𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

BREEAM is a Business Reporter client

The property and building industry faces a simple but urgent question: can we deliver strong financial returns and still do right by people and the planet?

Our sector shapes how we live, work and invest. It is also at the heart of climate risk, social pressure and regulatory change. Capital discipline and asset value often pull in one direction; long-term resilience, health and sustainability in another. The real challenge – and the real opportunity – is to align them.

Too often in the built environment, we focus on the short term: quarterly earnings and immediate returns. We do not spend enough time thinking about ten-year strategies or buildings designed to last for generations. That approach no longer reflects the reality we face.

If we look ahead 25 years to 2050 – less than a generation away – three quarters of the buildings that will exist have not yet been built. Only a quarter already stands: our homes, hospitals, schools, offices and data centres. The pace of change is extraordinary. It demands a different way of thinking about return on investment, asset portfolios and long-term performance.

For new buildings, data and digital tools can support far smarter design decisions. That means thinking carefully about where energy comes from, how renewables are integrated, whether materials are locally sourced and resilient, and how passive design can help keep buildings comfortable as temperatures rise. With increased flood and fire risk, we also need to design in nature-based solutions, green space and better air quality. These choices shape the quality of life for the people who live and work in these buildings – and they directly influence long-term asset value.

For the buildings that already exist, resilience is critical. Asset managers need to ensure properties do not become stranded in decades to come, through refurbishment and retrofit. In England alone, around two million homes – and the people living in them – are affected by cold and damp, costing the NHS £1.4 billion every year. Improving insulation and reducing air leakage would improve people’s lives. It would also free up public money to cut waiting lists, expand GP and mental health services and tackle crumbling hospital buildings.

If we fail to get this balance right, the consequences are severe. The built environment already accounts for around a third of global carbon emissions. Unless the 75 per cent of future buildings are designed properly – and the 25 per cent we already have manage energy, water and resources far better – any chance of staying within a 2°C temperature rise will be lost.

This is where BREEAM, BRE’s environmental assessment methodology, plays a vital role. With more than 600,000 buildings certified worldwide, BREEAM is already delivering safer, more resilient places and a better quality of life for the hundreds of millions of people who, every year, work in, stay in and visit BREEAM-certified offices, hotels and shopping centres. It also makes strong commercial sense. Asset owners are achieving significant reductions in energy and water use, recovering their costs many times over while future-proofing their portfolios.

BRE was founded 100 years ago with a clear social purpose: helping returning soldiers after the First World War access decent accommodation. That purpose still guides us today. Our ambition is simple – that every building in which we live, work and meet, and everywhere we eat, pray and play, is safe, resilient, suited to its environment and built to last.

I don’t believe profit and responsibility are incompatible. We have to think about quarterly earnings and long-term strategy, resilience and returns – and about everyone, in every building, everywhere.

Explore how BREEAM can support your buildings.