Markets for People – Focusing on social sustainability
Dear BetonTage attendees, dear industry partners,
More than ever, designing sustainable solutions for construction will be the challenge for the coming years and decades. However, our focus should not only be on environmental aspects, which are often discussed quite narrowly applying carbon footprint as the sole criterion, but also on economic and social issues that tend to be overlooked amid the debate. The durability, resilience, and longevity of concrete positively influence economic and social aspects, as well as the outcome of the life cycle assessment, i.e., the environmental footprint of the material.
Experience gained while implementing the green transition shows that green solutions will prevail whenever they are also driven by economic factors. This can be achieved by deliberately worsening underlying conditions or favoring specific construction alternatives or methods – which is almost always associated with market distortion – on the one hand, or through genuine cost benefits of new, sustainable solutions on the other. The booming adoption of photovoltaic systems by consumers, for instance, is mainly driven by medium- and long-term cost savings. By contrast, pure altruism and an ideology of renunciation will not instigate a mass movement towards more sustainable solutions.
Likewise, social sustainability is becoming increasingly important: The shortage of hundreds of thousands of affordable apartments in metropolitan areas has already led to social tension and envy, which is the perfect recipe for creating social division.
The only way to counter this is to quickly implement cost-effective solutions based on durable construction methods. In this respect, prefabricated, slim concrete components are the best option because they provide a fast and simple way to overcome housing shortage while ensuring a high quality standard in construction. To achieve this goal, we must redirect our focus to the actual needs of the people. This is why we chose “Markets for People” as the heading of the industry’s leading congress, the 70th BetonTage edition, which will take place from 10 to 12 March at CCU Ulm.
This is where we will be discussing sustainable projects involving the entire construction value chain. We cordially invite you to contribute your solutions to create new momentum and help us shape the future of construction together.
Yours sincerely,
Friedrich Gebhart
