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Healthy Buildings Conference & Expo 2025
Wednesday 26th February 2025 | 9:30-17:00
The Human Rights Action Centre, 17-25 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 3EA
The ASBP’s 9th annual Healthy Buildings Conference and Expo took place on Wednesday 26th February 2025 at the Human Rights Action Centre in London. Highlights included:
- A keynote talk from John Palmer, Deputy Director at MHCLG on the importance of building healthy homes, the Future Homes Standard, and the latest policy developments for embodied carbon and the circular economy
- Findings from a unique research project which aims to bridge the gap between forestry and construction and raise awareness about sustainable forestry practices and the environmental impacts of sourcing timber.
- Case study: The Cascade building in Cardiff, the first mid-rise residential mass timber structure to be delivered in the UK in recent years.
- Hear from UCL’s Professor Michael Davies, an advisor to the Climate Change Committee, on the health co-benefits of climate action for housing.
- Industry-first insights into the indoor air quality of UK bio-based Passivhaus schools, which can help shape best practice for healthy classroom design.
- Learnings from a research project which found a range of quality of life benefits from mass timber buildings including an enhanced connection with nature, improved sense of relaxation and good quality measured healthy internal environments.
- Panel discussions on biogenic carbon, and regenerative design - "Doing better things, not just doing things better"
Image credits, L-R: MHCLG; Pexels – Na Urchin; David Hedges via LinkedIn & Langstone Construction; Climate Change Committee; Ysgol Trimsaran School, Architype (Copyright Philip Boorman Photograph); dRMM; AdobeStock_84070958; Pexels – Polina Chistyakova
Key Details
Date: Wednesday 26th February 2025
Time: 9:30-17:00
– Registration and exhibition from 9:30
– Conference sessions start at 10:30 and finish at 17:00
– Refreshments at 11:30 and 15:15, lunch from 13:00
– Drinks and networking from 17:00 until 18:30
Venue: The Human Rights Action Centre (at Amnesty International UK), 17-25 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 3EA
Exhibitors
Speakers and Programme
9:30 Registration, refreshments and exhibition
Session 1: Welcomes and keynote speaker
10:30 Welcome to Healthy Buildings 2025
Mark Lynn
Chair, The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products
10:40 Welcome from sponsors and quick intros to our exhibitors
11:00 Keynote speaker - Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Deputy Director, New Build Standards and Performance at Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
John will speak on:
- The importance of building healthy homes to individuals and the economy.
- The incoming Future Homes Standard.
- The lay of the land on embodied carbon and the circular economy.
11:30 Refreshments, networking and exhibition
Session 2: Mass timber buildings
12:00 Introduction from Built by Nature
Anna Lisa McSweeney
UK Network Lead, Built by Nature
“Built by Nature is a network and grant-making fund dedicated to accelerating the timber building transformation in Europe: radically reducing embodied carbon; safely storing carbon in our buildings for generations; and sequestering carbon by championing forest stewardship and regeneration.”
12:15 Findings from the IMPACTT research project – ‘Innovative Mapping and Processes to Advance Construction Timber Transparency’
With support from Built by Nature, ASBP has been leading on a unique research project which aims to bridge the gap between forestry and construction and raise awareness about sustainable forestry practices and the environmental impacts of sourcing timber. By tracing the supply chains of selected timber buildings across Europe – from buildings to the forest of origin – the project aims to provide a clearer picture of timber’s journey, its carbon impacts, and biodiversity conditions at the source. The findings will be presented as interactive maps, offering a visually engaging tool to communicate the often complex supply chains behind wood products.
Dr. Asselia Katenbayeva
Research Associate, ASBP
Business Development Manager UK & Ireland, Stora Enso
Co-Founder and CEO, Double Helix Tracking Technologies
Executive Director, PEFC UK Limited
12:45 Case study: The Cascade project in Cardiff
Director of Projects, Eurban
“This landmark scheme on a tight urban site in Cardiff, is the first mid-rise residential mass timber structure to be delivered in the UK in recent years.
Once complete, the seven story, cross laminated timber building will provide over 40 affordable apartments for social rent.”
13:00 Lunch, networking and exhibition
Session 3: Healthy indoor environments
14:00 Welcome to the afternoon session
CEO, The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products
14:05 Health co-benefits of climate action for housing
Professor Michael Davies
Professor of Building Physics and the Environment, Bartlett School Env, Energy & Resources, UCL
Alongside his work at UCL, Professor Michael Davies is an advisor and former committee member of the Climate Change Committee’s Adaptation Committee, which advises the Government on how the UK can prepare for the changing climate to limit the risks to people and businesses across the UK.
Michael will update us on the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Environmental Change and Health, which explores the emerging health effects of large scale changes to our environment, including how the built environment affects our health, and the health benefits of housing, urban planning and green spaces.
14:25 Indoor air quality in UK Passivhaus primary schools
Chryssa Thoua
PhD Candidate/Research Affiliate – Architect, Architype
- Chryssa Thoua, Architype and UCL will be presenting industry-first insights into the indoor air quality of UK bio-based Passivhaus schools
- 4 completed Passivhaus schools were monitored for over a year each, across numerous parameters and performance metrics.
- This new industry knowledge includes insights into the monitoring and reporting of individual volatile organic compounds, and their association with material specifications.
- This research has the immediate potential to influence legislation and practice around designing for healthy classrooms, especially in urban contexts.
14:45 Findings from the Measuring Mass Timber research project - 'Quality of Life and Decarbonisation'
Sustainability & Climate Change Officer, London Borough of Hackney
- The study, conducted by dRMM, Edinburgh Napier University and the Quality of Life Foundation, offers a post-occupancy and whole life carbon methodology for the holistic assessment of mass timber buildings applied across a range of typologies.
- Mass timber buildings are found to offer an important decarbonisation solution, storing significant amounts of carbon in long lived products within the parameters of current methodologies.
- Quality of life benefits from mass timber are found from the range of case study buildings, with an enhanced connection with nature, improved sense of relaxation and good quality measured healthy internal environments.
Architect, Research Lead, dRMM
15:05 Q&A
15:15 Refreshments, networking and exhibition
Session 4: Panel discussions – Biogenic carbon and regenerative design
15:45 Biogenic carbon – The way forward
CEO, The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products
Chair, The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products
This session aims to dig into the confusion and uncertainty that surrounds biogenic carbon within natural materials used in the built environment and biogenic carbon benefit in particular. We aim to take a non-technical, plain-speaking approach to the key issues and drivers and discuss what should be happening to grow awareness and understanding of biogenic carbon benefit within existing standards, norms and policies.
16:20 Regenerative design - Doing better things, not just doing things better
Louise Townsend
Special Advisor – Business Resilience and Social value, Woodknowledge Wales
Jonathan Fashanu
Founding Director, Dash House Group
- An update on the Woodknowledge Wales Regenerative Materials First project which aims is to inspire the construction industry to embrace materials that are produced and applied in ways that benefit the natural environment and society, helping restore natural resources, enhance biodiversity, and boost the local economy.
- Jonathan Fashanu on “What does Regenerative Design mean to me and how do I explain it to my clients?”
- An update on The Regenerative Architecture Index. Launched by Architecture Today and UK Architects Declare, the RAI sets out to benchmark practices’ progress in the move towards regenerative working and projects. Sixty-eight organisations – mostly architectural practices but also engineers, charities and clients – participated in the Index, submitting responses to detailed questions in three broad categories: being a good ancestor, co-evolving with nature, and creating a just space for people.
- Followed by a panel discussion:
- How do we encourage regenerative design?
- How do we measure it?
- What are the cost implications?
16:55 Closing comments from the Chair
17:00 Conference ends followed by drinks and networking until 18:30
Past Conferences
Healthy Buildings 2024
Healthy Buildings 2024 took place on 29th February 2024 at the Building Centre in London.
We had talks on biophilic schools, the latest research findings on healthy indoor environments, the issue of toxic chemicals in our environment, how the construction industry is responding to the biodiversity crisis, and more.
Healthy Buildings 2023
Healthy Buildings 2023 took place online on 9th February 2023.
Our keynote speaker was biophilic design expert and author, Oliver Heath. We also had talks on material toxicity and fire, post occupancy evaluation and insurance of mass timber buildings, flame retardants and building products, and ‘wood for health’.
Healthy Buildings 2022
Healthy Buildings 2022 took place online on 24th February 2022.
We were joined by a number of speakers at the forefront of their professions, with talks on indoor air quality and healthy product research, important new health & wellbeing standards, and cutting-edge case studies.
Healthy Buildings 2021
Healthy Buildings 2021 took place online on 24th February 2021.
Our expert speakers discussed how to create spaces that are healthy and productive for users, and explored the complex relationship between external and internal air quality and transmission. With talks from Prof. Cath Noakes OBE, Geraint Davies MP and Rosamund Kissi-Debrah.
Healthy Buildings 2020
Healthy Buildings 2020 took place on Thursday 27th February 2020 at the Human Rights Action Centre in London.
Our keynote speakers were Sam Conniff Allende (Award winning social entrepreneur and author of ‘Be More Pirate’) and Mary Creagh (Labour MP for Wakefield from 2005-2019 and former Chair of the Environmental Audit Select Committee).
Healthy Buildings 2019
Healthy Buildings 2019 took place on 28th February 2019 at London South Bank University.
The theme was ‘Plastics in Construction: Issues, Impacts and Alternatives’ with keynote speakers Emily Penn and Professor Sean Smith (Edinburgh Napier).
Healthy Buildings 2018
Healthy Buildings 2018 took place on 14th February 2018 at University College London.
Our keynote speakers were Professor Stephen Holgate (RCPCH) and Professor Anna Stec (UCLan).
Healthy Buildings 2017
Our inaugural Healthy Buildings Conference and Expo took place on 15th February 2017 at University College London.
We had a whole host of speakers including Dr Jannik Giesekam, Jerker Ligthart (Chemsec) and Dr. Caroline Thurner (IBO).