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Pierre Bidaud of the Stonemasonry Company will discuss how new ways of thinking aligned to new technologies are changing the way we build in stone. From augmented stone, to using stone structurally, stone is set to play an increasingly important part in building a low carbon future. 

Amin Taha’s Groupwork have designed a 10-storey block of flats in Finchley Road, north London, built with load-bearing larvikite stone from Lundhs quarry in Norway. Taha describes the project as 'the first 10-storey, loadbearing self-finished stone structure without steel reinforcement/secondary structure since the last stone cathedrals'. The Norwegian larvikite stone requires significantly less extraction, transportation, and on-site erection compared to typical concrete construction methods, resulting in reduced costs and lower embodied carbon.

The integration of a just transition into public procurement is a crucial step toward achieving both environmental sustainability and social equity. This session will present how Newham Council is embedding just transition principles into its procurement processes, with insights from Dan Hill of Dark Matter Labs on the role of design and innovation in this transformation. Newham Council has made significant strides in aligning its procurement policies with these principles, prioritising social value, equity, and sustainability in its purchasing decisions.

When we’re thinking about emissions in the construction sector, it’s important to address not just what you build, but also how you build it. The drive towards emission-free sites is delivering operational efficiency across the industry, while simultaneously reducing air and noise pollution on construction sites. At 25 Baker Street, a mixed-use development for Derwent London, a combination of diesel elimination, lower carbon plant and smart site management reduced site emissions by >80% versus baseline.

The client, plant and construction team will discuss key technologies such as:

The panel will discuss the benefits as well as the challenges, and go on to consider how this market may evolve further.

Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards are intended to require incremental improvements to building fabric and services installations in leased accommodation. In preparing revised proposals the team at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero have taken a wide variety of views into consideration. In this session the team will present

Flexible workspace is an effective solution for growing businesses as their needs evolve, but frequent tenant turnover can lead to increased construction waste. The koba @ 100 Barbirolli Square team tackled this challenge directly by pioneering sustainable, circular materials, ensuring business growth aligns with environmental priorities.

Circularity was embedded at every stage, from establishing the organisation's strategy through to completion. This approach has resulted in a high-quality space showcasing circular solutions, all documented in a material passport.

Consultants Drees & Sommer will explain why circularity was viewed as a crucial component of the business proposition. Cast Interiors will describe how they delivered the circularity objectives outlined in the brief, while circularity platform Madaster will demonstrate how materials passports can both evidence the circularity of selected products and help achieve embodied carbon KPIs.

Join us for an insightful panel discussion where experts will explore how they are translating net zero carbon and retrofit ambitions into actionable roadmaps--and linking these to green economic growth opportunities. This event will review exciting recent cases in regional efforts to upscale the pace of delivery of retrofit, net zero and local green skills investments.

Building partnerships, funding and momentum: Our panellists will share valuable recent experience on building and keeping momentum for net zero, discussing partnerships and working across stakeholder groups, addressing the funding gap, and articulating local economic opportunities of net zero delivery.

CLT buildings up to 18m offer many benefits to developers and end users with extremely low embodied carbon. What factors affect successful outcomes so developers and occupiers to take advantage of these opportunities. This expert panel includes manufacturer, insurer, fire engineer and client and explores:

Holborn Viaduct is a 14-storey, cutting edge workspace development currently under construction for Royal London Asset Management . An open approach between the entire steel supply chain resulted in new solutions, with some aspects already being used on other projects.

Multiplex and BHC, Heyne Tillett Steel worked collaboratively on the column designs to suit steel grade S460, which is 30% stronger than grade S355, enabling a reduction in the size and weight of the sections. With designs for columns at both S355 and S460, HTS and BHC engaged with EMR stocklists to match 87 tonnes of reclaimed steels to columns within the superstructure frame.  

The specification of ArcelorMittal electric arc furnace (EAF) over blast furnace steel plus the reclaimed sections have been used within the new frame, along with Xcarb Kingspan decking and fibre reinforcement in place of traditional mesh reinforcement where possible for the composite concrete floor slabs. This combination of innovative solutions has resulted in a reduction from 16,000 to 6,000tCO2.

Together with cement replacement options for the basement box and superstructure slab construction the combination of innovative steel procurement methods has resulted in an overall reduction of 143kgCO2e/m2.

The concept of a "just transition" in the UK Built Environment is crucial to ensuring that the shift towards sustainability and net-zero carbon emissions is equitable, inclusive, and fair. As the UK government accelerates its efforts to address climate change, the built environment—comprising housing, infrastructure, and commercial properties—must undergo significant transformations to reduce energy consumption, carbon emissions, and waste. However, this transition presents both opportunities and challenges. While green technologies, sustainable design, and energy-efficient practices are critical to achieving climate goals, the workforce and communities involved in these sectors must be supported to ensure that no one is left behind.

Our expert panel asks what does this mean for the divers stakeholders in the property industry?

When awarding the PACER initiative funding the UKRI declared that ’the majority of the UK’s national emissions budget will be used in the Built Environment’. Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) are increasingly the only gatekeepers to lower whole life carbon in the built environment with the ability to set targets and decide which projects are permitted. PACER is a software tool designed to be operated by LPAs to assess the carbon documentation submitted with applications and to guide officers in the analysis of those proposals.

Aiming to make the decision-making transparent and democratically sound, PACER has been tested since its launch early 2025 during the assessment of a range of proposed projects. The panel will discuss how it works, the characteristics of the submission requirements and early outcomes found by its development partner Westminster City Council. In aiming to implement Retrofit First policies, how have the planning authority explored these digital tools and could this be a mechanism adopted by authorities around the UK?

The panel will feature Hrabrina Nikolova, Principal Sustainability Officer at Westminster City Council, alongside representatives from Preoptima and developers who have taken part in the pilot applications, who will discuss PACER’s potential as a nationwide mechanism for carbon assessment.