CCUS technology. But there are currently fewer than 30 plants operational worldwide. So how do we get from here to net-zero?

The realist’s road to zero: #4 Nature-based offsets

We could — and should — grow more trees. But that won’t be anywhere near enough to avert the climate crisis. We need to look further than nature-based offsets, and perhaps more closely at forests themselves

The realist’s road to zero: #3 The hydrogen economy

Hydrogen could help many of the world’s most carbon-intensive processes to reach net-zero — just as long as we can decarbonize the production of hydrogen itself

The realist’s road to zero: #2 Decarbonizing renewables

There’s no getting round it: to decarbonize the world’s power supply, we are going to have to “spend” a lot of carbon in the process. But there are ways we can reduce the size of the bill

The realist’s road to zero: #1 Concrete and steel

The production of cement and steel requires huge amounts of energy. We can’t do without them, but can they ever be zero-carbon?

Blank canvas: Can we turn electricity substations into nature-positive assets?

Three teams come up with solutions for greening essential — but not necessarily attractive — infrastructure

Modular buildings: movable, interchangeable, but are they flexible?

Additive architecture has a mixed history, and pods are not exactly suited to creating open spaces, but plug-in buildings may offer other advantages

Adaptable secrets of (very) old buildings

Heritage buildings are often masters of reinvention — what can today’s designers learn from them?

Flexible buildings: the problem with mixing layers

Different parts of a building evolve at different speeds, so it makes sense to keep them separate

Smart tech: another layer of flexibility

An adaptable overlay of smart modes could help buildings to remain useful for longer

The ultimate flexible building

More than ever, we need buildings that can bend to whatever the future brings. But flexibility itself has always been a malleable concept. Can it be pinned down?

After COVID-19: How Can Smart Tech Make Healthcare More Resilient?

Data is the most powerful weapon we have against future crises

After COVID-19, How Can We Make Hospitals Safe?

The pandemic poses new challenges and some very big questions

Smart Security In The Post-Pandemic Office

How we can optimize the environment to give employees the normalcy they are seeking, while implementing new policies and procedures?

How Can Smart Transform The Office Experience Post-Covid?

The fusion of building tech, smartphones and wearables could make the post-pandemic workplace not just possible, but much, much better

Can Smart Save the Post-Covid Office?

Digital technologies can enable healthier, safer, more efficient buildings – and leverage assets that owners may not realize they have

How Can Healthy Buildings Stop Covid-19?

Designing for wellbeing supports infection control now, but also resilience to future epidemics, writes building wellness specialist Meike Borchers

The Post-Pandemic Office: What About the Elevators?

Vertical transportation is what makes multi-storey buildings possible. So what happens when enclosed spaces, push buttons and efficiency become the problem rather than the solution?

Covid-19 and the office: A workplace safety revolution

The health and safety landscape has changed completely for businesses, writes safety specialist Doug Crann

Can better indoor air fight Covid-19?

Strategies that will improve resilience in offices, and those that won’t

Can we virus-proof the office?

Safety and reassurance will be paramount when we eventually return to work

Blank Canvas: Can we Benefit from District Energy Without Massive Upfront Investment?

Three engineers offer solutions to a developer’s challenge

Embodied carbon: The Mysteries of Measurement

The process of defining and calculating embodied carbon is complex, occasionally contradictory and constantly evolving

Embodied Carbon: The High Price of Over-Design

We need to completely rethink the way we use structural materials, argues Cambridge engineering expert Julian Allwood

Embodied carbon: The Complicated Case of Concrete

Can there be good, sustainable reasons to specify cement-based structures?

Carbon: where the embodied is buried

The embodied carbon of materials is a hard concept to sell — and an even harder one to define and measure. But one thing is certain: this unseen footprint needs to fall

Blank Canvas: Can we plan a refurbishment without a site visit?

How do we find out what state a building is in without disrupting the existing tenants?

The new shape of water: adapting to climate change

Managing water: how digital twins reveal hidden leaks

Water: climate change brings new risks for industry

Water: New Zealand applies Maori philosophy to 21st-century challenges

Blank Canvas: How do we isolate pathogens, but not scientists?

The realist’s road to zero

The realist’s road to zero: #5 Carbon capture and storage

The realist’s road to zero: #4 Nature-based offsets

The realist’s road to zero: #3 The hydrogen economy

The realist’s road to zero: #2 Decarbonizing renewables

The realist’s road to zero: #1 Concrete and steel

Blank canvas: Can we turn electricity substations into nature-positive assets?

Modular buildings: movable, interchangeable, but are they flexible?

Adaptable secrets of (very) old buildings

Flexible buildings: the problem with mixing layers

Smart tech: another layer of flexibility

The ultimate flexible building

After COVID-19: How Can Smart Tech Make Healthcare More Resilient?

After COVID-19, How Can We Make Hospitals Safe?

Smart Security In The Post-Pandemic Office

How Can Smart Transform The Office Experience Post-Covid?

Can Smart Save the Post-Covid Office?

How Can Healthy Buildings Stop Covid-19?

The Post-Pandemic Office: What About the Elevators?

Covid-19 and the office: A workplace safety revolution

Can better indoor air fight Covid-19?

Can we virus-proof the office?

Blank Canvas: Can we Benefit from District Energy Without Massive Upfront Investment?

Embodied carbon: The Mysteries of Measurement

Embodied Carbon: The High Price of Over-Design

Embodied carbon: The Complicated Case of Concrete

Carbon: where the embodied is buried

Blank Canvas: Can we plan a refurbishment without a site visit?

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