At BES, sustainability isn’t an add-on; it’s a commitment embedded into every phase of our design and delivery process. For one of our recent projects, our team has implemented a comprehensive and structured approach to reduce both operational and embodied carbon, improve material circularity, and drive meaningful, measurable environmental performance.

A Holistic Framework

Our methodology was anchored in three key workstreams:

• Operational Energy Efficiency
• Whole Life Carbon Assessment (WLCA)
• Circular Economy Analysis

Together, these pillars provided a clear roadmap to assess and enhance the building’s performance across its full lifecycle from material selection through to end-of-life reuse and recycling.

Driving Down Embodied Carbon

Working closely with our supply chain and design partners, we made significant improvements to reduce upfront carbon emissions. Some of the actions included:

• Integrating 20% scrap content into structural steel
• Achieving an average of 35% cement replacement in concrete
• Using lower-embodied carbon cladding and recycled aluminium curtain walling
• Selecting a low-carbon photovoltaic panel array

For this project, the client had not defined specific carbon targets. Seeing an opportunity, our team took the initiative to set ambitious targets for both operational and embodied carbon. Not only did we meet these benchmarks, but we went well beyond them, demonstrating that proactive, thoughtful design can deliver results that exceeded even our expectations.

Advancing the Circular Economy

A critical part of the strategy was to improve the circularity of the building. Measures such as disassembling cladding systems and sourcing materials with recycled content helped increase the project’s circularity indicator score by over 30%. The materials sourced from recycled content rose from 5% to 20%, and waste diversion from landfill was targeted at 95%.

Renewable Energy Integration

Our strategy also focused on reducing long-term operational carbon through renewable energy technologies. This included:

• Connecting to on-site district biomass heating
• Installing a roof-mounted solar PV array designed to offset its own embodied carbon within just six years

Initial modelling suggests that the solar array alone will generate over 600 MWh of clean energy annually, with all electricity used on site, demonstrating the power of early-stage renewables integration.

Closing the Loop

Our sustainability commitments don’t stop at design. We’ve embedded clear deliverables into subcontractor tenders, with carbon management forms in place to track material data, validate delivery, and ensure performance aligns with our project aspirations.

From early feasibility to procurement and construction, our teams collaborate to ensure that every sustainability opportunity is not just identified but also actioned and delivered.