As Grids Get Cleaner, Building Materials Become the Real Climate Problem

As Grids Get Cleaner, Building Materials Become the Real Climate Problem

From Climate Confident by Tom Raftery

April 22, 2026 · 35 min · Season 1 · Episode 272

About this episode

This episode discusses the impact of building materials on climate change, featuring architect Alexander Sexsmith.

Get in touch - leave me a message Concrete alone accounts for around 7-8% of global emissions. So what happens when the real climate problem in buildings is no longer just energy, but the materials themselves? In this episode of Climate Confident, I’m joined by Alexander Sexsmith, architect and founder of Sexsmith Architects, to unpack what regenerative architecture means when stripped of the fluff. We look at the climate challenge hiding in plain sight across the built environment: embodied ...

People in this episode

Host: Tom Raftery

Guest: Alexander Sexsmith

Topics covered

  • climate change
  • building materials
  • regenerative architecture
  • embodied carbon
  • energy efficiency

Keywords

  • concrete
  • global emissions
  • climate problem
  • built environment
  • sustainability

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sexsmith Architects

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