The latest climate projections confirm that the world is on track to exceed the critical 1.5°C warming threshold of the Paris Agreement by 2027. This strengthens the imperative for rapid emissions reduction across the built environment, with particular focus on the construction sector. Addressing environmental sustainability in construction now demands rigorous whole life carbon assessment, targeting not only operational emissions but also embodied carbon and the full carbon footprint of construction activities. Industry leaders stress that sustained adoption of sustainable building design and low carbon design principles is key to mitigating climate-related risk.
Construction project sites face heightened scrutiny over resource efficiency in construction, life cycle cost control, and waste minimisation. Digital solutions are gaining ground, empowering project teams to track costs and environmental impacts in real time. These platforms drive better sustainable construction outcomes by integrating lifecycle assessment and life cycle thinking in construction, supporting accurate reporting of whole life carbon. Enhanced transparency and data capture enable sustainable building practices and unlock value through circular economy strategies, including circular economy in construction and end-of-life reuse in construction.
Leading technology providers such as Siemens, SAP, and Schneider Electric are redefining sustainable building design through advanced energy management systems. Their solutions accelerate net zero whole life carbon targets for new and existing assets. Such innovations help reduce embodied carbon in materials and support green construction by providing design teams with better tools for lifecycle assessment and sustainable material specification. The sector sees a gradual mainstreaming of eco-design for buildings and specifications for green building materials that are crucial to the creation of low carbon buildings and carbon neutral construction.
Global renewable electricity generation rose over 15%, primarily from new wind and solar installations across Asia. For construction, this growth means greater access to renewable building materials and a route to decarbonising the built environment. Implementing energy-efficient buildings, integrating renewables, and deploying low carbon construction materials into infrastructure projects are essential elements in this decarbonisation journey. Projects using green building products and favouring low-impact construction approaches increasingly attract investment and comply with evolving environmental product declarations (EPDs) and net zero carbon requirements.
Extreme weather is becoming entrenched in regions such as the UK, where unprecedented heatwaves and storms disrupt urban infrastructure. Resilient sustainable urban development now requires the use of low embodied carbon materials, climate-adaptive landscaping, and green infrastructure. Strengthening building lifecycle performance across existing portfolios and new developments underpins futureproofing against climate risk while advancing carbon footprint reduction and broader sustainability outcomes.
