Introducing Keystone Membership

Chief Executive Smith Mordak explains why we've moved away from 'Gold Leaf' Membership and have introduced 'Keystone' Membership to replace it.

After many years of celebrating our most dedicated members with the “Gold Leaf” moniker, we at UKGBC have decided to relaunch this wonderful group as our “Keystone” members. 

Coming up with a name that speaks to the importance of this group, and expresses our gratitude for their enhanced support and deeper engagement, was not a task we took lightly. After many conversations, (with humans and even an AI) we came up with Keystone. I’m really happy with this and wanted to share why! 

a keystone is the stone placed at the centre of the arch or vault that locks everything into position

As many will be familiar with, in building, a keystone is the stone placed at the centre of the arch or vault that locks everything into position, allowing the arch or vault to become self-supporting and to bear weight. Keystones are often decorated in recognition of this crucial status in a flamboyance of structural integrity I’ve always enjoyed. 

A fun fact I learnt more recently is that our feet also have keystones! The navicular bone (so called because it looks a bit like a boat) is part of the longitudinal and transverse arch of the foot and is a structural link between midfoot and forefoot. I love that these little boat-shaped keystones are what keep us standing, walking, and running. 

The third keystone is from ecology: keystone species. Keystone species was coined in 1969 by zoologist Robert T. Paine who applied the keystone concept from building to describe a species that plays a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecosystem, often despite there only being a relatively small population. Without the keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or even cease to exist. These are often species that sit at the top of the food chain, such as wolves, but not always. Beavers, fantastic ecosystem engineers that they are, are a keystone species whose habitats we desperately need to protect and restore in the UK.  

Without the keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or even cease to exist

Paine also coined “trophic cascade” – the knock-on effects that result from changes to an important species in the system. This important concept continues to be crucial to our understanding of tipping points. 

For me, Keystone being a concept used across building and ecology, that speaks to the interconnectedness of us all and importance of understanding the outsized domino effects that small changes can have, felt like a perfect term to capture the energy and centrality of these members. It’s also an important reminder that we as advocates for sustainability and indeed as humans, need to remember both our embeddedness within the ecosystem, but also the additional power and responsibility we have over it. 

So, I hope you all recognize yourselves in one-or-all of these descriptions: an essential bit of stone, an important structural foot bone, and/or an animal without which the ecosystem would be unrecognisable! 

If you aren’t yet a Keystone member organisation and would like to join this crucial group, please contact us here! 

Keystone Membership

As a membership network, UKGBC is at the forefront of driving the transformation to net zero. As a step up from our standard membership, we offer existing ambitious members signed up to the UN’s Race to Zero the option to upgrade to Keystone Membership and access additional benefits.
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