Eight years ago, the landmark Paris Agreement kicked off a worldwide campaign to reduce carbon emissions. The targets set were big: slash emissions by 45 percent by 2030 and be net zero by 2050. So far, the world is not making enough progress on those lofty goals, and the progress that has been made has been very unevenly distributed. Experts from major real estate firms, including Boston Properties, CBRE, and Community Preservation Corporation, drove home the net zero transition’s importance during a panel discussion at the 2024 ULI Spring Meeting in New York City. They talked about the costs of getting to net zero, what lenders and owners are doing to get there, and the risk of not addressing climate change.
The global construction sector is entering a decisive phase in its transition toward low carbon design and sustainable construction. With concrete and steel under intensifying scrutiny, regulatory reforms are accelerating the move toward whole life carbon accountability. More than 700 companies have now committed to the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, embedding environmental sustainability in construction within mainstream finance. The forthcoming standards from the International Sustainability Standards Board are expected to tie corporate reporting to embodied carbon and biodiversity impacts, establishing a new benchmark for transparency across the supply chain. This marks a pivotal shift from voluntary disclosure to enforceable whole life carbon assessment, pressuring developers to quantify not only embodied carbon in materials but also the broader environmental impact of construction.
In energy systems, Australia’s solar-powered grid experiment signals a new paradigm for net zero carbon buildings. As energy prices fall below zero during renewable surpluses, forward-thinking developers are designing energy-efficient buildings with smart storage and responsive envelopes that integrate with the grid. This model treats the building lifecycle performance as dynamic—aligning real-time demand with renewable supply—to achieve net zero whole life carbon outcomes and measurable life cycle cost savings. Such adaptive strategies illustrate how sustainable building design can evolve into a fully participatory framework for decarbonising the built environment.
At the policy level, greenwashing enforcement is intensifying. European regulators are holding companies accountable for misleading net zero carbon claims, establishing a precedent that will extend to construction. Labeling a high-rise built from conventional materials as carbon neutral construction without verifiable lifecycle assessment evidence will no longer suffice. The trend underscores the necessity of environmental product declarations (EPDs), transparent life cycle thinking in construction, and the specification of low embodied carbon materials within BREEAM and BREEAM v7 frameworks.
Flagship projects like Dogger Bank highlight the intersection of eco-design for buildings, green infrastructure, and circular construction strategies that prioritise community engagement. Such approaches demonstrate how resource efficiency in construction and end-of-life reuse can underpin a circular economy in construction, closing material loops and minimising waste. The industry’s responsibility now extends beyond compliance; it must lead on sustainable material specification, sustainable building practices, and sustainable urban development. Every low carbon building completed today sets a precedent for eco-friendly construction and a verifiable reduction in the carbon footprint of construction, shaping a sector that moves from intention to demonstrable environmental performance.
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