Commercialising Decarbonisation in Building Materials

A guide to improving commercial outcomes across sustainable building products and solutions.

Current State of Play

The cement industry accounts for 8% of all global CO2 emissions each year. If it were a nation, the cement industry would rank as the third largest emitter of CO2, ahead of both Russia and India and surpassed only by the USA and China. Global urbanisation trends are driving construction demand and consequently the industry is projected to produce 5 billion tonnes per year by 2030, cementing its place as the second most used commodity behind water.

Global environmental summits and committees, such as the Paris Agreement and the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) have worked with major cement manufacturers and construction companies to introduce ambitious targets and incentives to work towards decarbonisation. This has prompted a fast track for decarbonisation initiatives across the sector, setting the collective objective of becoming a true ‘NetZero’ industry by 2050.

With this development, investment in a varied range of technologies seeking to either optimise and improve the carbon impact across the supply chain or produce viable low carbon materials has followed. This has led to a dramatic increase in start-ups and ventures across the industry, offering solutions that accelerate decarbonisation.

Defining the Problem

Adopting decarbonising technologies that make both commercial and environmental sense is a core problem and as a result, customer uptake is slow. In the construction sector, architects are hesitant to adopt new materials due to a lack of trust in its structural qualities or the higher price of low carbon alternative materials.  If customer uptake improves, the pace of decarbonisation will follow suit.

Additionally, although innovation is moving at record pace, the market has become saturated with a variety of solutions and growing uncertainty whether technology can deliver true impact, both of which represent significant risk. From a customer perspective, this means there are large costs associated with alternative materials and a great deal of due diligence and research is required to evidence and justify adoption to boards. Furthermore, there are also industry-wide issues convincing developers of tech’s suitability to meet rigid construction standards.

We asked Camilo Restrepo, CEO at Biomason for his perspective:

“At Biomason our biggest challenge is adoption of our technology by existing producers of concrete products. New technology adoption will always take time, and it will be based on performance of technology and product, which we have achieved, and interest by early adopters, on which we are working on and have a few relationships moving forward. We must act to nudge industry and society to adopt new low carbon concrete products that change the world. BioMason is one of the technologies and companies that will do so!  Barriers that will need to be overcome next is standards for products in each of the markets. For this the industry will have to work towards developing standards that guarantee safety and performance of the built environment but also promote use of low carbon products.”

BioMason is a manufacturer of low carbon tile products as an alternative to PreCast Concrete. They look to nature for the answer on decarbonisation, and utilise biotechnology (Bacteria especially grown to make calcium carbonate crystals) to make low carbon products which meet compressive and flexural strength requirements of the industry.

As you can see, the solutions entering the market are staggeringly creative. However, many organisations within this sphere have yet to have the same commercial success as BioMason. In these cases, the same problem remains; how can these ground-breaking technologies provide commercial value for the end user? How can we truly commercialise decarbonisation?

What’s the solution?

Following extensive discussions with founders and corporate leaders, we have identified the 5 following factors that really turn the dial and drive sales of innovative low carbon or sustainable solutions.

Sales Leadership

Successful firms have looked to technical expertise from sales leaders within the sector who possess a solution development mindset, demonstrate technical knowledge of materials, and possess a practical understanding of supply chain operations and theoretical implementation of their material. They supplement this by leaning on existing relationships in the sector to open the door of opportunity and remain connected to current trends and demand.

Leadership teams who possess these skillsets and network create a genuine link to the construction sector and utilise their experience and knowledge to drive tailored and more easily adoptable solutions.

Identifying the Right Solution

Businesses that offer low barriers to entry and an easy route to adoption are typically most successful in this space. Many solutions businesses start life as passion projects and commercial viability is an afterthought. This can often result in the customer having to invest above what they are willing to do so for correct and successful implementation.

Solutions that offer both immediate impact and scalability often get off the ground with the greatest level of success. Construction is an uncompromisingly results-orientated industry and the inability to address problems quickly and integrate seamlessly often leads to a lack of trust and buy in from the market.

Value Beyond Sustainability

Unified sales and marketing campaigns that target key decision makers in prospect organisations should clearly communicate a solution’s value add, and not rely solely on the environmental benefits it can offer. Campaigns that communicate cost effectiveness, efficiency increase, or improved quality will stand out more in a saturated market.

Engage the Supply Chain

Engaging the whole supply chain can make a significant impact on generating sales. If organisations up and down the supply chain are bought in to the solution on offer, they will do some of the selling for you. This is where having well-connected sales leaders with industry experience pays dividends. When solutions businesses take the time to drive awareness across the supply chain, they are investing in future promoters who have a significant influence amongst their customer base.

Successful solutions providers will look to develop their product in tandem with their customers and consult with them at various stages to make integration as seamless as possible. By doing so, customers will already be engaged and feel a part of the solution’s lifecycle when it enters the market.

Cutting Through the Noise

Cutting through the noise in a saturated market defines a solutions business’s success. The key here is to define and establish a unique selling point and understand how the solution can directly solve a customer’s problems. Each potential customer is inundated with options and told that one product is ‘number one its market’ or ‘can outperform the competition’. These generic messages do not speak to the customer’s needs, instead they acknowledge the marketplace is busy and competition is high.

The differentiator lies in an organisation’s understanding of its customer. Again, well-connected, technically knowledgeable and ideally former customers make the best sales and marketing people in order to truly understand the customer in the low carbon and sustainable solutions space.

What are your thoughts on our suggestions for the market? Do you have any further questions on the topics covered in this article? Feel free to reach out to Cobi.busst@beaumontbailey.com and continue the conversation.