Demolition is constructing a green future

As published on Construction News - July 2023.

There are various inflection points in history that have changed the path of society, science and humanity. Be it the fabled apple falling on Sir Isaac Newton’s head, the accidental discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming or the coming together of the Founding Fathers to develop a new way of governing the USA, all have led to major change. Change in thought and change in behaviour.

Accepting the comparison may be a little stretched, perhaps the European Demolition Association’s (EDA) annual conference in Amsterdam could be another major turning point. Maybe not to the same scale of the examples above – but who knows.

The reason I draw this comparison relates to one particularly lively and informative session held on the first afternoon of the conference, which ran from 15-17 June 2023. The session was focused on the environmental concerns for the demolition industry. The room, full of 70 to 80 delegates from across Europe, began by receiving two talks; one from Jon van Herk of Veras in the Netherlands about the issue of Nitrogen compounds on demolition and construction sites and one from me, sharing Rye’s experience of running carbon audits and how other demolition firms can embark upon their own carbon reduction journey.

Both sessions were well received and met with interesting and challenging questions from the audience. But what came next was a real seed of hope for the future.

Jose Blanco, Secretary General of the EDA, moved the session on to an interactive workshop, challenging the room of demolition professionals to explore further environmental concerns and potential solutions.

Companies like Rye have been proactive in bringing on alternative fuels in machinery, conducting carbon audits and innovating with digital waste management tools to reduce truck movements, but it was universally agreed that real progress at scale can only be made if collaboration improves.

I had a fruitful discussion with the new CEO of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors, Duncan Rudall, on the matter and it was exciting to hear of his desire to work with, not only UK contractors, but also government, other international federations, developers, and industry service providers to find a way forward.

It’s imperative that organisations like the NFDC and the EDA continue to work to unite the industry and influence change. The desire appears to be there.