Sustainability has become a key focus across industries, and the construction sector is no exception. As the world grapples with the effects of climate change, businesses must reconsider their environmental impact. This is where corporate responsibility becomes crucial, particularly in industries like construction that have historically contributed heavily to environmental degradation. In a recent episode of the podcast, Chris Brookman, founder of Back to Earth, shared his thoughts on how open-source education can drive sustainable construction practices and why sharing knowledge is essential to fostering change.

Chris, who has been working with sustainable building materials for over 28 years, provides insights into his journey and the challenges and opportunities in promoting sustainability within the construction sector. His experience demonstrates that sustainability goes beyond using eco-friendly products—it’s about creating a culture of openness, collaboration, and education to support environmentally responsible practices.

From Chemistry to Sustainable Construction

Chris’s path into the construction industry was anything but conventional. Having studied chemistry at university, his career began with an unexpected project—rebuilding his father’s cob barn, a structure made from a traditional building material composed of earth, clay, straw, and water. What started as a summer job turned into a lifelong passion for natural building materials.

“I mean, I’ve always had an interest in the environment, even as a kid,” Chris explains. “But finishing university, I did a fairly tangential step and went from a chemistry degree straight into cob building…and absolutely loved it.”

This hands-on experience not only ignited his love for traditional construction methods but also led him to explore the potential of modern sustainable building materials. Chris’s chemistry background provided a unique perspective, allowing him to understand the properties of these materials in greater depth. “That got me into building,” he says, “and I kind of worked through it and picked up all the information that everyone else was talking about.”

The Role of Natural Materials in Sustainable Construction

As founder of Back to Earth, Chris has spent decades promoting the use of natural building materials sourced from across Europe. His company focuses on providing low-impact, high-performance materials that are not only better for the environment but also offer superior long-term performance. Over time, Back to Earth has become known for its expertise in sustainable construction, with Chris leading the way in educating builders, architects, and homeowners about the benefits of natural materials.

“We guide our clients through the process of understanding, specifying, and sourcing low-impact, high-performance materials for their sustainable building projects,”

Chris explains in the podcast. This emphasis on education is crucial because many builders and architects are unfamiliar with these materials, having relied for so long on conventional products.

One of the most significant challenges Chris highlights is the disconnect between traditional and sustainable building practices. “You know, I built my skills and experience of construction generally, but towards the end of that period, I began to want to use my degree a bit more… delving into the nitty-gritty of building materials, finding out how they really work, not how people think they work,” he says. His curiosity and commitment to better understanding the materials have helped Back to Earth offer innovative solutions that challenge conventional approaches to construction.

Open-Source Education: Breaking Down Barriers

A key theme throughout the conversation is the importance of open-source education in the construction industry. Chris believes that making information widely available is essential for encouraging the use of sustainable materials and practices. He draws parallels between the construction sector and the open-source movement in software, where shared knowledge fosters innovation and collaboration.

“I encourage anyone to make information freely available because it opens up the whole market to everybody,”

Chris says. He explains how manufacturers in the building industry are often reluctant to share information, fearing that doing so will give away competitive advantages. However, Chris argues that this secrecy hinders progress and ultimately limits the industry’s ability to innovate.

“It’s a kind of win-win thing to go open-source,” he continues. “Having all of that information aggregated across the whole market grows the market, and your share of that market will only become bigger, the same as everyone else’s.”

At Back to Earth, Chris has been practising this philosophy for years, making detailed blogs and guides available to help others understand the complexities of sustainable construction. More recently, he launched Fibres Academy, an open-source platform designed to educate people about the benefits and uses of wood-fibre insulation. The platform aims to make technical knowledge accessible to a wider audience, helping builders, architects, and homeowners make informed choices.

“Fibres Academy was about regurgitating as much as possible out of my mind onto a platform that other people could access,”

he explains. This project embodies Chris’s commitment to sharing knowledge freely to support a broader movement towards sustainable construction.

Corporate Responsibility in Action

Chris is also a firm believer in the role of corporate responsibility in driving change. He argues that businesses, particularly in the construction industry, have a responsibility to adopt sustainable practices and advocate for higher standards across the sector. For Chris, corporate responsibility goes hand in hand with open-source education—companies need to be transparent about their impact and share the knowledge and tools necessary to foster widespread change.

“The more we can show people how to use materials and how best to use them, the more we can help them achieve their goals while reducing their environmental impact,” he says. By educating their clients and sharing their expertise, Back to Earth helps people make better choices that benefit both the planet and the bottom line.

The Future of Sustainable Construction

Looking to the future, Chris remains optimistic. He sees a growing interest in sustainable construction, particularly among younger generations. “In the last 10 years, the interest in natural materials has grown enormously,” he says. “We no longer have to root out projects and try to encourage people to use them. People are coming to us with the idea that they want to save energy and reduce their impact on the environment.”

Chris believes that this shift in public consciousness, combined with the open-source sharing of knowledge, will help drive the construction industry towards more sustainable practices. However, he acknowledges that there is still much work to be done, particularly in overcoming resistance from older generations and larger corporations that are more focused on profit than sustainability.

“My generation has been pretty pants on it,” Chris admits. “We’ve been talking about climate change for 30 years, and yes, stuff is happening, but in the general public, it’s still all about, ‘Oh, it’s going to be too expensive.’”

He is hopeful, however, that younger generations will push for change. “You can really see in younger people the seriousness that they take it and the actual desire to do something about it.”

Conclusion

Chris’s insights highlight the importance of knowledge-sharing and corporate responsibility in promoting sustainability within the construction industry. By embracing open-source education and making sustainable practices more accessible, companies can drive meaningful change and help reduce the environmental impact of construction.

As the conversation with Chris demonstrates, building a sustainable future requires collaboration, transparency, and a commitment to continuous learning. Whether through platforms like Fibres Academy or through corporate advocacy, the construction industry has an opportunity to play a significant role in combating climate change. By making information freely available and encouraging responsible practices, businesses can help create a more sustainable, resilient built environment for generations to come.