Scholars from Northumbria University and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Saudi Arabia are investigating how artificial intelligence (AI) can make the construction industry greener.
Dr Pablo Martinez Rodriguez, from Northumbria’s Department of Architecture and the Built Environment, and co-investigator Dr Osama Mohsen, KFUPM, undertook a year-long research project with funding from the British Council’s UK Saudi Challenge Fund. They were selected because of their expertise and research history in this field. In particular, their work will look at reducing waste from construction sites in the UK and Saudi Arabia as part of a major drive towards greater sustainability.
The UK construction industry uses up to 40% of the UK’s raw materials each year, 20% of which ends up in landfill. Current UK efforts have succeeded in diverting around 13% from landfill, finding alternative disposal methods or new uses for certain materials, but this is a far cry from the 99% target set for the near future. Reducing waste in the construction industry is key for all countries seeking to meet the UN Sustainability Goals set for 2030.
Saudi Arabia faces similar challenges. However, as a rapidly developing economy, it faces additional challenges in managing growth sustainably. According to Saudi Arabia’s National Waste Management Center, the cost of environmental degradation due to solid waste in 2021 is estimated at $1.3 billion. Saudi Arabia’s construction industry generates approximately 130 million tons of waste annually, of which less than 1% is recycled. Most of the rest ends up in landfills, and the demand for landfill space is rapidly increasing.
Dr. Martinez Rodriguez and Dr. Mohsen will aim to develop an AI model that can identify and quantify waste from a variety of building materials, such as wood or plastic, which could end up in landfills but can be recycled. The joint research will also help create a comparative analysis between waste management and sustainability practices in the UK and Saudi Arabia.
“Most construction sites analyze waste through modeling techniques rather than actually measuring the materials being thrown away,” said Dr. Martinez Rodriguez. We need flexible ways to process data faster than we currently do, and AI could allow construction sites to install visual sensor systems that monitor skips and determine exactly how much waste they are actually generating.
“This will help the construction industry become more sustainable by adding value to the waste generated on construction sites and better understanding the functioning of the circular economy.”
The UK is believed to be slightly ahead of Saudi Arabia in terms of sustainability, but neither country currently has an accurate waste measurement system yet. “Our research will therefore have impact in both the UK and Saudi Arabia and will help inform policy and develop best practice guidance for the industry,” added Dr Martinez Rodriguez.
The UK-Saudi Challenge Fund, part of the British Council’s Going Global Partnerships programme, provides grants to UK and Saudi institutions to support research collaboration, internationalization and transnational education.
Northumbria already has a successful track record of sustainability research collaborations with Saudi Arabian partners. This includes the work of Northumbria’s Dr Muhammad Wakil Shahzad to develop sustainable solutions for clean drinking water that can be deployed and easily set up in rural communities without the need for scientific know-how. In 2021, Dr. Shahzad received a prestigious award. Energy Globe Award (Saudi Arabia) for the project.
