88. Sustainable Construction & The Future of Cities with Saint-Gobain
In this conversation:
When we talk about climate change, we usually talk about how we have to fly less, drive less, eat less meat, cut down our plastic, etc, but we don’t often talk about the impact of cities. However, the truth is that cities are responsible for 80 percent of all greenhouse emissions!
Of course, that 80% includes a lot of driving and meat-eating and energy consumption etc, and the density of cities just makes those numbers so much larger. But we should also know that buildings in cities are the source of around 40 percent of final energy consumption and nearly 30 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions!
And cities are only expected to grow. With approximately half of the global population living in cities right now, we’re expecting to see that number increase to two-thirds in 2050. So how do we rise to this challenge? Is it really possible to make cities net-zero or even net-positive?
That is what we’ll get into in this conversation with Benoit Bazin, CEO of Saint-Gobain!
Our host Anne Therese Gennari in conversation with Benoit Bazin
Our Guest
Benoit Bazin is the current CEO of Saint-Gobain, one of the top ten oldest corporations in the world, and an aspiring worldwide leader in sustainable construction. The company was first founded in 1665 by the French King’s minister Colbert, with the intention to get France ahead of the mirror-making business, and ended up producing all the glass for the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.
With 167,000 employees spanning 110 different nationalities and industrial operations in no less than 70 countries, Saint-Gobain is a company we want with us on the sustainability ride! You currently find their windows in Le Louvre, The Statue of Liberty, the Whitney Museum, and other impressive buildings around the world.
A Few Facts About Cities
In 1800, fewer than one in ten people lived in a city. Today, 55 percent of the world’s population lives in cities. By 2050, probably more than two-thirds of humanity will live in cities. (The Urban Challenge - Reviving the Desire to Live in Cities by Pierre-André de Chalendar)
If you look at the individual footprint, people in cities tend to have a lower overall footprint than those living in urban areas (who drive most places, have bigger houses, etc). However, the challenge with growing cities is to redesign them to sustain more and more people while leaving a (hopefully) carbon-neutral footprint on the planet.
Many countries are now aspiring to create “sustainable cities”, “smart cities”, or “peaceful cities”. A lot of those goals have to do with re-introducing nature into cities and rebalancing the micro-climates and natural ecosystems.
To dive deeper, read The Urban Challenge - Reviving the Desire to Live in Cities by Pierre-André de Chalendar, Chairman and former CEO at Saint-Gobain.
Learn more about Saint-Gobain:
Website: www.saint-gobain.com
Instagram: @saintgobaingroup
Twitter: @saint-gobain
