FOOTPRINT+ podcasts

Beginning with the IoD PBE’s usual 'Quarterly Economic Update', this panel session will explore how our push toward net zero creates opportunities across the value chain, not only for businesses, but also for communities and society. As noted in a recent report by the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit and the Confederation of British Industry, The Future is Green, the net zero economy is growing at more than three times the overall UK economy and is "now supporting almost a million livelihoods, with a disproportionate number of those jobs outside London and the South East". What businesses and citizens need now is for the government to create the platform for long-term, demand-driven structural economic growth by baking in policy clarity, as well as financial and tax incentives, as noted in the recent 2025 UK Net Zero Business Census.

Chairperson

Richard Nelson, Founder & Managing Director - ABYSS Global

Speakers

Marios Gregori, Tax Partner, Head of Construction & Infrastructure - BDO

Matt Bullivant, Financial & Tax Incentives Lead - Don't Waste Buildings

Beth West, Executive Advisor - Ramboll UK

Jiten Chauhan, Head of Social Value - The Blue Iris Partnership

As market conditions tighten and buyer scrutiny increases, preparing a real estate asset for exit has become more complex than timing alone. This session explores how liquidity is now shaped not just by location and income, but by sustainability credentials and future readiness. We will examine whether ESG performance is a decisive factor in pricing and deal velocity, or simply a threshold requirement to access core capital. 

The discussion will focus on how owners can future-proof assets when capital for major works is constrained. What signals matter most to buyers? How are sustainability risks and opportunities being measured today, and how consistent are those metrics across markets? We will also look at how core and core-plus investors view transition risk, stranded assets, and the credibility of forward plans. 

Finally, the session will explore whether mapping the next buyer’s ESG journey, even without immediate capex, can itself add value and improve exit outcomes. 

Chairperson

Adam Baranowski, Head of Climate Action & Investment - Better Buildings Partnership

Speakers

Katie Krelle, Head of Sustainable Asset Services - JLL

Frank Blande, Senior Sustainability Lead - Great Portland Estates

Laura Thrower, Senior Responsible Property Investment Manager - Royal London Asset Management

From target to delivery, the greatest risks to carbon, energy and resilience performance often emerge not in design, but in contracts, procurement and execution. This session explores the persistent gap between design intent and operational reality, examining why projects so often fail to deliver what was promised.  

It will consider how contractual structures, value engineering and supply chain decisions can undermine performance targets, and how these risks can be better managed. The session will also address tracking and verifying outcomes through delivery, and the legal implications of supply chain due diligence, including sourcing decisions and embodied carbon claims, to ensure commitments are realised in practice. 

Chairperson

Tom McNeil, Principal Building Performance Consultant - Max Fordham

Speakers

Kelly Harrison, Director - alpha-ww

Josh Gibbons, Managing Associate, Construction and Engineering - Addleshaw Goddard LLP

Orms will present the progress and emerging outcomes of their extensive research on materials passports. With industry templates recently released, and hosting an ongoing working group, the team have been testing and applying work to live projects. It moves the conversation forward from material salvage to practical application across projects of varying scale, from office fit-outs to more complex developments.

Delegates will gain insight into:

• how material passports are being implemented in live projects, including what a working material passport database looks like in practice
• challenges associated with creating and maintaining these systems
• key lessons emerging from projects currently in progress

Attendees will also hear perspectives from a range of project stakeholders, highlighting how different disciplines engage with material passports and where value is being realised. The session will feature a physical demonstration of material passports installed within a studio environment, offering a tangible example of how circular principles can be embedded into everyday practice.

Chairperson

Rachel Hoolahan, Associate Director and Sustainability Lead - Orms

Speakers

Colin McColl, Director - Orms Architects

Frank Blande, Senior Sustainability Lead - Great Portland Estates

Simon Ranauro, Project Director - Bovis

Theatr Clwyd is a cornerstone of North Wales’ arts scene, operating as a major producing theatre and regional cultural hub with a diverse estate of performance, rehearsal and support spaces. Developed incrementally over time, the aggregated buildings on the site are representative of many complex cultural and educational campuses across the UK, where varied construction types and intensive occupancy place significant demands on building services. Assembly spaces in particular present challenging environmental requirements, balancing audience comfort, performer needs and energy efficiency.

This presentation explores how the project team approached the retrofit of Theatr Clwyd to future-proof the building, improve thermal comfort and significantly reduce operational costs. It will focus on the strategy and delivery of targeted thermal fabric upgrades alongside the electrification of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Attendees will gain insight into working within an operational theatre environment, coordinating interventions across a complex estate, and delivering a low-carbon retrofit solution that supports both artistic ambition and long-term sustainability.

Chairperson

Chris Foges, Contributing Editor - RIBA Journal

Speakers

Stephen White, Director - Skelly & Couch

Will Mesher, Associate Director - Haworth Tomkins

FUSE (Flexible Upgradeable Sustainable Ecosystem) reframes science space as a platform: a high‑performing workplace that can be upgraded when needed. By avoiding day‑one overspecification, it reduces embodied and operational carbon, shortens delivery, and stays cost‑accessible. Structure, services and fabric are aligned around a lean baseline that can be enhanced through clear pathways - whether airflow, services or vibration performance - without preloading cost or carbon.

By layering essential infrastructure and enabling future adaptability, the model reduces upfront capital expenditure while maintaining long-term performance. The result is a building that is lower in embodied carbon, more cost-effective to operate, and faster to deliver on site. Critically, it sets out to address the growing disconnect between high construction costs and affordability for occupiers.

Chairperson

Matt Dunkley, Design Director - Morgan Sindall Construction

Speakers

Chris Swinburn, Founding Director - Beyond Carbon

Paul Cooper, Partner - Ridge & Partners

Mark Adey, Managing Director - Bond Bryan Fairhursts

Luke Spence, Partner - Price & Myers

Commercial interiors are stripped and refitted every five to seven years. The industry has developed serious tools to respond — materials passports, embodied carbon targets, circular economy frameworks. These matter. What they don’t address is whether a space is designed to last — and whether the people inside it would miss it if it were gone.

This panel brings together three perspectives on a different approach. Piercy & Company make the design case: that a mentality shift — from optimising for the first day towards designing for the project’s whole life — produces spaces that are more sustainable, more humane, and more genuinely expressive of the organisations that commission them. Derwent London offers the client view: their Savile Row headquarters, designed nearly a decade ago, remains their base today — long-life, loose-fit, and still working. Kinda Studios provide the scientific evidence: neuroaesthetics research shows that our material choices, and their design within a space have measurable effects not only on the brain and body but also on the planet we share. Detailing impacts across our human nervous system they explore the power of intentional design across individual and societal health.

The sustainable choice and the humane choice are the same choice. The most sustainable interior is the one worth keeping.

Chairperson

Sofia Steffenoni, Head of Research - Piercy&Co

Speakers

Robyn Landau, Co-Founder & Director - Kinda Studios

Tim Hyman, Group Architect - Derwent London

As ESG commitments move from aspiration to obligation, real estate investors face growing scrutiny around governance, disclosure and accountability. This session examines: 

• the evolving legal landscape of ESG compliance 

• the risks associated with inaccurate disclosure, inadequate oversight and poorly defined transition plans 

• director-level liability for ESG and transition planning and expectation of the  

• board oversight of delivery rather than just intent 

• the extent to which greenwashing claims are being pursued, particularly where transition plans are overstated or unsupported 

• whether enforcement is driving meaningful change across the sector 

Bringing together legal, investment and ESG expertise, the discussion will provide practical insight into how robust governance, transparent disclosure and defensible transition plans can help manage risk, ensure compliance and maintain investor confidence in an increasingly regulated market. 

Chairperson

Sebastian Wood, Managing Director - Whitby Wood

Speakers

Ryan Ray, Principal, Performance Solutions - Y Analytics

Ruth Knox, Partner and Practice Chair - Paul Hastings