Resilient construction is increasingly recognised as vital for long-term community stability and the insurability of affordable housing. At the 2025 ULI Resilience Summit, industry leaders highlighted how integrating sustainable building design, improved materials, and disaster-ready infrastructure directly reduces the carbon footprint of construction while lowering insurance risk and costs. The focus on eco-design for buildings and resilient construction methods demonstrates a shift towards a whole life carbon perspective, ensuring both environmental sustainability in construction and financial security for developers and residents.
The UK Spending Review’s £13.2 billion allocation to the Warm Homes Plan prioritises domestic energy efficiency upgrades and retrofitting existing housing stock. These measures are part of a broader push for energy-efficient buildings and show an increased commitment to whole life carbon assessment and low carbon design. Although funding cuts to other environmental sectors raise concerns, the investment marks a significant step toward net zero whole life carbon targets, particularly in the residential sector. Life cycle cost considerations and lifecycle assessment methodologies are becoming essential in project planning, supporting a transition to sustainable construction practices.
Innovations in building technology and materials are driving significant reductions in embodied carbon. GÜNTNER and other industry front-runners are advancing low carbon construction materials and renewable building materials, focusing on the embodied carbon in materials to reduce building lifecycle performance impacts. These advances are supported by the adoption of environmental product declarations (EPDs), ensuring transparency in the evaluation of low-impact construction products. The industry is moving toward a circular economy in construction, placing end-of-life reuse in construction and circular construction strategies at the heart of sustainable material specification.
Decarbonising the built environment is also influenced by shifts in regulatory frameworks, such as the Science Based Targets Initiative’s (SBTi) new requirements, encouraging a higher proportion of zero-emission vehicles in construction supply chains. This regulatory landscape is encouraging life cycle thinking in construction, integrating circular economy strategies and supporting the transformation to net zero carbon buildings. As companies seek to reduce life cycle cost and improve resource efficiency in construction, these frameworks are setting rigorous benchmarks for sustainable development.
Large-scale carbon reduction technologies are gaining prominence. The Acorn CCS project’s £200 million funding demonstrates a clear intention to integrate carbon capture and storage into infrastructure and building projects to tackle embodied carbon and achieve carbon neutral construction. Such projects align with global trends in carbon footprint reduction and resource efficiency, offering new tools for measuring and managing whole life carbon emissions in the sector.
Nature restoration investment is on the agenda for both government and industry, reflecting rising expectations for green infrastructure and nature-positive sustainable urban development. Construction projects are under increasing pressure to contribute positively to biodiversity through sustainable building practices. Forward-thinking firms are embedding environmental sustainability in construction and green construction principles—helping push the sector towards broad adoption of net zero carbon and eco-friendly construction solutions worldwide.
