One of IEMA’s corporate partners, Qualis Flow, has been nominated for The Earthshot Prize 2023, putting it in contention for one of five £1m prizes.
The tech start-up’s Qflow digital platform enables construction companies – which consume 40% of the world’s raw resources and generate over 40% of landfill waste – to collect real-time materials and waste data at the source.
This improved tracking helps firms use the right materials in their projects; reducing waste, saving time and money spent correcting errors, and delivering more responsible, sustainable construction.
To date, Qflow has avoided carbon emissions equivalent to over 4,500 tons of CO2, and aims to avoid over three gigatonnes entering the atmosphere by 2050.
Brittany Harris, who co-founded the platform with Jade Cohen, said it was "fantastic" to be nominated for the prize, adding: "Transforming the construction industry will be critical to delivering a sustainable future, and we are proud to be part of that journey."
The Earthshot Prize scheme offers its annual prize of £1m in funding to five climate solutions: protect and restore nature; clean our air; revive our oceans; build a waste-free world; and fix our climate.
Championed by Sir David Attenborough, nominations for the prize have doubled since last year to over 1,500, with Qflow being nominated by the University of East Anglia (UEA).
If successful, it will use the prize money to expand its reach beyond the UK market and connect with other innovators to tackle sustainability in construction, driving a circular economy within one of the world’s most polluting industries.
“We believe Qflow offers a very simple and elegant solution to a real-world problem which could have significant impact if scaled; material waste within the construction industry – a growing industry which is particularly un-green," said Tracey Hearn, executive officer at UEA’s climate research unit, ClimateUEA.
“UEA is also very pleased to be championing environmental solutions which are informed and led by women.”
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