Sustainability: trend, necessity, and risk
Talking about sustainability is fashionable — for better and for worse.
For the better, because many people have adopted habits such as separating waste by categories, something they might never have done out of mere civic sense.
For the worse, due to the opportunism of those who use environmental labels and certifications as mere marketing tools, without their products truly meeting sustainability standards.
Construction: an impact we cannot ignore
In Europe, buildings — from design to demolition — account for:
40% of total CO₂ emissions
30% of solid waste
20% of water pollution
Continuing to build in the same way is a luxury we can no longer afford.
Greenwashing for profit also undermines the credibility of certifications, which should serve as a reliable reference for producers and consumers.
Keys to sustainable construction
Sustainable strategies include:
Optimizing energy consumption
Designing resilient, adaptable buildings
Using local, reusable materials
Implementing circular economy practices
Creating healthy environments
And above all: renovating rather than building from scratch whenever possible.
Low-impact materials
In our region, two stand out:
Engineered timber: offering performance far beyond that of natural wood.
Earth: used in rammed earth walls, adobe, or even 3D printing.
Plus: local stone, hemp, and agricultural by-products such as rice husks, sunflower husks, or corn residues.
Reducing reliance on fossil-based materials, especially plastics, is key for the future.
Local production still lagging
Catalonia has forests comparable to Austria’s but has yet to develop a strong local engineered timber industry.
Other regions like the Basque Country, Galicia, or southern France are already working at full capacity.
Example of innovation: the trans-Pyrenean SAVASCO project, which incorporates agricultural waste into building materials.
Political inertia vs. climate urgency
We have the talent, know-how, and resources.
But slow decision-making and outdated legislation are holding us back.
Climate change and the planet’s production collapse won’t wait.
Where do we want to live?
We need to rethink urban and residential habits inherited from the 20th century:
“Eternal” buildings with 70-year mortgages, even though they may be demolished in 50 or 60 years.
Single-family homes in sprawling developments that consume land and resources.
Mass tourism built on large hotels and concrete apartment blocks draining aquifers and landscapes.
Towards a new model
Resilience means:
Light, modular constructions
Landscape integration (even underground when possible)
Deconstructable and reusable materials
Flexible uses over time
Sectors like glamping in tourism or multipurpose spaces in residential design have a promising future.
We don’t need to build cardboard-cutout houses like in Las Vegas — but we do need to understand that nothing lasts forever, not even concrete.
