Forde, Sept. 22, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EarlyBirds, an Australian ecosystem that monitors and curates startup, scaleup and mature organizations working on promising forward-looking technological solutions, is helping the construction industry take advantage of the opportunities offered by the circular economy. It does so by connecting major players in construction with innovative companies that have made headway in simplifying the conservation of construction materials, intelligent design, and the reuse of existing infrastructure. Readers can find out more about the company’s open innovation ecosystem by heading over to https://earlybirds.io.
According to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the construction sector accounts for approximately 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions. If current methods of building and maintaining infrastructure are not radically changed, the future is equally bleak because the Global Alliance on Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency predicted that 50% of the world’s urban development that will be needed by 2050 is not even yet built.
One of the recommended ways to reduce this adverse environmental impact is to adopt circular economy approaches in construction. The circular economy refers to a system that is “restorative or regenerative by intention and design.” In construction, this translates to using fewer raw materials, smart modular design, and recycling end-of-life modules resulting from the smart design.
A report by Material Economics predicted that using environmentally friendly raw materials and switching to modular designs that enable reuse could reduce CO2 emissions from the industry by almost 30%. For example, ECOPact green concrete, the industry’s broadest range of green concrete, creates 30% to 100% fewer carbon emissions compared to standard (CEM I) concrete. Adopting circular principles will also benefit the economy as the demand for newer eco-friendly materials will need to be supported by building new facilities with adequate manufacturing capacity. This will spur research into the newer technologies and will also create new jobs that facilitate the recycling and repair of existing infrastructure.
However, there are a few challenges to adopting circular production and recycling methods in the construction industry. EarlyBirds cofounder Jeff Penrose elaborates on the topic by saying, “Established businesses operating in the construction industry are generally slow to adapt. First, the cost of setting up a construction business is so high that it doesn’t make financial sense for most companies to regularly upgrade their technology and equipment with every incremental improvement. Moreover, it is also a challenge to retrain one’s existing employees or find new employees who can work with the newest materials and are adept at using the latest construction methods. New materials will also initially be hard to procure affordably. Finally, due to concerns of safety, economic viability, and the need to meet local codes, the industry errs toward the side of caution and goes for tried-and-tested techniques that guarantee predictable progress within reasonable timeframes. Businesses that want to buck this trend and truly embrace the innovations that motivated startups are bringing to construction can sign up as Early Adopters at https://earlybirds.io/en/early_adopter.”
When asked about how EarlyBirds can help construction companies innovate to achieve zero-waste and zero-emission delivery, Jeff says, “EarlyBirds is the ideal partner to work with for construction and infrastructure industry players. We understand and take advantage of the global innovations that are primed to have an impact on this sector. We achieve this by strategically mapping the specific sectors or technology themes that our Early Adopter clients need to better understand to boost their business. This is extremely useful for scenario planning, understanding trends, solving challenges, identifying partners, and much more.”
The EarlyBirds open innovation ecosystem platform monitors over 4 million innovators and has a range of capabilities for searching and enabling innovation projects and modern workflow pipelines. The EarlyBirds Explorer program, which it refers to as “Innovation as a Service,” helps organizations tap into the ecosystem’s innovations to bolster their processes over time. The company’s Challenger program is for those who are faced with specific technical or business challenges that are impeding their progress and want solutions that meet stringent business, technical, and commercial risk requirements. Companies that believe they can offer steady innovation or solve their industry’s most pressing problems can sign up as innovators at https://earlybirds.io/en/innovator.
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For more information about EarlyBirds, contact the company here:
EarlyBirds
Mr Kris Poria and Mr Jeff Penrose
+61 401 287 060
support@earlybirds.io
‘FORDE’ SUITE 10, LEVEL 1, 26 FRANCIS FORDE BOULEVARD, FORDE, ACT 2914
