UKGBC at Futurebuild and UK Construction Week 2026

Futurebuild – Connect Lounge (support by Material Index)

Discover how the UK built environment sector is leading the way with a regenerative places framework designed by industry, for industry. This session will unpack the principles behind the framework, why it matters for climate, nature and communities, and how it sets a new benchmark for creating places that give back more than they take. Join the conversation on how this framework can transform practice and accelerate systemic change.

• Chair: Anna Hollyman and Joanne Wheeler, Co-Heads of Policy & Places, UKGBC
• Miles Lewis – Director of Sustainability, Clarion Housing Group
• Steve Sze – Real Estate & Housing Associate Director, Lloyds

Futurebuild – Main Stage

The concept of a ‘circular economy’ is not new. The formation of a Circular Economy Taskforce by the then Secretary of State at Defra provided the impetus to explore how to put this into practice across the built and natural environment and the government has plans to publish its Circular Economy Growth Plan early in 2026, where the built environment should feature as one of the key sectors.

This session at FutureBuild provides an opportunity for our sector to demonstrate how we can contribute to a growth economy based on circularity principles.

• Chair: David Greenfield, President of the Chartered Institution of Waste Management (CIWM), Managing Director, SOENECS and member of the Circular Economy Taskforce.
• Libby Peake – Taskforce member and Senior Fellow and Head of Resource Policy, the Green Alliance.
• David Pinder – Chair, Green Construction Board.
• Jason Millett – Group Chief Executive, Mace Group.
• Yetunde Abdul – Director of Industry Transformation, UKGBC

UK Construction Week – Housing Action Hub

Flooding, overheating and storms are becoming operational challenges, not future scenarios. This sessions connects climate risk to day-to-day asset decisions. It explores frameworks and funding pathways for building long-term resilience.

• Moderator: George Clarke, Architect & TV Presenter
• Philippa Birch-Wood, Head of Climate Action UKGBC
• Bahareh Salehi, Associate, Energy Technical Lead, Hoare Lea & CIBSE

UK Construction Week – Marketing & Procurement Hub

This session will unpack the UK Green Building Council’s Supply Chain Decarbonisation Guide and what it means for those specifying products and managing procurement in construction. It will explore practical approaches to measuring, reducing and reporting embodied carbon in supply chains, and how early engagement with suppliers can drive better environmental outcomes without compromising cost or programme. Attendees will come away with clear actions they can adopt in tenders, frameworks, and specification processes to support decarbonisation across projects.

• Philippa Birch-Wood, Head of Climate Action, UKGBC

Futurebuild – Networking Area

This member‑exclusive gathering is an opportunity to connect with peers, exchange insights, and discover how to get the most value from your UKGBC membership, from capability‑building opportunities and the role of learning and leadership in driving sustainability action, to the strength of our wider community.

Whether you’re looking to build your sustainability skills, expand your network of like‑minded professionals, or deepen your engagement with UKGBC, this session offers a welcoming space to learn, share, and take action together.

You’ll also have the chance to speak directly with our experts during the session, they’ll be on hand to share insights into what UKGBC is working on for next year and how you can get involved.

Futurebuild – Arena Stage

A truly sustainable built environment requires effective policies to support key principles including carbon reduction, resilience, circularity and resource protection, water, biodiversity, health and equity and access. With a fluid political and policy landscape, how can we keep buildings a priority solution for climate change. This session will ask where the UK stands in terms of current policies, the scale of the problems with our building stock and what is needed to achieve these outcomes for a sustainable built environment.

• Rt Hon Chris Skidmore OBE, Former UK Energy Minister, Chair of the Climate Action Coalition, Working Group Chair of UK Transition Finance Council

Futurebuild – Arena Stage

We need nature for our long term survival and yet we have taken it so much for granted that we may now be at a tipping point with biodiversity loss and the rapid degradation of ecosystems reaching critical level. The UK has committed to protecting 30% of its land and seas by 2030. So far, our progress has been slow and so this means taking immediate action. The built environment has a crucial role to play but the question is how? What should we be doing? The UKGBC has produced a Framework for a Nature Positive Built Environment and through this we are working to provide clarity, tools and guidance needed to ensure that the built environment can take meaningful steps towards this goal – starting now.

• Speakers: TBC

Futurebuild – Placemaking stage

What does ‘regenerative design’ actually mean, and how can we put into practice, regardless of context? Our contention is that it is possible to embed regenerative practices into all aspects of design and construction – aiming not to ‘create a regenerative design’ as an outcome, but instead focussing on on the act of ‘designing regeneratively,’ or more broadly: ‘practicing regeneratively.’ In this series of quick-fire pecha kuchas, our invited experts will each speak to the act of design – a verb, rather than a noun – and share their tips for embedding practices and approaches that can help projects to reach beyond traditional sustainability, and work towards enabling human and living systems to thrive and co-evolve. They will each share the ways in which they are approaching this critical topic in their work, and give away all their secrets for embedding regenerative practices into everything they do, and creating that little bit of magic and wonder on our projects. 

• Chair: Isabel Allen, Editor, Architecture Today
• Will Arnold, Head of Sustainable Materials, Useful Simple Trust
• Gary Clark, Principal and Managing Director of HKS London and co-author of the RIBA Sustainable Outcomes Guide.
• Brogan MacDonald, Head of Sustainability, Ramboll
• Carl Walker, Head of Societal Insights, Hoare Lea
• Anna Hollyman, Co-Head of Policy and Places, UKGBC

Futurebuild – Placemaking stage

What does regenerative places look like on the ground? This panel brings together pioneering case studies that demonstrate how regenerative principles are being applied in real projects today. Hear from practitioners who are pushing boundaries – exploring challenges, lessons learned, and the tangible benefits for people and planet. 

• Chair: Anna Hollyman and Joanne Wheeler, Co-Heads of Policy & Places, UKGC
• Carl Walker, Head of Societal Insights, Hoare Lea
• Bianca Laura Latini – Associate Director, Sustainability Engineer, Social Impact Lead at Buro Happold

Futurebuild – Energy Stage

This session will discuss phase 1 of the Local Area Retrofit Accelerator pilot. The pilot follows over three years of development to find an approach that can take a system-based approach to delivering local action. The panel will cover the pilot process, the reasons for a systems-approach, lessons learnt and recommendations for other localities and organisations.

• Chair: Alastair Mumford, Programme Director, The MCS Foundation.
• Adrian Prestidge, Green Growth Project Manager, East Midlands Combined County Authority.
• Jo Wheeler, Co-Head Policy & Places, UKGBC
• Naomi Diamond, Head of Practice, Collaborate CIC