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We bring the smartest minds in the property carbon-reduction world to FOOTPRINT+, so we think it’s only right for us to disseminate all this experience and knowledge freely. Most of what you hear here won’t have been spoken about before; it’s all hot-off-the-press! If you were at FOOTPRINT+ 2026, you can hear all the talks you couldn’t get to while you were in another of our 6 theatres; and if you weren’t, now is your chance to learn why you need to be at FOOTPRINT+ 2027.
Episodes
55 minutes ago
55 minutes ago
52 min
As the industry accelerates towards low‑carbon delivery, the tension between cost and carbon is reshaping project value.
This panel brings together cost consultants, contractors, manufacturers and circularity specialists to examine how market forces, funding and client priorities influence decision‑making. Alongside take‑back and reuse schemes, the manufacturer perspective highlights how high‑quality aluminium recycling is reshaping carbon baselines and challenging traditional cost assumptions.
The discussion will explore whether responsible material choices offer measurable commercial benefit and how design teams, consultants and delivery partners can align around solutions that balance environmental performance with financial viability.
2 days ago
2 days ago
45 min
In shallow and illiquid markets, developers face a distinct challenge: how to future-proof existing assets while protecting returns and maintaining flexibility in the business plan. This session explores how targeted retrofitting strategies can unlock value in standing buildings, aligning environmental performance with commercial outcomes rather than treating sustainability as a cost centre.
Focusing on practical interventions, the discussion will examine how energy efficiency upgrades, fabric improvements, and smart building systems can be phased to remain accretive to a developer’s business plan enhancing income resilience, reducing operational risk, and supporting exit value in markets with limited depth.
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What is the role of growing sustainability-linked loans?
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How do credible retrofit pathways and measurable performance targets improve financing terms and strengthen lender confidence?
With market-facing insight into investor and occupier expectations in shallow markets, we ask how whole-lifecycle carbon assessments and embodied and operational carbon analysis can inform retrofit decisions, prioritise spend, and evidence impact. The speakers will explore how a robust carbon-led strategy can support financing, de-risk assets, and deliver long-term value.
4 days ago
4 days ago
44 min
Solar power is becoming a central pillar of the UK’s decarbonisation and clean energy strategies, with Government committed to trebling solar capacity by 2030. For commercial real estate investors and developers, this creates a significant opportunity. Falling costs, improving performance and rapid innovation from high-efficiency panels to on-site storage and smart energy management are changing how solar can be integrated into buildings and portfolios.
This session explores how solar power can support the real estate sector in reducing operational carbon and energy costs while helping the wider economy transition to a low-carbon future. It will explore practical considerations for new and existing developments, including design integration, grid connections, ownership and funding models, and interactions with evolving policy and regulation.
Sep 3, 2026
Sep 3, 2026
44 min
Why does the hospitality industry accept that perfectly good interiors will be ripped out and burnt or buried? It is a catastrophic failure to plan for a completely predictable outcome, and it costs developers, operators and the planet.
In this session, James Goldsmith of Sibley Grove joins Nick Harrison of Design Foundry and Gerry Byrne of Castlebrook to challenge the status quo. The panel will argue that Design for Disassembly (D4D) and designing for longevity are not idealistic ambitions but essential, commercially proven strategies. They will explore how simple changes; bolts instead of glue, quality materials instead of cheap laminates, modular systems instead of fixed assemblies, can reduce refurbishment costs by up to 40%, cut carbon by up to 75% and transform how hotels maintain and refresh their spaces. With real examples and hard numbers, this session makes the case that the industry's biggest waste problem is also its biggest missed opportunity.
Sep 1, 2026
Sep 1, 2026
54 min
The range of low-carbon and circular concrete solutions is growing rapidly from novel binders and recycled aggregates to new design and specification approaches. Yet adoption on live projects often lags behind technical feasibility.
This session explores how developers, designers and contractors can bridge that gap and accelerate real-world delivery. Drawing on practical project experience, we will explore how guidance, carbon targets, collaborative risk-sharing and a strategic approach to innovation are helping to bring novel solutions into mainstream use.
Aug 27, 2026
Aug 27, 2026
45 min
38 Finsbury Square is a major retrofit delivering 52,000 sq ft of future-ready workspace in the heart of London. The project is defined by an ambitious and genuinely holistic sustainability brief, balancing environmental performance, social value and commercial viability. Alongside targeting BREEAM Outstanding, enabling WELL Platinum and progressing through the IDR process towards a NABERS target, the project is a pilot for the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard and adopts a comprehensive materials passport framework. L&G has also embedded clear social value requirements within contractor procurement.
This session introduces the project and design approach before exploring the realities of delivering such a wide-ranging sustainability agenda. Through a panel discussion, the team will focus on the development and implementation of the materials passport strategy, sharing lessons learned across client, design, development and construction perspectives. 38 Finsbury Square demonstrates how progressive sustainability thinking spanning circularity, wellbeing and social impact can be successfully embedded within a complex, commercially viable retrofit.
Aug 25, 2026
Aug 25, 2026
46 min
In a volatile and uncertain market, the underwriting process is often undertaken when limited information is available about the true cost and risk implications of future modernisation, decarbonisation and certification requirements.
This session explores how design teams can better support investors during underwriting by translating incomplete early-stage data into meaningful, robust analysis. It will examine how designers can align more closely with investment priorities, balancing speed, accuracy and flexibility to inform decision-making at a critical point in the acquisition process:
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How are assumptions are formed, stress-tested and communicated?
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How can design insight help quantify risk around capital expenditure, compliance and long-term asset performance?
Drawing on real project experience, the panel will consider how collaboration between design and investment teams can improve confidence in underwriting models, even when information is constrained highlighting practical tools, workflows and mindsets that enable design teams to add maximum value, ensuring underwriting decisions are better informed, more resilient and aligned with long-term asset strategies.
Aug 20, 2026
Aug 20, 2026
45 min
Timber Square is redefining how sustainable workplaces can be designed, delivered, and adapted for the future. Driven by a commitment to minimise whole-life carbon, the project integrates innovative structural solutions, material reuse strategies, and forward-thinking design principles to achieve significant environmental gains whilst delivering best-in-class facilities for a global headquarters occupier.
As the UK’s largest commercial scheme to utilise cross-laminated timber (CLT), and the world’s tallest hybrid steel–CLT structure, Timber Square demonstrates the scalability of mass timber in urban construction. The use of approximately 7,000m³ of CLT sequesters substantial embodied carbon while enabling a 30% reduction in embodied carbon and 15% reduction in structural weight compared to a typical new-build construction. Hybridisation with steel—over half of which is produced via recycled electric arc furnace methods—further optimises performance and carbon efficiency.
The project also pioneers circular economy principles, incorporating reclaimed steel, retained structural elements, and reused materials across the site. Intelligent engineering solutions, including transfer structures and future-proofed foundations, extend the life and adaptability of both new and existing buildings. Through a “retain, reclaim, build lean, build green” philosophy, Timber Square sets a new benchmark for sustainable commercial development, demonstrating how innovation, collaboration, and material efficiency can transform the built environment.
