In an age rapidly being defined by the pressing need for sustainability and environmental responsibility, traditional methods of construction are giving way to more innovative approaches, with modular construction leading the charge towards a greener future.

Housing, for most of us, is one of the very few constants in our lives. Our home plays host to some of the happiest moments in our lives, provides us with fundamental security and is the key to improving life opportunities. It is somewhere we should be able to feel safe, warm and part of a community.

Eighty per cent of homes in 2045 will be the homes we live in today and therein lies a dilemma: How do we achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2045/50 when most of these homes and some of the of 23,000 new builds typically completed each year still do not feature the essential, integrated, flexible renewable energy technologies which will help us get there affordably?

Our oceans are the planet’s largest ecosystem, covering 70 percent of the earth’s surface and providing food, energy and water. However, our underwater worlds are under increasing pressure, with the UN calling an “ocean emergency” last year.

According to the Construction Skills Network, the UK needs an additional 225,000 workers to meet construction demand by 2027. Finding enough people with the right skills has been plaguing businesses large and small and ultimately holding back the industry for years. But there remains immense untapped potential in women.

Proving your business is sustainable financially was historically always the key point when dealing with investors and trying to get your business off the ground. Of course, this still remains the most fundamental pillar of any investor's decision. But nowadays, many investors want to know that their money is going into a project that they can be proud of, and is supporting a well being economy that prioritises people and planet.

The rate at which we are switching from dependence on coal, gas and oil may not be fast enough to satisfy climate activists, but new analysis from the International Energy Agency (IEA), published last week shows that global investment in clean energy is now outstripping investment in fossil fuel production.

Everyone should have a place to call home and as I mark my first year as Chief Executive at Homes for Scotland, I have been pondering what ‘home’ means.

The reality is that we don’t have enough homes to meet the needs of those living and working in Scotland – threatening the life chances of our young people, impacting health and education outcomes, increasing social inequality and further degrading our social and economic wellbeing.

The UK has always had a fascination with homes, but in a post-Covid world, our connections with our homes have become even stronger. According to the Office for National Statistics, 40% of working adults are now working from home - over three times as many as pre-Covid. Homes are no longer just for living. As all encompassing hubs to live, work, play and entertain, architects have more focus than ever on designing homes to enhance lives and create places where families can grow.

When it comes to finding the perfect home, everyone has their own list of essentials, whether that’s a home office, proximity to transport links, space for family get-togethers or a garage for bikes and other sports equipment. The dynamic of how we use our homes and how much time we spend in them has changed in recent years and developers are continually refining their house styles in order to keep pace with how we live today.

Scotland is rapidly approaching its net zero deadline of 2045. When these sorts of targets are set by the government they can seem so far away in the future. To organisations and businesses who are just trying to survive, they can seem irrelevant to the here and now. But in terms of investment, infrastructure, and property, 2045 is just around the corner and must be at the forefront of organisational thinking.

When I travel to Paris this week for the next meeting of the D2 Grids Steering Committee, an Interreg North-West Europe funded project, I will be updating fellow members on the incredible progress being made in Glasgow on our Green Regeneration Innovation District (GRID) which includes Clyde Gateway’s own pilot for an innovative and sustainable renewable energy project.