Episode 299: Zoe Schmidt & Paul Charteris on how low-carbon construction can actually work

This episode tackles one of construction’s biggest questions: If the built environment needs to rapidly cut embodied carbon, what materials and manufacturing systems can realistically scale.The construction sector sits at the centre of the climate challenge. Cement and concrete underpin modern infrastructure but remain among the world’s most carbon-intensive materials. At the same time, a new generation of circular manufacturers is turning waste streams into building products designed to replace traditional materials altogether. So which path leads to meaningful change? Is the future about decarbonising established industries—or replacing linear systems with circular alternatives? In this episode are Zoe Schmidt Technical Marketing Lead from Adbri, one of Australia’s major cement and construction materials companies working to reduce emissions in hard-to-abate sectors, and Paul Charteris CEO, saveBOARD, a company transforming difficult-to-recycle packaging waste into engineered building materials.Image: Paul Charteris (left) and Zoe Schmidt (right) / Supplied.If you want to see the work of Adbri and saveBoard, they'll be at FutureBuild, ICC Sydney, 11-13 June.Adbri: Stand #212saveBoard: Stand #301