This month’s guest is Will Arnold. He is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, head of sustainable materials at Useful Simple Trust and author of Future Build: How Construction Can Heal Our Planet.

He told NCE news editor Lee Kenny how a secondment to Rwanda in 2018 changed his understanding of sustainable construction, why the environmental impact of building materials needs greater attention and engineers can help the industry move towards regenerative design.

Arnold described how construction materials could be used more sustainably, a subject he explored in Future Build, which was published in early October.

He explained that the book was intended for a wider audience than the engineering community, particularly clients who can influence the way projects are designed.

Arnold said engineers should question project briefs rather than automatically deliver what clients initially request.

Arnold also discussed the environmental impact of construction materials, saying that as buildings become more energy efficient, embodied carbon accounts for a growing proportion of their lifetime emissions.

He said a typical home built today has an approximately 50-50 split between emissions associated with operational energy and those generated by construction, compared with around 80% from energy use for a typical home built 30 years ago.

He encouraged engineers to look beyond reducing the environmental damage caused by construction and consider how buildings could have a positive impact on the planet.

He said his research had made him more positive about the industry’s ability to change for the better.

“I’m really optimistic,” he said.

“One of the nice things about writing the book was that it gave me more hope that we can change, more hope than I had before.”

The latest episode of the Engineers Collective is out now. This month’s guest is Ayming associate director Ben Craig.

He told New Civil Engineer news editor Lee Kenny how geopolitical and economic uncertainty has increased businesses’ commitment to innovation across the construction and engineering sectors.

His comments followed the publication of Ayming’s International Innovation Barometer 2027, which found that 97% of businesses are experiencing pressure from geopolitical developments.

Ayming surveyed 850 research and development (R&D) and innovation directors, chief financial officers, chief executive officers and chief technical officers across 17 countries in June. The survey covered 10 sectors, including civil engineering and construction.

Within the construction and engineering sector, Craig identified energy costs and materials as two of the main effects of geopolitical events.

“Energy costs have been particularly volatile over the last couple of years as a result of things like the war in Iran,” he said.

“On materials, there have been various conflicts and trade tariffs and so on that are affecting companies. They need to adapt to both the supply and the cost of the materials that are available to them.”

Craig said major projects were particularly affected by these pressures because of their scale and lead times.

“Decisions that were made five, 10, 15 years ago are suddenly coming into question as a result of more recent events that couldn’t really have been anticipated when those decisions were first made,” he said.

The interview explored what these pressures mean on the ground for major infrastructure projects, including the implications for materials, energy, labour and project delivery.

This month’s guest is Steve Denton, managing director, civils at WSP. He is vice president of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Structural Engineers.

He told New Civil Engineer news editor Lee Kenny about the challenges facing the UK’s ageing infrastructure, the impact of climate change on existing assets and why the way the country maintains its infrastructure needs to change.

Denton chaired the National Engineering Policy Centre working group that produced Reviving our Ageing Infrastructure.

The report concluded that the UK's ageing infrastructure is at a tipping point and Denton identified three factors: the age profile of the UK’s infrastructure, the effects of climate change and the level of reliance placed on infrastructure systems.

“The ageing infrastructure that we have in the UK is at a tipping point,” he said.

“We have got an increasing proportion of our asset base which is getting towards the end of its life.”

He also explained that climate change was placing greater demands on existing infrastructure while also accelerating deterioration.

The interview also examined the consequences of infrastructure disruption. Denton argued that incidents where infrastructure is restricted or closed should be seen as an indication of wider risks rather than simply isolated failures.

The conversation also covered the role of government, regulators and engineers in addressing the challenge. Denton said the National Engineering Policy Centre report contains 15 recommendations across seven areas where change is needed, with action required from multiple parties.

He said he was optimistic about the prospects for implementing the recommendations, pointing to the level of engagement from government and across the infrastructure sector since the report was published.

Finally, he highlighted the skills challenge facing infrastructure management and said the sector needed to “celebrate and raise the prestige” of those responsible for managing existing infrastructure.