Carbon Net Zero Initiative of the Year

Civic Engineers, FORE Partnership and Webb Yates Engineers
‘Urban mining’ at The Elephant and TBC.London

In a landmark for the Carbon Net Zero agenda, Civic Engineers and FORE Partnership conceived of and executed a plan to reuse 40 tonnes of pre-war steel reclaimed from The Elephant – the refurbishment of Oxford Street’s former House of Fraser – at FORE’s development TBC.London, a transformational low carbon office retrofit at Tower Bridge. The trailblazing project marks a breakthrough in material reuse, as it’s thought to be the first time pre- war steel has been used in a UK construction project. With a commitment to collaboration at its heart, the initiative is an exemplar the industry.

European Metal Recycling
EMR Reusable Steels

EMR Reusable Steels is delivering a circular economy for the highest-quality steel sections from end-of-life buildings – making them available as an ultra-low carbon building material for developers and architects.

FM Conway and Westminster City Council
Elmfield Way

Westminster City Council and FM Conway collaborated to deliver a ground-breaking, one-of-a-kind, carbon neutral scheme on Elmfield Way in Westminster, laying a new road surface containing 92% recycled materials – the highest percentage ever used on a UK road. The use of 92% recycled materials further pushes the boundaries of what our combined knowledge and resources can achieve and sets the bar for delivering low carbon projects across the industry. This marks a huge step towards our ambitions of being a net zero carbon city by 2040, and demonstrates that together we can create a cleaner, greener future for Westminster.

McGee
McGee's Modular Façade Retention System

McGee's innovation, featuring patented ribbon cutting of re-used steel sections, addresses the challenges of urban façade retention. Pioneered at Grosvenor’s South Molton development, it optimises stiffness, minimises installation time, and ensures flexibility for future projects. Overcoming fabrication challenges, including achieving a UKCA-mark certification, it sets a new standard for sustainable construction. This approach reduces carbon footprint, ensures product quality, and advances industry norms. McGee's partnership with ASD Westok and EMR facilitates safe and rapid assembly. Already adopted by further projects, this solution reshapes construction practices towards sustainability, leaving a visual legacy of its re-used steel's transformative impact.

Mott MacDonald Bentley
Low carbon solutions in design

Mott MacDonald Bentley (MMB) has developed a ‘low carbon solutions in design’ programme to supercharge its journey towards net zero carbon. Recognising the need for action to hit our 2040 net zero targets, our team has rolled-out the programme to over 700 colleagues in the last 12 months – and it’s already having tangible results on site. The shift to a low carbon mindset coupled with the use of innovative tools and processes has seen norms challenged and new sustainable solutions explored – reducing embodied carbon by hundreds of tonnes - and there's more still to come.

National Highways
Lower Thames Crossing - driving carbon out of construction

The Lower Thames Crossing is designed to be the UK’s greenest road. A pathfinder project exploring low carbon construction, the project was the first major infrastructure project to put a legally binding construction carbon limit into its planning application, and then use that limit in its procurement process to challenge its partners and supply chain to drive down carbon by around 50% by embracing innovative new technologies and ideas. As the spearhead behind the Construction Leadership Council’s Five Client Carbon Commitments, the Lower Thames Crossing is a pioneer in decarbonising the broader construction industry.

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
RICS whole life carbon assessment, professional standard

The RICS Whole life carbon assessment (WLCA) standard is a world-leading standard for consistent and accurate carbon measurement in the built environment. Now in its second edition, the standard empowers professionals to make informed decisions to minimise embodied, operational and user carbon emissions across all building and infrastructure projects globally. The standard has been updated through a collaborative effort between RICS and an expert author group, with extensive stakeholder input and support from the Department for Transport UK and Net Zero Waste Scotland. By giving visibility to the carbon cost of different design choices, WLCA can be used to help manage carbon budgets, reduce lifetime emissions and deliver a net-zero future for the built environment.

Taylor Woodrowy
Advancing Ultra Low Carbon Concrete at EcoPark South

VINCI’s Exegy Ecocem Ultra Low Carbon Concrete (ULCC) contains 0% traditional cement and reduces carbon in concrete by up to 90%. It was used at Taylor Woodrow’s EcoPark South (EPS) project for the North London Waste Authority (NLWA). EPS is the first phase of a £1.2bn sustainable waste management hub in Edmonton, London. The team overcame challenges related to the first UK use of ULCC, and first placement with a pump anywhere in the world, to successfully pour 450m3 of ULCC across three floor slabs, saving 72T of CO2 and developing a valuable case study for the UK construction industry.

Zed Pods
St Andrews House

St. Andrews House has unlocked contaminated garage site into zero-operational-carbon social-rented, modular housing scheme, the first-of-its-kind in Devon County. It integrates low-carbon design & material selection following fabric first + renewables principle, superior interior specifications & IoT technology, sustainability and resident’s H&S, wellbeing as utmost priority. Private balconies, natural lighting, sufficient storage characterise these NDSS compliant SAP 100A+ rated homes fitted with solar panels, heat pumps and triple glazing. The integrated IoT technology monitor energy, environmental & well-being data to improve living conditions. With warp-around support, it ensures low-running cost, highest safety and well-being standards, creating “low-carbon, low-energy” healthy community.