Many of the UK's leading property and construction firms have teamed up to turn the £90bn industry green.

They have formed the UK Green Building Council with the aim of dramatically improving the sustainability of the built environment within the next ten years.

The UK GBC will act to ensure sustainability is built-in to all stages of the cycle from funding and procurement to design, construction and product manufacture, to operation and maintenance. It will also promote the development and application of the UK’s world leading environmental assessment tools and provide a voice to Government.

Thirty-six high profile companies have signed up as Founding Members. They include: British Land, Lend Lease, Hanson, HBOS, Aggregate Industries, Land Securities Group, Sir Robert McAlpine, Willmott Dixon Construction and Jones Lang LaSalle.

The council aims to grow its membership by encouraging SMEs to sign up, and is developing clear targets on how to achieve a step change in sustainability across the industry.

UK GBC Chairman, Peter Rogers, said: "The only way to achieve a sustainable built environment is to unite what is currently a highly fragmented industry around a set of core goals – this is the aim of the UK Green Building Council. We have the expertise and technology in the UK to become world leading in sustainable development, we must now work together to rapidly achieve this."

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