When Saul talks about the future of construction, he doesn’t start with solar panels or smart tech. He starts with timber, hemp, stone, and an uncomfortable truth: we are building on a planet with limits.

As Senior Vice President of The Chartered Institute of Building, a professor of sustainable construction, and the managing partner of a certified B Corp consultancy, Saul has seen every side of the industry. His message is simple but powerful: the greenest building is often the one we don’t demolish, and every fraction of a degree of warming we prevent still matters.

Rethinking Value

For Saul, the conversation about sustainability has to start with something most executives understand: money.

Most appeals to “do the right thing” don’t change boardroom behaviour. But when framed in terms of long-term value, the case for sustainable choices becomes harder to ignore.

“Telling someone they must be more sustainable isn’t that compelling. If you can link it to value—whole-life cost, premium asset value, avoiding stranded assets—then you can shape a commercially sound reason to do the right thing.”

This is where his own career has taken him. Starting out at sixteen on a Youth Training Scheme, Saul worked his way up through hands-on delivery roles before moving into senior leadership. Today, his consultancy is focused on proving that sustainable construction is not just good for the planet, but also good business.

The Carbon We Forget

The building industry often celebrates its progress on energy efficiency and renewables. But Saul says that is only half the story.

Most of the carbon footprint is not in heating or lighting, but in the materials themselves.

“As the grid decarbonises, embodied carbon becomes the heaviest footprint.”

Concrete, steel, and bricks carry huge emissions before a building is even occupied. To tackle this, Saul champions alternatives such as cross-laminated timber, glulam, hemp, stone, and rammed earth. These options are not just theoretical; many are proven and available today.

Fear After Grenfell

Despite these options, the industry has been slow to change. Saul points to the aftermath of the Grenfell tragedy as one reason why.

The disaster made companies and regulators retreat into what felt safe: concrete, brick, and steel. While that caution is understandable, Saul argues it has gone too far.

“In domestic two-storey homes there’s absolutely no reason we shouldn’t be using more bio-based materials.”

The barriers now are less about safety and more about regulation, insurance, and supply chains. To move forward, costs must be assessed across the entire life of a building, not just the cheapest upfront option.

Retrofit Before Rebuild

If Saul had one rule for the sector, it would be this: stop tearing down and start improving what we already have.

“We’ve got to stop demolishing things. The most sustainable building is the one that’s already been built.”

By 2050, around 26 million homes will still be standing. Retrofitting them, making them more energy-efficient, and shifting them to renewable energy should be the priority. Only then, Saul argues, should we focus on new builds — and those should be designed with low-carbon materials from the start.

Beyond Growth

At the heart of Saul’s thinking lies a bigger challenge: our obsession with growth.

“Perpetual growth on a finite planet simply can’t be sustainable.”

He isn’t arguing for decline or scarcity. Instead, he wants to redefine what abundance looks like: homes that are healthy, communities that are safe, and societies that value wellbeing over endless consumption. Leaders, he says, must be willing to measure success not in quarters, but in generations.

Every Degree Matters

Despite the scale of the challenge, Saul refuses to give in to despair.

“Two degrees is bad. Two-point-five is awful. Three is shocking. But 2.9 is better than 3.0. Every tenth of a degree saved preserves possibility.”

That perspective shapes his agenda as incoming CIOB President. His focus is on spreading materials literacy, pushing retrofit-first thinking, and embedding ESG in a way that protects both financial performance and planetary survival.

Closing: A Longer Horizon

When asked what change he would like to see in business, Saul’s answer was quick and clear:

“Encourage all to look for longer-term outcomes.”

He believes the industry must step back from short-term profits and start designing for the generations that will inherit what we build. In a sector built on concrete, it may be the most important foundation of all.