February 2007
Launch of the UK Green Building Council - transforming
the £90bn built environment into a green industry
An unprecedented coalition of the UK’s leading built
environment organisations today launched the UK Green Building
Council, with the aim of dramatically improving the sustainability
of the built environment within the next ten years.
Thirty-six of the most influential companies in the sector have
signed up as Founding Members of the Council. They include:
British Land, Lend Lease, Hanson, HBOS, Aggregate Industries, Land
Securities Group, Sir Robert McAlpine, Willmott Dixon Construction
and Jones Lang LaSalle.
At the launch held at Ecobuild, the international green building
forum, UK GBC Chairman, Peter Rogers, Director and Co-Founder of
development specialists Stanhope plc said:
“The only way to achieve a sustainable built environment is to
unite what is currently a highly fragmented industry around a set
of core goals – this is the aim of the UK Green Building
Council. “We have the expertise and technology in the UK to
become world leading in sustainable development, we must now work
together to rapidly achieve this. “We need nothing less than
a radical transformation in the way we approach the creation of a
sustainable built environment – incremental change is a luxury we
can no longer afford.”
The UK GBC aims to grow its membership by encouraging SMEs
across the supply chain to sign up, and the Council is currently
developing a roadmap with clear targets on how to achieve a step
change in sustainability across the entire built environment,
including urban planning, carbon emissions, waste and water
The UK GBC will act to ensure sustainability is ‘built-in’ to
all stages of the cycle from funding and procurement to design,
construction and product manufacture, to operation and
maintenance.
The Council will also promote the development and application of
the UK’s world leading environmental assessment tools and provide a
single, powerful, pan industry voice to Government.
At the launch Dr David Strong Managing Director of BRE
Environment said:
“There is a desperate need for reliable and accurate information
regarding sustainable construction – companies want to know what
works and what doesn’t. A key role of the UK GBC is to share
best practice and knowledge.”
Peter Rogers also announced the World Wildlife Fund as the first
Honorary Founding Member of the UK GBC.
Announcing their commitment to the Council, Jo Wheeler,
Sustainable Homes Policy Officer said: “WWF is delighted to be a
founder member of the UK Green Building Council. Our built
environment plays a critical role in determining the way people
will live their lives for generations. We urgently need buildings
and infrastructure that make it easy, affordable and attractive for
people to live within the planet's finite resources and make a
major contribution to our efforts to mitigate the worst effects of
climate change. The UK GBC must shout that message from the
rooftops on behalf of the whole industry, and help lead the way to
a better and more sustainable future."
The UK GBC is an industry led, independent, not-for-profit,
membership based organisation to which the Founding Members have
made a substantial, long-term commitment (http://www.ukgbc.org/)