At the SIL Investment Prothe session “New Construction Techniques” highlighted the emergence of significant changes in the construction sector. In a panel moderated by Margarida Ordaz Caldeira, Founder & Director of WIRE Portugal, sector experts shared valuable insights into the changes underway in the construction sector and new construction techniques.
Manuel Collares Pereira, Scientific Advisor at Vanguard Properties, highlighted the impact of Kozowood, a Vanguard Properties company that produces wooden houses, on the sector. «People have the idea that wooden construction is largely associated with modules, but there is no reason why it should only be limited to modular construction.», he stated, adding that «It is possible to completely replace traditional building construction components with wooden components. There are no architectural limitations».
Vanguard’s scientific advisor indicated that Kozowood «manufactures the components so that this revolution in construction can happen. In terms of sustainability, this paradigm shift is very important in terms of reducing emissions, but also for removing CO2 from the atmosphere.». As for people’s knowledge of this new paradigm, he believes that “There is progress being made and a strong evolution, and it is also important to look at what wooden construction has been like in other countries and learn from them».
“Industrialization brings an increase in product and service quality”
Nuno Fernandes, General Director of Grupo Casais, highlighted the challenges associated with the revolution in construction, noting that «We often talk about technological change, but associated with this change there is a whole change in mindset». Speaking about industrialization, he emphasized that this process «brings an increase in the quality of the product, service and ESG practices». When talking about construction techniques, «We also talk about giving people new skills, given that there is a whole process of “evangelizing” people that needs to be done, convinced, heard a lot of “no’s”, etc.».
At Casais, «the logic is more of a platform and collaborative environment. When this is the case, it becomes essential that there is advance thought about the application of these techniques.». With regard to the circularity of products, «When we refer to products that can be clearly identified and dismantled in the future, there is a potential circularity and second-hand market that may appear in the future. It is a value component that the market may not yet be ready for, but it is inevitable», highlights Nuno Fernandes.
On the other hand, José Martos, CEO of Saint-Gobain Portugal, highlighted the urgency of decarbonizing the housing sector, saying that «We must recognize the impact that construction has on the environment: 40% of CO2 emissions are related to housing. There is a very strong carbon footprint in the housing sector, if we want to achieve carbon neutrality, we have to decarbonize housing». The person responsible for Saint-Gobain Portugal reiterated that «our way of building is not sustainable» and that at Saint-Gobain «We are fully committed to carbon neutrality by 2050».
“The Government has a huge challenge ahead if it wants to achieve carbon neutrality”
José Martos reinforced the need to «rehabilitate the housing stock that we have in Portugal and that, to achieve this, the Government must be intelligent in the way it approaches the situation». The support that the Government will provide to renovate the housing stock «should aim to improve building envelopes and, in a second phase, improve the active system»
Margarida Correia Pires, Head of Business Development – New Downstream at EDP, addressed the challenges of the energy transition, highlighting that «At EDP we are very active in the production of renewable energy, but we want more than that: we want families to participate in this implementation of the energy transition and in reducing the carbon footprint». For the EDP representative in the debate, «If we want to achieve carbon neutrality, we all have to act on it».
In terms of local energy production, «We are undoubtedly ahead, as we were one of the first countries to introduce possible legislation for the production of rentable energy in a way where there was a photovoltaic plant and self-consumption by several people was possible.».
However, in terms of electric mobility «we are not ahead»considered Margarida Correia Pires, emphasizing that «there are countries that have legislation that facilitates this adoption; in Portugal we have a great constraint, the power of the buildings themselves, our network is not prepared».
