Building Better: Why Our Material Choices Matter

Building Better: Why Our Material Choices Matter

These days, we care more than ever about where things come from. We check food labels for local, organic produce and look for clothing brands using recycled or ethically sourced materials. But when it comes to our built environment—the houses we live in, the offices we work from, the roads we drive on—it’s much harder to trace the origins of materials or feel we have any real say in the process.

Last week, I had the chance to visit E & JW Glendinning Ltd, a quarry and concrete manufacturer near my home. I’ve known of it for years—mostly for its dust clouds, lorry convoys, and the occasional slightly alarming explosion. But I’d never actually been inside. Alongside the team Terrain Talks, I got to see first-hand how limestone is extracted and transformed into materials like agricultural lime for farms, aggregates for roads, and concrete blocks for construction.

This quarry, sitting within Dartmoor National Park, operates on a limestone seam that runs the length of the country. Despite its scale, it primarily supplies materials within a 40-mile radius before competing with other quarries; a reminder that construction, even at an industrial level, is often a local and even a family business.

Now, as a sustainable design/build company, you might wonder: why visit a concrete manufacturer when we champion low-impact materials like timber and hemp?

Because understanding where materials come from—and the industries behind them—is key to making better choices. Concrete accounts for 8% of global CO2 emissions, making it one of the biggest contributors to climate change. But what struck me during this visit was how capable of adaption large industry is. Glendinning started as an agricultural lime supplier, and over the years, they’ve innovated and evolved their business in response to market demands. Today, they import cement from France to produce concrete blocks for local housing.

This reinforced a crucial point: supply follows demand. If we continue building homes from concrete blocks, manufacturers will keep importing cement. But if we shift toward timber-framed houses, investment will move towards sustainable forestry.

And there’s good reason to make that shift. Timber construction can store carbon rather than emit it, with one cubic meter of wood locking away around one tonne of CO2. The UK imports around 80% of its timber, but with better investment in UK forestry, we could reduce that while boosting local economies.

We already vote with our wallets when it comes to food and fashion—why not buildings too? The choices we make as homeowners, designers, and builders drive change. The more we demand sustainable, locally sourced materials, the more industries will evolve to meet that need.

The built environment might feel like something beyond our control, but it isn’t. If we want a future where homes are made from sustainable materials, that shift is driven by individual choices.