Earth Overshoot Day
On May 4, Germany reached its Overshoot Day for 2023. What does that mean? By that date, Germans had consumed the volume of natural resources the Earth can regenerate in one year for the country’s approximately 81 million inhabitants. The implication from this is that we would need about three Earths if everyone worldwide led the same high-consumption lifestyle as us. The construction and real estate industry plays a major role in this high consumption. What are the possible solution strategies?
Earth Overshoot Day is the day in the year when the world’s population has consumed all the ecological resources that the Earth can regenerate in that year. The resources measured include biocapacity – the ability of nature to ‘produce’ biological material and break down pollutants – as well as per capita consumption and carbon emissions.
For several decades, Earth Overshoot Day has continued to creep earlier and earlier in the year, indicating the far-reaching and intensifying overexploitation of our resources. This year, Global Earth Overshoot Day will be reached on August 2. Back in 1971 it was still in December.
Country-by-country analysis allows different Overshoot Days (for each country) and the Earth Overshoot Day (for the world as a whole) to be determined. Countries whose Overshoot Day is regularly relatively early in the year include Qatar, Luxembourg, Canada, the USA and the United Arab Emirates. Germany is also in the top third.
The aim of the Earth Overshoot Day initiative is to draw attention to the problem of resource overexploitation and to identify and discuss possible solutions.
The construction and real estate industry must act
As in many other countries, the construction and real estate industry in Germany is responsible for a large share of resource consumption. This makes it particularly important for the players to rethink their previous behavior and to find solutions to achieve a sustainable and future-safe economy. The production of building materials such as concrete and steel is particularly resource-intensive – and the construction process itself also generates huge amounts of waste and emissions. In Germany, construction and demolition waste accounts for about half of all waste generated.
In addition, up to now high energy consumption during building operation has resulted in high greenhouse gas emissions. Heating and cooling consume a lot of energy, as does electricity generation. As a result, the construction and real estate industry is responsible for around 38 percent of global carbon emissions.
Solution strategies for the construction and real estate industry
The construction and real estate industry urgently needs to develop solutions to push Earth Overshoot Day to a date later in the calendar. The aim must therefore be to reduce the overexploitation of resources and perhaps even one day make a positive contribution.
As a company on its way to becoming a Beneficial Company, Drees & Sommer has set itself the goal of giving more back to the environment and society than it takes through its business operations. Our experts develop ideas, concepts and processes based on this mindset. In this way, they support customers from numerous industries with the planning and realization of their projects.
Our measures include: