Construction Industry Role in Natural Resources Depletion and How to Reduce It

Due to the limited natural resources on our planet, we must take into account three essential factors, including environment, society, and economy, in all design and construction aspects. The environment has suffered because of the devastating human impact on our planet caused by industries that pollute, destroy, and produce waste. Rising levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHG) have contributed to global warming, which has caused climate change that affects human life and threatens the coming generations. Among industries, construction has an aggressive impact on the environment. This is responsible for the detrimental consumption of raw materials from Earth. It is responsible for extracting a large amount of natural resources worldwide. The construction sector contributes to air pollution, climatic change, water pollution, and landfill waste. It is responsible for high energy use and carbon dioxide emissions. This study views the construction industry’s effects on the environment, energy spending, and natural resource depletion to lighten the impact the construction industry has on the environment and how to reduce it. This chapter considers the construction industry’s impact on natural resources and ways to control and mitigate this impact. The chapter tracks several trends in the construction industry: sustainable design is becoming increasingly mainstream and growing to seek appropriate ways to conserve natural resources and protect the environment. Construction materials continue to evolve with higher-strength steel and concrete, high-performance glazing, waste reduction, and material recycling.