Our Mission

Our mission is to dramatically improve the sustainability of the built environment, by radically transforming the way it is planned, designed, constructed, maintained and operated.

The challenge

The built environment has a great influence over our daily lives, from our homes to our places of work, learning and leisure. Being so fundamental to our way of living, it's perhaps unsurprising that buildings have such a significant impact on the environment. In the UK, buildings are responsible for 43% of our total carbon emissions and they also impact on the production of waste and the consumption of water, timber and other materials.

This sector has the opportunity to be at the forefront of finding solutions to the urgent problem of climate change; solutions which are not only environmentally sustainable, but have positive social and economic effects.

Background to the UK-GBC

The UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC) was launched in February 2007 to bring clarity, purpose and co-ordination of sustainability strategy to the sector. The Government's ‘Sustainable Buildings Task Group' had earlier reported that no one body or organisation was providing clear direction for the sector as a whole. The UK-GBC was established to fulfil this role.

We are a membership organisation, primarily consisting of businesses from across the industry. Uniquely, we bring together anyone involved in the complex process of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining and operating buildings, along with NGOs, academic institutions and government agencies. Our members approach sustainability not only as a challenge, but as an opportunity and are committed to our campaign for a radical transformation in the sustainability of our built environment.