The UK Green Building Council has named Simon McWhirter as its new Chief Executive, marking a pivotal change for sustainable construction leadership in Britain. This move is expected to reinforce the council’s advocacy for whole life carbon assessment and drive action on net zero carbon buildings. With growing demand for decarbonising the built environment, McWhirter’s focus will include reducing embodied carbon, encouraging resource efficiency in construction, and enabling the shift to sustainable building design and low carbon design across the sector.
A Freedom of Information request by Gusto Group reveals many English councils fail to require supplier sustainability credentials in tendering. Despite national ambitions for environmental sustainability in construction, there is a gap in sustainable material specification and whole life carbon policies at the local government level. Robust criteria in public procurement are needed to promote lifecycle assessment and greater supplier accountability, ensuring public sector leadership in low carbon building and eco-friendly construction practices.
Major waste management contracts are advancing circular economy in construction and urban environments. Biffa’s new £56 million waste and recycling deal in Wokingham, and Veolia’s extension in Camden with the introduction of electric vehicles, show an increased drive for circular construction strategies and reducing operational carbon in municipal services. These steps directly support improved building lifecycle performance, low embodied carbon materials management, and the overall reduction of the carbon footprint of construction waste.
In Europe, new legislative measures target greenwashing among investment funds, pushing projects to produce verifiable sustainability data rather than rely on broad “ESG” or “sustainable” labels. This impacts access to green construction finance and calls for transparent whole life carbon assessment and lifecycle thinking in construction, intensifying scrutiny for net zero whole life carbon building projects worldwide.
Industrial innovation continues with Northern Lithium completing a successful extraction trial in northeast England, strengthening prospects for a domestic lithium supply. This is crucial for electrifying construction machinery and low carbon construction materials, contributing to sustainable urban development and energy-efficient buildings. Additionally, a new report has raised concerns over compliance in major US wind energy zones, underlining the need for strict monitoring and environmental product declarations (EPDs) in green infrastructure and renewable building materials to ensure the reliability of global sustainability commitments in the built environment.
