How to dramatically reduce embodied carbon in Europe’s built environment ?

Facing the urgency and multi-level of change required in the built environment, the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance (CNCA) launched in 2021, the « Dramatically Reducing Embodied Carbon » (DREC) project, co-coordinated with Eurocities and financed by the Laudes foundation. Focused on reducing embodied carbon in building’s construction, increasing the use of bio-based material and fostering circular economy, this initiative gathers several European cities to prepare Europe’s future for carbon neutral construction.

From 6 to 8 June 2023, Lille Metropole had the pleasure to host a seminar of the DREC project with representatives from European metropoles, associations and European networks, which worked together on common strategies, shared tools and expertise to go further on the decarbonisation of the building sector.

Workshops, presentations and panel-discussions opened the room for multi-level conversations, to take stock of the current European built environment state, identify the challenges and obstacles to overcome to allow significant and impactful transformation, but also co-create solutions and determine the main drivers towards change.

The participants experienced first-hand what these transformations look like on Lille Metropole’s ground, with site visits of projects based on materials reuse and rehabilitation :

• Blanchemaille : located in Roubaix, 15 000 sqm building formerly hosting La Redoute headquarters, rehabilitated into a digital and e-commerce cluster with important reuse of materials and BIM management,
• Rives de la Haute Deûle : an eco-neighborhood in Lille developed around Euratechnologies incubator Le Blan-Lafont, with a focus on the Lille Law Carbon Pacte

A fruitful collective work with uplifting exchanges and talks, shared know-how and feedback on trials and experiments by our participants. But first and foremost, a step taken on shape-thinking the scaling-up of pilot projects to address decarbonisation at a large – and impactful – scale.

To learn more about DREC’s project : website.