The built environment industry causes significant environmental damage, responsible for nearly 30% of biodiversity loss and 50% of raw material extraction. The WBCSD and Arup have launched new research on how to measure and monitor the nature impacts of buildings across their life cycle. 

Exploring Nature Positive Buildings shows real estate developers, building designers and others in the sector the first steps towards assessing the ‘whole-life nature impacts’ of buildings.
 
Land conversion for new buildings can have a huge impact on endangered species and nature. But the report also highlights the vast impact of building development on the natural world from the extraction and processing of raw materials – often thousands of miles away from the building itself. It shows these ‘embodied’ nature impacts are not yet fully understood or measured by built environment professionals.
 
Measuring the whole-life carbon impact of buildings on carbon emissions is much more advanced than equivalent nature assessments. The report demonstrates how many measures taken to reduce carbon impact can also help protect nature – like prioritising building retrofit over new build, promoting circular design that reuses materials, and practising sustainable procurement. 

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Exploring nature positive buildings
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Hear from Sarah Gillhespy, one of the lead authors, about what’s at stake, the challenges, and how this new report shows we can leverage advancements in whole-life carbon measurement to measure whole-life nature impacts.

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