Building standards

UCL insists on the adoption of high building standards that go well beyond legal requirements. These apply to all types of construction projects from major new builds to minor works.

UCL Sustainable Building Standard

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UCL expects the highest standards for all our construction projects, as set out in our Sustainable Building Standard. 

It focuses on 4 core principles:

1. Life cycle value;
2. Energy use and carbon emissions;
3. Healthy and productive environments;
4. Circular Economy.

> Read more about UCL's Building Standards on UCL Estates website. 

Building assessment tools

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UCL uses the following third-party assessment tools for an additional level of building accreditation. 

Assessing environmental performance 

UCL uses BREEAM and Ska ratings to minimise the environmental impacts of our larger projects, helping to tackle climate change whilst running our buildings more efficiently.  

BREEAM and Ska cover a range of performance factors including energy efficiency, water consumption, air quality and waste management. 

They also help to reduce a building’s life cycle impact by encouraging low-carbon construction methods and sustainably sourced raw materials. 

All of our new build projects are achieving minimum BREEAM ratings of ‘Excellent’ whilst many refurbishments have achieved the Ska ‘Gold’ standard. 

> Learn more about BREEAM standards and products.

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