‘Climate-adaptive’ paint and ‘Superwood’: These material inventions have huge potential to make our built environment more sustainable. Construction materials are responsible for nearly one-third of global carbon dioxide emissions. And as global demand for construction continues to rise (it has already tripled over the past 25 years), its emissions are bound to climb even higher.eIn fact, some, like environmental engineer and University of Virginia professor Andres Clarens, see materials’ potential negative impact as so existential that he calls them the “last major frontier” in the fight against climate change. If that’s the case, we need to reduce the emissions associated with commonly used building materials like cement and steel—and we need to develop alternative materials that emit fewer greenhouse gas emissions by default. And we need to do it fast.