Discussing sustainability with clients and collaborators

How can structural engineers influence decision making?

Advice for engineers who are trying to lower carbon in a brief.

William Algaard presents ways in which structural engineers can help shape the direction of a project by confidently and constructively sharing their expertise in a language that client and architect will understand.

Tim Chapman and Ian Firth highlight the carbon differences between civil structures and buildings projects, and propose that engineers work with their clients to target low-carbon outcomes, rather than just low-carbon structures.

Can very low-carbon buildings be constructed cheaply enough to suit the pockets of private-sector commercial developers? Yes, says Professor John French.

Buro Happold and WSP UK have committed to reducing the carbon emissions of their designs by 50% by 2030. In this article, Sarah Prichard and David Leversha set out the rationale for this target, explain how they plan to achieve this, and encourage other firms to...

Arup global sustainable development leader, Jo da Silva, was made a Dame in the recent New Year Honours. She talks to Jackie Whitelaw about social responsibility in business, the engineering response to COP26 and the impact of the pandemic on future planning of...

Tim Chapman and Ian Firth highlight the carbon differences between civil structures and buildings projects, and propose that engineers work with their clients to target low-carbon outcomes, rather than just low-carbon structures.

This article describes the climate-positive design for the campus of the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture. 

The article showcases the University of East Anglia's Enterprise Centre project, a low-carbon, sustainable building which achieves both Passivhaus standard and BREEAM Outstanding rating.

This article describes the structural reuse and strengthening strategies adopted to enable three additional storeys to be added to an existing office building in London.

22 Bishopsgate was erected on the site of an abandoned project, reusing 100% of the existing foundations from three previous buildings, and incorporating more than 50% of the basement built for its predecessor. This article describes...