Sustainability has moved from a niche consideration to a mainstream expectation across the built environment and most professionals agree on what it takes.
Delivering sustainability consistently, project after project, is proving much harder.
That's the central finding in the NBS Sustainable Futures Report 2026: The state of sustainability across the construction lifecycle, by NBS (part of Hubexo), a leading specification and product information platform for the construction industry.
This is the fifth edition of the NBS report, in association with Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), which has provided an industry benchmark for evolving views and opinions from those working within the built environment over the past decade, providing insight into sustainability attitudes and tracking how the industry’s approach is changing.
Specification is the clearest point of agreement with more than eight in ten respondents (86%) expressing that a well-written specification matters for sustainable outcomes. Three-quarters (75%) say lifecycle assessment is important, a sign that whole-life thinking is now widely accepted across the industry.
However, the study reveals that practice from day to day is less consistent. Only around half (53%) measure and report on sustainability across all or most of their projects, and just under half (48%) say their intended outcomes are achieved always or frequently.
The barriers are practical ones. Cost tops the list (60%), followed by a lack of client demand (42%), sustainable products being value-engineered out (32%) and a shortage of people with the right skills (25%). Respondents see clients as the most influential group on a project (68%), yet a lack of client demand is the second biggest barrier to delivering sustainable outcomes.
Only around four in ten professionals (42%) name a regular, trusted source of sustainability data. That equates to well over half the industry (58%) requiring a source to rely on. Since the last report, AI search is now referenced in around 14% of responses. In the previous Sustainable Futures study, AI did not feature at all, which shows how quickly this topic has moved up the agenda. The rising influence of AI makes it a natural place to look for general information, but this carries the real risk of unverified data reaching specification decisions.
Demand for better product data is clear. The majority of respondents (83%) want manufacturers to provide more sustainability performance data and 43% look for EPDs when selecting products.
Dr Lee Jones, Head of Sustainability at Hubexo, said: " The conversation around sustainable construction is evolving. Awareness of embodied carbon, lifecycle assessment and Environmental Product Declarations has grown. But many organisations are still building the skills, processes and data they need to measure their impacts and track progress, and the gap between ambition and implementation is still clear.
"Decisions made early on and during design stage have a profound influence on how a building performs, which is why a rigorous specification is important for sustainable outcomes. But specification is only as good as the data behind it. The industry needs to work more closely than ever, to ensure project teams have transparent, verified product information. The industry is at different stages and there's no single fix. Progress depends on better information, more consistent measurement and closer collaboration.”
Dr. Stephen Hamil, Innovation Director at Hubexo said: " Our Sustainable Futures study tracks how those designing and specifying buildings, alongside the manufacturers supplying the products and materials, are responding to the sustainability challenge. What's clear is that the conversation has moved on. Those making specification decisions increasingly understand what more sustainable choices look like, while manufacturers recognise the need to provide the products, information and evidence to support them. The challenge now is turning that understanding into action. We know much of what needs to be done - the next step is to see more of the industry actually doing it."
Download the NBS Sustainable Futures Report 2026 for the full findings and a guest article from RIBA on measuring how buildings perform in use under the UK Net Zero Building Standard: Download the NBS Sustainable Futures Report 2026
