inspire design: architecture, graphics and retail design

I found it fascinating to read an article in WAN (newsletter 17th October) regarding the co2 emissions in the cement industry. In a shock announcement the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) made up of the heads and senior staff of 18 leading companies that produce more than 40 percent of the planet demands confirmed that a staggering 5 percent of the world carbon emissions were caused by cement production, greater than the entire aviation industry. Last year china cement manufacturing alone created 540,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, greater than the entire pollution of the UK.
As we progress towards carbon neutral and carbon negative buildings, the issue of embedded carbon within buildings will become ever more prominent. Embedded carbon within materials (carbon produced in the manufacturing process) has yet to come to the forefront of government policy with policy still directed towards the final product and it’s use, but inevitably the manufacturing process will become part of the overall carbon emission.
Although it doesn’t appear relevant to the retail sector bear this in mind, policies are already being considered to display the efficiency of a retailers greenness with categorised certificates to be displayed within the retail unit stating the properties carbon emission. As the consumer becomes more green aware it is inevitable that they will require their retailers to be eco-friendly. Act now or you may lose a considerable chunk of your consumer market.