5. No Hoax

Intentional as well as unintended greenwashing runs rampant in all parts of our society and the construction sector is no exception. False or exaggerated claims of sustainability set the entire field back, as they blur our understanding of the scale of impact of various actions and cast doubt on all sustainability efforts. To achieve maximum impact and be able to reliably communicate it, decisions taken in construction projects must be grounded in the best available scientific knowledge. To ensure efforts can be traced, replicated and shared, both the impacts and the processes used to achieve them need to be carefully documented and reported. 

Transparent and comprehensive documentation requires an understanding of and data from the entire value chain. At the moment it is still often challenging to get reliable information about construction materials and products. Where do the various raw materials come from and what chemicals do they contain, for example? As regulatory development is shifting the focus of construction sector actors to supply chains, more attention will be paid to these questions.

While documentation is often considered highly technical and dull, it can reveal something otherwise hidden, and help us comprehend complex scientific information in a more easily digestible form. Ambitious documentation and reporting are a tool for producing and sharing knowledge and best practices required for the green transition – at best they can shed light on challenges and perspectives, which we haven’t yet considered.