In July 2023, we made a bold public commitment to Zero Carbon Design 2030 (ZCD2030), an initiative that will ultimately ensure all our projects meet our science-based targets aligned zero carbon design criteria by the end of the decade. In our ambition to integrate ZCD2030 across Cundall, we have embarked on a journey that has significantly transformed our company culture and governance, approach to design, and how we upskill our people to enable success.
Now, two years after making the commitment, and five from reaching the 2030 deadline we set ourselves, we can look back on our progress so far, the challenges we’ve faced and mistakes we’ve made, and how we plan on using everything we have learned along the way to move forward.
Last year, we refined our milestones for our goal of aligning with Science Based Targets. We did this to ensure our projects are on a science-based pathway and are consistent with the Paris Agreement’s long-term goal to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels."
ZCD 2030 milestones
These new milestones will help ensure we provide the best carbon reductions guidance to our clients, meet our science-based intensity targets for our own disciplines, and ultimately, meet our ambitious ZCD2030 goal.
Cundall’s ESG Director, Madlen Jannaschk commented:
“Like many other built environment organisations, we have an ambition to decarbonise an industry responsible for a huge amount of global carbon emissions. We have said from the beginning that we do not know all the answers, and we are prepared to adapt to a changing landscape of sustainability.
“We have been on this journey of change alongside the rest of the world and whilst we have had to adjust our trajectory, our end goals have not changed. Since making our commitment, as a business we have made immense progress.
“Zero Carbon Design 2030 is not only an outcome for our projects, but a cultural shift across the company, to integrate sustainability and carbon expertise across everything we do, and at all levels.”
Culture change and governance:
ZCD2030 is now one of Cundall’s four strategic business pillars. As a result, our global management board and regional boards regularly discuss and track our progress against our commitment.
As of September 2025, 53% of our consultancy projects have met milestone 1, that is, providing discipline-specific carbon emissions reductions guidance for clients. 27% of the projects are still to be discussed and 20% have not achieved.
Discipline approach to design:
Every discipline, regardless of size or complexity, has a part to play in ZCD2030. While some, like structural engineering, have clear pathways due to easily quantified carbon footprints, others face more challenges or have a smaller impact. Yet all discipline leads are committed to the goal. Cross-disciplinary collaboration is enabling the creation of tools and pathways that support our ZCD2030 ambition.
Every discipline now has at least one ZCD2030 expert. These specialists understand the carbon impact of their discipline, actively upskill their colleagues, and equip their teams with the knowledge and skills needed to deliver truly sustainable solutions.
The Cundall Carbon Calculator Tool, developed by our sustainability team, helps measure and compare the carbon footprint of designs across projects and regions. By using product-specific Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) from manufacturers, the tool provides valuable data to set project benchmarks. EPDs detail the environmental impact of materials based on a product life cycle assessment.
Our sustainability team is also analysing benchmarks of carbon per m² across different building types, infrastructure and regions using carbon data from our past projects. These benchmarks will form the basis for setting project-specific carbon reduction targets that must be achieved by 2030.
Learning and Development:
A strong learning culture is central to life at Cundall. We believe that upskilling our people is the key to success, so, as part of our commitment, we are dedicated to enabling knowledge sharing through in-house tech talks that highlight best practices, showcase project case studies, and create opportunities for questions and open discussion.
We have hosted a series of ZCD2030 surgeries, where sustainability and ZCD2030 leads ran interactive sessions for project teams to ask questions and seek advice on implementing ZCD2030 in their work. These sessions took place across nine global locations. In addition, discipline-specific workshops with Partners and Directors explored how to develop tailored pathways for each discipline. We are also seeing a powerful shift at a micro level, with regular peer-to-peer conversations, helping embed a ‘sustainability first’ mindset into how our people think and design.
Whilst we anticipate more change, challenges and accomplishments, we remain committed to ZCD2030 and decarbonising the built environment. Moving forward, we will continue analysing our internal lifecycle data to establish benchmarks for 14 different building typologies and additional infrastructure projects across 16 countries and 22 services. We will also continue developing the Carbon Calculator Tool and implement an integrated tracking mechanism to collect emissions data on all our design projects
Most importantly, we will drive decarbonisation across every project by collaborating closely with clients, fellow designers, engineers and suppliers to test new designs, materials, technologies and approaches.
Together, we will push the boundaries of sustainability, embrace innovation, and inspire real change for a more sustainable future.