The construction sector is accelerating its transition toward sustainable construction, with tangible progress emerging in the drive toward net zero carbon buildings and decarbonising the built environment. At the edie Net-Zero Awards 2025, Balfour Beatty’s success reflected a growing emphasis on embodied carbon reduction across major infrastructure projects. The company’s strategy integrates whole life carbon assessment methods to measure emissions throughout project lifecycles, aligning...

Sustainable construction is evolving into a fully quantified discipline where environmental sustainability in construction can be measured, modelled and optimised at every stage. The latest initiatives illustrate how whole life carbon assessment and low carbon design are now influencing even unconventional sectors such as sport and leisure. UniBond’s new eco‑friendly adhesives—promoted by former football manager Harry Redknapp—represent a shift towards specifying low embodied carbon...

Sustainable construction has moved from aspiration to action, with projects across the UK showcasing real progress in environmental sustainability in construction. UniBond’s collaboration with Harry Redknapp to promote sustainable renovation of major sports venues reflects a rising commitment to low carbon design and whole life carbon assessment in high-profile developments. The initiative highlights a sector increasingly aware that sustainable building design and embodied carbon in materials...

The University of Bristol has advanced its sustainability strategy by linking its new academic building to the city’s expanding low-carbon heat network. The integration captures waste heat from on-site IT servers and redistributes it via heat pump technology, a practical demonstration of low carbon design and energy-efficient buildings. By applying sustainable building practices and renewable building materials within a whole life carbon framework, the project signals a thoughtful approach to...

Sustainability in construction is gaining momentum as industry leaders intensify their focus on reducing embodied carbon and achieving net zero whole life carbon targets. At the Museum of London redevelopment, contractor Sir Robert McAlpine is testing multiple low-carbon concrete mixes incorporating waste-based binders to cut the carbon footprint of construction. The project’s whole life carbon assessment aims to demonstrate measurable reductions in embodied carbon in materials, applying...

The UK’s construction industry is accelerating its efforts to decarbonise, with new analyses and corporate collaborations strengthening commitments to environmental sustainability in construction. Recent findings from edie and Mitsubishi Electric highlight practical routes toward reducing both operational and embodied carbon, urging developers to take a whole life carbon approach across every stage of a project. Businesses are adopting sustainable building design principles that consider the...

The relaunch of the Climate Group’s Smart Energy Coalition represents a decisive shift in sustainable construction, bringing artificial intelligence and data analytics into the realm of energy-efficient buildings. With corporate members such as AstraZeneca and Deloitte committing to measurable energy optimisation, the coalition supports a new era of sustainable building design that embraces Whole Life Carbon Assessment. The initiative aligns with international drives for net zero carbon...

The Urban Land Institute has expanded its Net Zero Imperative programme, enlisting eight cities committed to decarbonising the built environment and advancing net zero carbon buildings. By supporting local authorities through technical expertise and policy guidance, the initiative targets a reduction in whole life carbon and embodied carbon generated during construction and operation. As environmental sustainability in construction gains global momentum, this collaboration reinforces the shift...

Efforts to decarbonise the built environment are converging on measurable outcomes, with new projects signalling a shift from ambition to accountability in sustainable construction. The Urban Land Institute’s Net Zero Imperative has expanded to eight global cities, each committed to reducing embodied carbon and improving lifecycle assessment practices across the building sector. These participating regions will share strategies for calculating whole life carbon and adopt eco-design for...

The UK construction sector is facing renewed scrutiny as progress in sustainable construction contrasts with structural shortcomings in national retrofit programmes. The National Audit Office’s review of the Energy Company Obligation scheme exposed extensive failures in external wall insulation installations, highlighting the need for a more rigorous whole life carbon assessment framework. Poorly executed retrofits inflate the embodied carbon of housing stock and undermine net zero carbon...