Rising to the Climate Challenge

The climate challenge is the biggest threat to life on earth.  Every person, every industry, every nation has a moral obligation, and role to play in moving towards a low carbon future.

The environment is all we have. It supports all life, providing food and water. Without it, we – and everything we depend on – will cease to exist.

So how should the built environment respond? The industry is responsible for a third of global emissions. But reducing emissions is not enough. Something significant has to change. We need to rethink how we see and use buildings – sooner rather than later.

Considering all impacts of a project at the outset, and maintaining scrutiny throughout enables us to maximise the positive impact development can deliver.

Our sustainability team offer a wide range of consultancy, assessment, design and management support services. Sitting at the heart of BDP's operation, we are able to utilise skills from across the practice. We possess specialist expertise in life-cycle assessment, circular economy and resource management, energy and carbon consultancy and ecology services and have expertise in developing, implementing and monitoring bespoke development environmental strategies.

Each year, we demonstrate our commitment to becoming a net zero company with revisions to our sustainability policy, and provide a comprehensive review and analysis of our environmental performance across all of our UK and Ireland studios.

Simple steps for building carbon-free

In an attempt to demystify the process of regenerative building design, we’ve set out a series of key principles that we need to embrace as we work toward 'Building our future'.  

From creative reuse to bio-based materials, we want to bring clarity to a complex process of design, construction and operation to show what we think is required to deliver a truly sustainable development.

BDP’s new Carbon Counter helps to reduce carbon emissions from new laboratory by 40%

At BDP we are committed to driving down carbon emissions for all projects we embark on – and where possible, will try to educate and influence our clients to do the same. So in 2021, with our environmentally conscious cap on, we developed and launched our own proprietary Carbon Counter.

Designed to deliver greater clarity during RIBA Stage 1/2A, the counter accurately estimates the embodied carbon of developing design options without the need for a BIM model. By allowing design teams to select the specification of key elements in the building’s construction, the calculator uses data from past and current projects to generate an estimation (within a 20% margin) for the embodied carbon per metre squared.

These sector-specific outcomes contribute to vital evidence base for the carbon impact of materials, improving carbon literacy of our designers and provides clearer outputs for our clients.

To date, we have piloted the counter on a number of projects within the education and sci-tech sectors. Most notably, when drawing up proposals for the Next Generation Infrastructure project for the John Innes Centre (JIC) – the UK’s largest net zero carbon laboratory – we were able to show evidence using the counter, for reducing carbon emissions by 40%, in order to align with the UK Green Building Council’s framework for net zero carbon buildings

These sector-specific outcomes contribute to vital evidence base for the carbon impact of materials, improving carbon literacy of our designers and provides clearer outputs for our clients.

To date, we have piloted the counter on a number of projects within the education and sci-tech sectors. Most notably, when drawing up proposals for the Next Generation Infrastructure project for the John Innes Centre (JIC) – the UK’s largest net zero carbon laboratory – we were able to show evidence using the counter, for reducing carbon emissions by 40%, in order to align with the UK Green Building Council’s framework for net zero carbon buildings.

Lighting the Way to a Circular Economy

Sustainability is at the heart of our thinking and as our interdisciplinary design teams continue their drive to influence global climate change and the sustainability agenda, our Head of Lighting Mark Ridler explores the circular economy model through the lens of lighting in our new global report.

Developed through research and engagement with our clients and design partners, The Lighting Circular Economy report outlines the practical steps we can take now, collectively, to make a real and meaningful contribution to incorporating a circular approach to lighting design.

Click here to read the report and find out more

We must all strive to implement sustainability policies, processes and targets for all proposed developments that respond to the global climate and biodiversity emergency. Find out what our sustainability advocates believe needs to happen next...

We are actively engaged with industry to ensure that we are contributing to the national and global agenda, and that our design approach continues to deliver progressive, practical and financially sound solutions in response to environmental, social and economic challenges.

Explore some of our most sustainable projects below:

Our sustainability team offer a wide range of consultancy, assessment, design and management support services. Sitting at the heart of BDP's operation, we are able to utilise skills from across the practice. We possess specialist expertise in life-cycle assessment, circular economy and resource management, energy and carbon consultancy and ecology services and have expertise in developing, implementing and monitoring bespoke development environmental strategies.

Tackling climate change is always at the forefront of our minds and we apply this moral conscience to every project that we embark on. We have taken proactive steps to stay ahead of the conversation, offering industry insights from our sustainability experts across the globe and across our different disciplines.