Cushman & Wakefield’s 2024 Sustainability Report demonstrates accelerated action towards environmental sustainability in construction, with strong emphasis on reducing operational and embodied carbon across global property portfolios. The integration of whole life carbon assessment, rigorous lifecycle assessment frameworks, and transparent sustainability metrics is now viewed as standard practice for green construction, responding directly to growing expectations from investors and occupiers for net zero whole life carbon commitments. This shift supports measurable carbon footprint reduction in the built environment and encourages greater adoption of sustainable building design and low carbon construction materials.
The forthcoming elementalLONDON event brings together leading thinkers and practitioners to shape the future of sustainable construction. Strategic collaboration with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and ASHRAE aims to broaden the focus on energy-efficient buildings and best practices in building lifecycle performance. Attendees will explore eco-design for buildings, resource efficiency in construction, sustainable material specification, and the critical role of embodied carbon in materials selection, all supporting sustainable building practices at scale.
Tetra Tech’s $248 million contract is poised to set benchmarks for sustainable infrastructure, prioritising life cycle cost considerations, climate resilience, water management, and sustainable design in major engineering projects. This approach aligns with low carbon design strategies and supports the adoption of renewable building materials and green construction methods. Such large-scale public programmes serve as models for whole life carbon and low-impact construction globally.
The Montrose Environmental Group continues to demonstrate the value of circular economy strategies in brownfield regeneration. Their projects highlight end-of-life reuse in construction, transforming abandoned spaces into functional environments, and advancing circular construction strategies. This supports the imperative of the circular economy in construction, providing both environmental and economic benefits by reducing the carbon footprint of construction while creating new opportunities for sustainable urban development.
Widespread adoption of reused or refurbished materials remains constrained by concerns over quality and reliability, according to recent studies by the British Standards Institution. Addressing these challenges is essential to advance the circular economy and mainstream eco-friendly construction. The implementation of robust environmental product declarations (EPDs), reliable certification schemes, and the promotion of green building materials will build trust in sustainable building practices and accelerate the decarbonising of the built environment.
Across the construction sector, these developments reflect a growing momentum towards carbon neutral construction, informed by life cycle thinking in construction and the wider vision of net zero carbon buildings. Industry leadership, transparent reporting, and the application of sustainable architecture principles are reinforcing commitments to climate-resilient, low carbon building on a global scale.
