Trio of firms sign up to 2050 commitment

Contractor Lendlease is among a trio of major firms to sign a pledge to deliver zero carbon buildings by 2050.

The Australian firm, whose UK division is developing major London schemes in Elephant & Castle (pictured) and the Olympic Park, is joined by products giant Rockwool and engineer Integral in making the commitment.

They have all signed up to the World Green Building Council’s Advancing Net Zero project, which was launched last summer.

The initiative calls on national Green Building Councils to introduce their own net zero certification schemes, with the aim of launching pilots early next year.

The World GBC said net zero emissions from the global building stock by 2050 is how the built environment sector can help deliver the Paris climate agreement.

During the Paris climate talks in December 2015, the World GBC committed to reduce CO2 emissions from buildings by 84 gigatonnes by 2050.

Terri Wills, CEO of the World Green Building Council, said: “The support of major companies such as Integral Group, Lendlease and Rockwool demonstrates the huge appetite amongst businesses to design, build, invest in and operate net zero buildings.

“We’ve started to pave the path towards net zero and there’s no turning back until every building gets there before 2050.”