On April 1st, UGREEN's architect and co-founder, Sami Meira, traveled to Brasília to present Roca Brasil Cerámica and Incepa's decarbonization data at the 3rd Technical MRV Workshop, a Monitoring, Reporting and Verification event held as part of the regulatory process for Brazil's Emissions Trading System (SBCE, Sistema Brasileiro de Comércio de Emissões). The workshop brought together representatives from the federal government and the ceramic tile industry.

The data presented show that Brazil produces ceramic tiles at 3.26 kgCO₂e/m², according to ANFACER, the national ceramic tile manufacturers' association. The global average reaches 14.40 kgCO₂e/m², driven by heavy coal use in China and India. Italy records 5.00 kgCO₂e/m² and Spain, 5.50 kgCO₂e/m².

Roca Brasil Cerámica closed 2024 with a GHG inventory figure of 4.55 kgCO₂e/m², below both European benchmarks. Brazil's clean energy matrix is the primary driver of this advantage.

Roca began tracking its emissions in 2019. In 2020, a Life Cycle Assessment identified petroleum coke as the process's largest emissions source, at 100 tCO₂e/GJ. In 2021, biomass pellets and briquettes replaced petroleum coke across both plants.

Biomass produces only 1.3 kgCO₂e/GJ in residual fossil emissions, compared to 52 kgCO₂e/GJ for natural gas. From 2020 to 2024, emissions intensity fell from 61.39 to 41.25 tCO₂e/GJ, a 33% reduction.

UGREEN brought a technical proposal to the workshop for the federal government's consideration. Under current Brazilian law, companies in the ceramics sector are already required to restore clay extraction sites after use. The reforestation and soil recovery of these areas hold significant carbon sequestration potential.

The proposal calls on the government to recognize these restored sites as carbon credit generators within the SBCE framework, converting an environmental liability into an economic asset.

The presentation showed that both companies have had structured GHG inventories in place since 2023, with Scope 3 emissions under development since 2024. They were pioneers in building primary sector-level data for the Brazilian ceramic tile industry, reported to ANFACER.

This track record positions both companies well ahead of the compliance curve for both MRV requirements and CBAM, the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

The L'Occitane store at Shopping Cidade Jardim, in São Paulo, was developed with sustainability consultancy from UGREEN. The result shows how environmental responsibility and high-end design can go hand in hand.

The project integrates certified materials (baseboards with 96% recycled content and EPD certification), sustainable wood furniture with low VOC levels, LED lighting, ecological cement countertops, and dedicated infrastructure for refills and packaging reverse logistics.

Every decision was guided by technical sustainability criteria, without compromising the brand experience.

For L'Occitane, the space reinforces a commitment that is already part of the company's DNA. For the retail sector, it stands as a concrete reference for how brick-and-mortar stores can evolve.

Mario Cucinella is one of the most influential names in contemporary sustainable architecture. Founder of architecture studios based in Bologna and New York, as well as SOS (School of Sustainability), a research institution focused on bioclimatic design, he has built a consistent body of work around a central idea: architecture must respond to climate, place, and people.

In April 2021, decades of that work led to something with no precedent in the history of construction.

In partnership with WASP, an Italian 3D printing company, Cucinella completed TECLA, the world's first residential prototype 3D-printed entirely from materials sourced on-site. The structure stands in Massa Lombarda, in the province of Ravenna, northern Italy.

The home consists of two interconnected domes, 4.2 meters tall, with roughly 60 m² of usable floor area divided between a living room, kitchen, and bedroom. Two Crane WASP printers worked in sync, extruding 350 layers of local clay mixed with water, rice husk fiber, and a natural binder. The process took 200 hours and consumed less than 6 kW of energy.

All the clay used was extracted directly from the building site, meaning no materials were transported in and no construction waste was generated.

When the building reaches the end of its lifespan, it decomposes back into the soil. The undulating walls serve simultaneously as structure, roof, and enclosure, while the internal filling of rice husks provides thermal insulation.

The project grew out of SOS research on low-impact housing across different climates. For Cucinella, TECLA is proof that another way of building is possible.

The broader context makes the urgency clear: the UN projects 11.2 billion people on the planet by 2100, with nearly 5 billion already living in cities by 2030, and the construction industry remains one of the world's largest carbon emitters.

In the 1950s, architect Victor Gruen designed the first American shopping malls around a straightforward idea: recreating the atmosphere of European town squares in the new suburbs expanding alongside car culture.

Market logic reshaped that vision quickly. The mall became a closed, windowless, clockless environment, engineered to keep people circulating and spending as long as possible.

Today, malls drain resources from local commerce, privatizing urban life and concentrating wealth in the hands of real estate investment funds.

When a mall opens, pedestrian foot traffic on nearby streets drops, sidewalks empty out, and neighborhood businesses lose customers. Shops close, money that once flowed through local bakeries and corner stores gets redirected to franchise chains, and ultimately ends up in the portfolios of REITs.

Watch the full video on YouTube and get a thorough look at the origins of the shopping mall, the financial structures behind it, and the urban consequences that rarely make it into the conversation.

Disclaimer: The video is in Brazilian Portuguese, but simultaneous translation and subtitles are available in multiple languages.