2025 has been a defining year for Green Building Design.It brought strategic transformation, significant technical achievement and an evolving industry landscape that will shape how we design, upgrade and regulate buildings in the years ahead.  From joining the CHPK Group to delivering major retrofit and decarbonisation projects, the foundations laid this year will have a lasting impact on our clients, our organisation and the wider built environment.

Here, we reflect on the milestones of 2025 and look ahead to what 2026 may bring.

Joining CHPK

Our most significant milestone came in March, when GBD joined the CHPK Group. This partnership expands our engineering capacity, connects our Hertfordshire and London offices with a larger national network, and strengthens our multidisciplinary capability by aligning our M&E expertise with CHPK’s surveying and professional services teams.

It positions GBD to deliver larger, more complex projects without losing the values and technical integrity that have defined our work for over two decades. As Simon Green notes, the merger “ensures the next chapter of GBD’s growth while protecting the principles and quality our clients know us for.”

Driving sustainable design and delivery

Despite a challenging economic climate, GBD continued to deliver high-quality, low-carbon design across commercial, public-sector and residential projects. Much of this focused on decarbonisation and improving the performance of existing buildings; an area where demand continues to grow.

Our work with Trinity College Cambridge was a key focus, with further upgrades to laboratory and office hybrid buildings across their science and innovation estates. Air-source heat pumps, heat-recovery ventilation and modernised building systems delivered meaningful energy reductions and improved EPC outcomes, supporting the region’s increasing need for efficient, adaptable R&D spaces.

Alongside this, we successfully refurbished several ageing office buildings into energy-efficient workplaces and completed a number of complex dilapidation cases, an area where our expert witness work continues to expand.

Regulation, policy and the need for clearer national direction

2025 exposed the urgent need for clearer government policy on decarbonisation. The end of the £7,500 heat-pump grant in April, without confirmation of a successor scheme, coupled with electricity still taxed more heavily than gas despite a green grid, has created uncertainty at a critical time for low-carbon heat adoption.

As Simon explains, “We need a more coherent approach to taxation and carbon pricing. Shifting carbon cost onto gas is essential if running a heat pump is to become demonstrably cheaper than running a boiler.”

The Building Safety Act continued to reshape the industry, reinforcing the importance of independent design, robust inspection and accountable professional oversight. Alongside this, inflation, supply-chain pressures and skills shortages continued to have an impact, yet demand for sustainable buildings has continued to rise – a sign that low-carbon design is no longer a niche ambition but a market expectation.

Nurturing the next generation

GBD continued to invest in early-career development in2025. Our degree apprenticeship programme remained a successful pathway into building services engineering, complemented by strengthened T-level placements through our partnership with Oaklands College and supporting the college’s ambition to expand sustainability and low-carbon heating content within its curriculum. We also provided work experience to local sixth-form students, helping young people understand the opportunities within the sector.

Retrofit moves to the top of the agenda

Retrofit was the defining theme of 2025. With less than two years until the next MEES milestone, and further tightening expected towards 2030, the pressure on building owners is mounting. Yet many still underestimate the scale of upgrades needed, and the cost of inaction.

GBD’s Energy Feasibility Reports played a central role this year, combining thermal modelling, detailed surveys and energy-use analysis to provide accurate EPC assessments and clear, phased upgrade pathways. However, Simon warns that progress is not happening quickly enough.“Nowhere near enough buildings have been upgraded, and the deadlines are coming fast.”

Poorly executed office-to-residential conversions also remained a concern, with inadequate insulation and inefficient heating systems leaving occupants at risk of high energy bills and fuel poverty.

Innovation in materials: the growing case for timber

2025 also saw increased interest in modern methods of construction and low-carbon materials. At this year’s Specifier Summit, whichGBD sponsored, Professor Michael Ramage’s presentation on engineered timber prompted valuable discussion.  Timber’s low embodied carbon, durability and potential for major structural use, even in wind turbines, highlight its growing role in low-carbon construction.

We expect wider adoption of timber, MMC and other innovative materials in 2026 as the industry accelerates its focus on whole-life carbon.

Looking ahead to 2026

Early forecasts suggest modest recovery across the construction sector next year, leading to a cautiously optimistic outlook. ForGBD, several themes are expected to define the year ahead.

Retrofit will continue to dominate, with both public and private sectors likely to increase investment in fabric upgrades, electrified heating and energy efficiency.

Embodied carbon will become a greater consideration at early design stages, with clients increasingly seeking advice on low-carbon materials, MMC and high-performance products. In parallel, the electrification of heating will continue to grow as clients prioritise operational cost reduction and future-proofing.

As part of the CHPK Group, GBD will be able to offer even more integrated, multidisciplinary engineering services as sustainability requirements become more complex.

A final word

2025 has been a year of strategic, technical and organisational progress for Green Building Design -  one in which we strengthened our foundations, broadened our capability and deepened our contribution to a more sustainable built environment.

As we move into 2026, the opportunity is clear: to lead the transition towards low-carbon, high-performing buildings through rigorous engineering, collaborative delivery and innovative thinking.

We look forward to working with clients, partners and colleagues to make 2026 a year of real and measurable progress for the built environment.

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