The urban transition
More than 70% of European residents live in cities, many of which are transforming to become more sustainable, digitalised and resilient. That’s why we’re at the core of the urban transition, being engineers and architects with expertise as deep as it is broad.
Sweco offers a wide range of ‘placemaking’ and net zero services in buildings and urban areas with sustainability as a key component. Understanding the big picture is essential for long-term success, and Sweco’s architects, engineers and environmental experts work in close-knit, autonomous teams to develop solutions to the most challenging issues for private and public clients.
Special attention is paid to climate adaptation and emissions reduction, circular material flows and energy-efficient systems. Social sustainability is a key component in promoting a more equal, safe and inclusive society.
Biodiversity is actively supported with work that includes planning cities’ ecosystem services and working with Nature-based Solutions (NbS) – i.e., measures to protect, sustainably manage and restore ecosystems. In housing and urban development, sustainability and digitalisation go hand in hand, with new technology often a means of analysing, simulating and designing the best solutions.
At Sweco, we aim to be a role model in the green transition, taking responsibility for and being part of the solution to society’s sustainability and carbon reduction challenges. Our commitment is to do more to support and challenge our clients in delivering innovative energy, transport, urban, water and industry solutions through expert consultancy, high-quality design and technical excellence.
Max Joy President Sweco UK
Our green transition focus areas
Transforming society together
As Europe’s leading architecture and engineering consultancy, Sweco has the vast and diverse sustainability consultancy expertise to transform society together with its clients across all sectors. Operating at the heart of the green transition, our 22,000 architects, designers and engineers work with organisations of all types to optimise solutions for major challenges across the built environment, transportation networks and critical infrastructure.
How we help businesses drive climate action
Strategic support
There is growing understanding that drastic change is required. But clear guidance is in short supply. Sweco’s role is to join the dots between strategic climate ambitions and practical implementation. We show our clients where efforts can be best directed.
Insight leadership
We want to go beyond simply enabling carbon reduction in our projects. We need to make it happen. To do this, we continue to raise industry awareness and make carbon reduction a contractual standard across the supply chain, by providing thought leadership as well as practical direction.
Carbon collaboration
Through a programme of continuous carbon management, including design team training and the introduction of enhanced digital techniques, we highlight new opportunities for carbon reduction to clients. If carbon management is applicable to a project but not requested, we set out the opportunities that it offers.
Digital transformation
We have developed digital techniques to clearly communicate the carbon impact of design decisions. This helps to build awareness among clients, engineers, and key stakeholders. Developments in artificial intelligence are set to automatically optimise carbon and associated costs in the near future.
Lifecycle foresight
We help clients in every sector actively challenge their supply chain, through procurement mechanisms that require carbon reduction and encourage innovation. Critically, we also ensure that focus is maintained on carbon impacts throughout project lifecycle, and post-completion.
UNSDG mindset
Each project we undertake is aligned to multiple United Nations Sustainable Development goals. Sustainability is at the heart of our building designs, transportation projects, landscape architecture visions, and infrastructure planning workflows – which allows us to truly transform society.
The green transition as a whole holds great potential for mitigating the effects of climate change. As more and more countries and industries adopt sustainable practices, we can expect to see a significant decrease in greenhouse gas emissions and a slowing of global warming.
However, it is important that we continue to push for even more ambitious and comprehensive green initiatives across buildings, transportation and infrastructure projects to make a meaningful difference. By working together and prioritising the health of our planet, we can create a more sustainable and resilient future for generations to come.