London Property Alliance’s report, Embodied Carbon in Central London, provides the most comprehensive picture to date of upfront embodied carbon performance across office‑led development in central London.
Authored by Arup, the analysis draws on project‑level data from 76 major office schemes submitted by 17 WPA and CPA members, offering a robust, evidence‑led view of what is being achieved in practice across live and recently delivered projects across central London. The research shows an average upfront embodied carbon intensity of 720 kgCO₂e/m² GIA, representing a 24% reduction since 2021.
The report explores what will be required to deliver further reductions, noting that much of the readily achievable improvement has already been secured. Further reductions are likely to be progressively harder, relying heavily on full supply chain decarbonisation, whilst improvements in measurement is likely to offset some reductions in the short to medium term.
In his foreword, WPA Chair James Raynor (Chief Executive, Grosvenor Property) writes:
“Our findings show both how far the sector has already come and the scale of innovation and investment underpinning that progress. There is much to celebrate and, of course, progress does not stand still… For policies and certification schemes to genuinely drive progress, they must be grounded in evidence and responsive to how development is financed, designed and delivered in practice.”
This report was authored by Arup with contributions from BGO, Berkeley Estate Asset Management, BNP Paribas AM Alts, British Land, Brookfield Properties, CO-RE, Derwent London, Endurance Land, GPE, Grosvenor, Helical, Landsec, OPLM, Royal London Asset Management, Sellar, Stanhope and The Crown Estate and acknowledgement to Hilson Moran and Woods Bagot.
Read the report here
