Cundall has today publicly committed to achieving net zero carbon on all its projects by 2030. The pledge recognises the critical need for practical, science-led action to transition all buildings, infrastructure, and human settlements to net zero carbon as rapidly as possible.
The global practice, which has 25 offices worldwide, will collaborate with clients and its peer networks of design, construction, property development, facilities management, and real estate investment stakeholders to minimise the impact of global temperature rises.
The Zero Carbon Design 2030 (ZCD2030) commitment is a line in the sand that has been two years in the making. It is both an internal cultural shift and a standpoint that will enable Cundall’s engineers and designers to make zero carbon thinking ‘business as usual’ for all Cundall’s people and its clients.
“When we embarked on our Zero Carbon Design 2030 journey in 2021, we had to start from the ground up to understand exactly what it would entail,” said Mario Saab, Head of Sustainability MENA at Cundall.
“Decarbonising our built environment is a formidable task, however it is central to combatting climate change especially in an industry deeply rooted in tradition, where introducing change poses a significant challenge.
“While we acknowledge that not every project can attain net zero carbon today, we are confident in our strategic consultancy & technical expertise to discover and implement innovative and sustainable solutions demanded by this pivotal point in human history. We know every building is capable of a net-zero carbon pathway.
The market is already progressing in the right direction, and we see this as an opportunity to lead by example, enlighten our clients about the net zero carbon potential of their projects, and collaborate with the wider industry to facilitate a swift transition.”
Cundall was founded with a commitment to sustainable design. The practice was a founding signatory of the World Green Building Council Climate Pledge and was certified carbon neutral by the Carbon Trust in 2020. But given the findings of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) 6th Synthesis report and the clear call for the built environment to step up and achieve rapid emissions reductions across both new and existing buildings, delay is not an option.
Carole O’Neil, Cundall’s Managing Partner, says the business’s commitment to Zero Carbon Design 2030 is an “investment in Cundall’s future”. Cundall recently adopted the change initiative as one of the four pillars of the practice’s new global strategy.
“Achieving net zero carbon isn’t just about the science, it’s about the people,” she says. “This initiative has always had the support of the Management Board, but it is also very much driven from the bottom up. It has the passion of our people behind it. They are the ones driving this forward, defining the future of our business and the industry they want to work in for years to come.
“It was important that we let Zero Carbon Design 2030 develop in this way, because while net zero carbon requires technical solutions that engineers are best placed to provide, at its heart, it’s also a change initiative that involves shifting the design culture within our own organisation, as well as in the wider industry through our clients, partners and projects.”
While this is just the start of Cundall’s ZCD2030 journey, the practice is already counting its successes. It has an interim goal of achieving net zero carbon on 25% of its projects by the end of 2024 and is already working with a wide range of clients on projects with net zero carbon ambitions.
One such project is Eden, the soon-to-be-completed 12-storey office building in Salford, UK developed by the English Cities Fund’s. When it reaches completion later this year, the £36 million project will be enabled to run solely on 100% renewable electricity and feature Europe’s largest green wall. Among its credentials, it has already been awarded the UK’s second 5.5 NABERS rating, making it the joint highest rated building in the UK.
Cundall’s Zero Carbon Design 2030 commitment outlines that no project is too big or too small to have net zero carbon ambitions. It acknowledges that every bit of carbon saved on a project makes a difference to the global carbon emissions produced by the property and construction industry and that every building and every practitioner must play a part in achieving a more resilient and sustainable built environment.