Building and construction commitments 

In 2018/19 UCL's carbon emissions from heating, cooling, powering and lighting our buildings were 55,000 tonnes. We would have to plant 1 million trees to absorb that amount of carbon. 

What is UCL doing? 

• UCL has a Sustainable Building Standard that details the minimum standards and targets for the delivery of a sustainable built environment – it applies to all our construction projects
• Our new build projects and major refurbishments must achieve a minimum of BREEAM Excellent
• UCL is also supporting transformation of the built environment on smaller projects using our in-house Mini Ska tool
• UCL is investing in sustainable construction and refurbishment including upgrading heating systems, insulating buildings and installing double glazing; 
• UCL is installing renewable energy technologies to help power our buildings. 
• We’re working with our construction partners to help reduce single-use plastics on building sites. With construction partners Mace, we have created a single-use plastics scorecard for construction sites and will set plastic reduction targets within new contracts including takeback schemes with suppliers; 

• PEARL is the first UCL that can claim to be net zero carbon in operation 

> Learn about our impact on construction from our annual report 

Sustainable buildings at UCL 

Sustainable building tools 

Cost and Carbon Tool - Calculate cost and carbon implications of different design options from early project stages. 

Mini SKA Tool - simplified tool developed by the Environmental Sustainability team for use on small projects.

Carbon accountability scheme

> Join the Carbon Accountability Scheme