How does the built environment create value for people, nature and climate as demands on the sector grow?
With a reputation as one of the most environmentally burdensome industries which also has a fundamental opportunity to support healthy and resilient societies, the built environment sector needs to find a way to lead the transition to a sustainable economy.
The operation, maintenance and construction of our buildings, towns and cities account for typically the largest – or among the largest – share of any country’s, and any individual's, carbon footprint and impact on natural resources; but also provide among our greatest opportunities to strengthen the resilience of our societies, maximise shared social benefit, and create safe, secure and enjoyable futures for all.
Experts agree that the sector's role in exacerbating global challenges and its potential to provide solutions to these challenges is of critical importance today. There is an urgent need to for radical change in the sector, and conversations about this seem louder today than ever.
Insights for built environment professionals
Sustainable real estate - a constellation of risks and opportunities
First published in The Lighthouse, this blog by Munish Datta
explores the constellation of risks and opportunities for
sustainable real estate.
Read the blog
Sustainable real estate - reflections and next steps
Building on the blog by Munish on the constellation of risks and opportunities in sustainable real estate, Lucy Bruzzone considers how and why stakeholders must make the transition to sustainable practices and gives recommendations for further reading
Read the blog
Collaborative leadership? It’s what a sustainable
future in the built environment sector requires.
Dr Tim Forman describes how 'shared leadership' was central to
the refurbishment of Entopia.
Read the blog
Building Entopia
Discover the story behind the world-leading sustainable retrofit of Entopia, CISL's new home in central Cambridge.
Read the case study
Education on a sustainable built environment
For over three decades, CISL has been at the forefront of sustainability education. We have a deep understanding of the changing global context and access to a wealth of world-leading research into sustainable business. Our programmes draw upon leading academics, practitioners and innovators to help inform business strategy and inspire action.
Sustainable Real Estate: Creating a Better Built Environment
For professionals who want to understand
the sustainability challenges facing the real estate sector.
Find out more
Postgraduate programme for the
built environment
Explore the importance of building
knowledge and leadership skills to drive
real change through collaboration.
Find out more
Executive Education (open application and custom)
Identify innovative and commercially compelling approaches to address sustainability challenges.
Find out more
Postgraduate student stories
"I am invigorated and stimulated by the discussions [...]. I challenge my beliefs and biases, and I am more intentional about actively listening"
Sonia Green-Browne, Principal Engineer, Graphite Engineering Ltd.
"I would be lying if I didn’t say that there
is a lot to take in on an average day! I feel like I am learning many new ideas and insights which I can reapply in my field of work."
Neiad Adams-Austin, Traffic Engineer, London Borough of Waltham Forest
"The huge merit of the part-time course structure is the opportunity to apply what we have learnt to the real world immediately after we absorbed the lectures."
Emi Sugiyama, Sustainability Consultant, PwC Japan
Sustainable built environment innovation and collaboration opportunities
For over three decades, CISL has built individual and organisational leadership capacity and capabilities and created industry-leading collaborations, to catalyse change and accelerate the path to a sustainable economy. To discuss how we can work with you to support you in your transformation, please get in touch.
Find out more about CISL Canopy and Accelerator opportunities, which foster sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship through our community of founders, startups, corporate intrapreneurs, investors and systems change experts.
Resources and research
The Paris Climate Agreement requires a coherent, strategic response by financial institutions
9 February 2016
9 February 2016 – A new paper ‘The Paris Climate Agreement: Implications for banks, institutional investors, private equity and insurers’ provides analysis of the most pressing points of the Paris Agreement, and other key developments from the climate summit, and concludes that a coherent, strategic response is required of financial institutions.
Climate change: Implications for superannuation funds in Australia
29 January 2016
January 2016 – New study from our Master of Studies in Sustainability Leadership, supported by asset manager Colonial First State Global Asset Management, highlights member interest in superannuation fund climate exposure.
REALCAR project circular economy case study: Collaboration for a closed-loop value chain
25 January 2016
January 2016 – This closed-loop case study explores the lessons learnt from the REALCAR closed loop value chain project between Jaguar Land Rover, Novelis, Innovate UK and partners, in the creation of new materials and production systems to introduce closed-loop aluminium into Jaguar Land Rover cars.
Unhedgeable risk: How climate change sentiment impacts investment
10 November 2015
November 2015 – This report analyses how shifts in market sentiment induced by awareness of future climate risks could impact global financial markets in the short term.
21 August 2015
August 2015 – This report, jointly authored by the Cambridge Institute for Sustainablity Leadership and Ecofys, analyses five cooperative initiatives involving the private sector and identifies their emissions reduction potential. The potential emission reductions from the top five initiatives are significant – at current ambition levels estimated emission reductions could reach 200 MtCO2e.
10 years of Carbon Pricing in Europe – A business perspective
8 July 2015
July 2015 – This report, commissioned by The Prince of Wales's Corporate Leaders Group, was produced to mark the ten-year anniversary of the EU Emissions Trading System. It is based on a series of interviews with companies covered by this cornerstone climate policy who have made notable progress to reduce their carbon emissions during its lifetime.
Rewiring the Economy: Ten tasks, ten years
23 June 2015
July 2015, Updated November 2017 – Rewiring the Economy is CISL’s ten-year plan to lay the foundations for a sustainable economy. It is built on ten interconnected tasks, delivered by leaders across business, government and finance. Rewiring shows how these tasks can be tackled co-operatively to build an economy that encourages sustainable business practices, delivering the social and environmental progress demanded by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Financing the Global Low Carbon Transition
21 May 2015
22 May 2015 – Over the next 15 years, approximately $93 trillion will be needed for investment in low carbon infrastructure across the world. Success would mean mobilising more private capital behind public goals, delivering economic growth and putting us on the path to a net-zero emissions global economy. This paper makes a series of recommendations to achieve this goal.
Business as unusual: the required response to the climate challenge
24 March 2015
8 January 2014 – With the release of the fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) the world has received another of science’s periodic warnings of the need to change, or face disaster.
The role of private capital in building a low carbon Energy Union
26 February 2015
February 2015 – With Commission cabinets, the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership identified the need for additional thinking on the role of private capital in building an Energy Union. This brief discussion paper addresses the necessary systemic and regulatory reforms that would stimulate private capital flows into the proposed European-wide Energy Union. It has been divided into two parts: a high-level strategic assessment of the challenge, and a formula for unlocking private capital.
