At the Engineering & Consulting roundtable, the dialogue consistently returns to the construction site: focusing on logistics, application quality, compliance monitoring, workforce training, and the pivotal role of supervision when a “circular” project is mandated within a conventional budget. The discussion centers on how sustainable materials are integrated from the pre-liminary design stage through to construction, governed by the principles of the circular economy and real-world site constraints.

Structural Design & Technical Consultancy: Structural engineers and technical consultants provide insights into Integrated Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), the quantification of embodied carbon, and the embedding of ESG requirements directly into tender documents and contractual texts.

Project Management & Procurement: Project managers with experience in complex, large-scale developments discuss how procurement strategies, contracts, scheduling, and risk management dictate which materials successfully transition from theoretical specification to actual pouring and building envelope installation.

Material Science & Industry Innovation:The construction materials industry presents new, low-carbon footprint compositions, demonstrating how these are documented through laboratory data, certifications, and performance metrics in live projects.

Circularity & Deconstruction: Speakers explain how Design for Deconstruction (DfD), material traceability, and the systematic organization of waste streams pave the way for genuinely circular construction and the establishment of secondary raw material markets.

The panel analyzes practical engineering challenges: how to dimension solutions with high recyclability, what are the practical implications of reusing structural elements and how these choices affect foundations, connections, and facade detailing.

Particular emphasis is placed on specification and certification tools (EN standards, National Technical Specifications, European Taxonomies, and building rating systems). These frameworks enable designers and contractors to validate material choices for banks and investors.

The discussion concludes with project experiences where the combination of innovative materials, optimized mix designs, and smart detailing resulted in a measurable reduction of emissions and Life Cycle Cost (LCC), without compromising functionality or service life.

Guests include:

– Yiannis Pericleous, Managing Partner, A.J. Pericleous LLC

– Alkis Kalomparis, Operations Director Buildings, Hill International

– George Tzouvalas, Head of Product Quality and Innovation, HERACLES Group

– Konstantinos Angelopoulos, Vice President & Managing Director, ANAEKK

Panel moderator: Olga Klontza, journalist, BusinessDaily.gr