Building weekly digest | 2 May 2025

Building weekly digest | 2 May 2025

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Published May 2, 2025
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Major interviews with Skanska UK and Hollis are front and centre this week, along with insight into one of the pilot projects for the UK's Net Zero Carbon Building Standard.

Building's own Thomas Lane shares his thoughts about whether Tony Blair might be on to something with his views on Net Zero, despite his sometimes divisive opinions among professionals committed to decarbonising the built environment.

You can also catch up with the week's biggest headlines from the newsdesk. Happy reading!

‘You’re operating in the grey space, making decisions with a lot of unknowns’: Katy Dowding on two years at the top of Skanska UK

Skanska UK's president and CEO took the helm at a turbulent time for the country and for contractors. She tells Chloe McCulloch about her leadership style, her rejigged executive team and how industry and government can deliver more with less if they work together.

Dowding has been running the UK’s £1.3bn business for the past two years – the only woman CEO of a tier one contractor in the UK at the moment. She loves to be on the move and has a recent ski injury to show for it.

In her latest interview, she discusses the temperature of construction markets, EDI in the workplace and her various appearances on TV game shows in her 20s and early 30s.

Click here to read the full article.

Mission accomplished: University completes test drive towards net zero carbon building standard

A small robotics laboratory is one of the pilot projects for the Net Zero Carbon Building Standard (NZCBS). It features straw-insulated walls and a UK-sourced timber frame and shows what net zero buildings might look like after 2030, writes Thomas Lane.

Designed by Bennetts Associates, the lab supports robotic technology for garment manufacturing, aiming to reduce waste and carbon emissions. The NZCBS sets maximum limits for upfront carbon and operational energy use, with annual reporting requirements to maintain certification. The standard is being piloted on several projects before formal adoption.

Click here to read the full article.

Looking to Europe in the face of global uncertainty: Andy Hay explains Hollis’ plans for growth

The consultancy's chief executive Andy Hay outlines his vision for growth amid global uncertainty, emphasizing sustainability and European expansion. Despite geopolitical shifts, including Donald Trump’s rollback of climate policies, Hay remains confident that Europe will continue prioritising sustainability. Carl Brown reports.

Hollis, a £54.5m-turnover consultancy, aims to double its revenue to £100m within five years by focusing on technical advisory services rather than traditional real estate consultancy. Hay highlights the firm’s employee-owned structure, which allows it to operate independently of investors.

Click here to read the full article.

Does Tony Blair have a point about net zero?

The former prime minister has said the government’s energy policy is doomed to fail, a line taken by Reform and the Tories. Thomas Lane asks what this means for Britain’s decarbonisation ambitions.

Lane writes:

The consensus behind net zero does seem to have fragmented, not just because Reform and the Tories have stepped away from Britain’s 2050 target. Culture wars have erupted around the introduction of heat pumps and there has been criticism of the government mandate that electric vehicles should make up 28% of a manufacturer’s sales in 2025, with penalties of £15,000 per vehicle for failing to meet this target.

The government’s refusal to budge on this mandate despite manufacturers threatening to close UK plants looked like precisely the sort of thing that Blair was warning against. It took Donald Trump’s threatened 25% tariffs on UK car imports for the government to make the policy more flexible.

And energy secretary Ed Miliband’s decision to stop issuing new oil and gas licences in the North Sea because he wants to largely decarbonise the grid by 2030 looks like a triumph of hope over experience. Decarbonising the grid is absolutely the right thing to do, but constraints on component supply and skills availability to do the work – plus the time it takes to get consents for new infrastructure – make this look unlikely despite the planning and infrastructure bill helping with the latter.

Read the full comment here.

CPD 04 2025: Energy performance evaluation in architectural projects

Understanding and improving a building’s energy performance is critical in addressing the climate emergency. This module, sponsored by Vectorworks , explores how architects can integrate early-stage performance modelling into their workflow to create more sustainable, energy-efficient designs.

Carbon negative brick solutions

Sponsored by Vandersanden UK , this module will explore the specification of carbon negative bricks, a recent innovation developed to offer a more sustainable alternative to clay brick in terms of carbon sequestration.

Embedding excellence in carbon management

Sponsored by BSI , this module will explore PAS 2080 and how the standard’s requirements enable professionals to embed carbon management excellence throughout the built environment supply chain.

Join us next week for ESG Live — four essential webinars exploring sustainability, climate resilience, and social governance in UK construction.

Gain insight from leading voices across the built environment as they share practical solutions, policy analysis, and industry innovation driving ESG transformation.

Speakers include:

  • Timothy Clement , Director of Social Value & Sustainability, Morgan Sindall Construction

  • Adam Mactavish , Director of Sustainability, Currie & Brown

  • Joanna Wilson , Sustainability Lead, Fletcher Priest Architects

  • Lise Bennigen , Associate Director, Arup

  • Sarah Luff Principal Engineer (Flood Risk & Drainage), WSP

  • James Heritage, Product Manager for Climate Risk, Equans

  • María Fernández Cachafeiro , Head of Sustainability – UK, Multiplex

  • Rikesh Shah , Head of Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre, Connected Places Catapult

  • Alfie Gilbert, Head of Social Value, BDP

  • Kieran Ronnie , Head of Social Value, AECOM

🔗 All sessions are free to attend and CPD accredited. View the full programme and register here: https://events.assemblemediagroup.co.uk/esg-live-may-2025/?utm_source=Lin&utm_medium=CC&utm_campaign=DE&utm_id=reg

4 weeks to get your entries in for the 2025 Building Awards!

The Building Awards is back on Tuesday 4th November, celebrating success across 20 coveted categories, including some brand NEW accolades to pick for 2025. 

We recommend you register as soon as possible to view the full criteria and find the best match for your company.

Get a head start on your entry today!

Find out more and get your entries in here

Interested in speaking at the Building the Future Conference?

We're excited to announce that speaker expressions of interest are now open for the Building the Future conference!

If you have insights, ideas, or experiences that align with shaping what’s next in building safety, sustainability, skills or housing we’d love to hear from you. Whether you're an industry leader, a passionate practitioner, or someone with a unique perspective, we welcome diverse voices and fresh thinking.

To express your interest, please fill out the short form below by 16 May.

Thanks for reading!

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