Sintali, a global leader in verifying the environmental impact of the built environment, has announced the acquisition of the Building with Nature Standards, the UK’s leading benchmark for high-quality green infrastructure.
This strategic addition marks a pivotal step towards aligning nature-based solutions with decarbonisation efforts, providing the real estate market with tools not only to mitigate their carbon footprint but also to develop an ecosystem-based approach to create climate-resilient and sustainable communities.
Building with Nature is the UK’s first green infrastructure benchmark, placing nature at the heart of new developments in a way that benefits both people and wildlife. Green infrastructure is a network of multi-functional green spaces and other green features in urban and rural settings, delivering quality of life and environmental benefits such as increased biodiversity, nature recovery, cost-effective ecosystem services, and climate resilience adaptations. The Building with Nature Standards provide developers and policymakers with an evidence-based definition of high-quality green infrastructure and guidance on delivering it.
Eleni Polychroniadou, CEO of Sintali, said: “Across the world we see a desperate need for nature to come into the equation in real estate and land management. This new chapter for Sintali represents an immense opportunity for impact and to bring best practice across the world to the markets where we work. Building with Nature closely aligns with Sintali’s values which originate from a passion and care for planet and people. We are incredibly excited to bring in such leading expertise into the business and collaborate to continue to meet our shared vision of promoting and verifying a greener built environment on a global scale.”
The Building with Nature Standards Framework has been developed and is maintained by expert practitioners, policymakers, academia, and end users. It has been tried and tested on developments and planning policy documents throughout the UK. The Welsh Government, aiming to strengthen green infrastructure provision and secure climate-resilient net benefits for biodiversity, has endorsed the Building with Nature Standards Framework as good industry practice and an effective tool for developers and policymakers seeking practical ways to respond positively to the climate and ecological emergency.
Dr. Gemma Jerome, Director of Building with Nature, said: “We are thrilled to integrate the Building with Nature team and Standards into Sintali. Our mission is well aligned with Sintali’s and we see a multitude of opportunities to extend Building with Nature’s impact across the UK and beyond in this new home.
“We will continue to deliver our exemplary standard products and services to secure high-quality green infrastructure through legislative, policy, and good industry mechanisms, and act as a bold and fresh voice for nature and climate-positive development, creating great places that work for people and wildlife.”
Since its founding in 2018, Building with Nature has been supported by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust as a wholly owned trading subsidiary of the Trust. Launched in 2018, the accreditation scheme has seen significant uptake with over 90 assessments of policy and developments accredited or in the process of seeking accreditation to the Standards in the UK, and hundreds of assessors and industry professionals trained to support clients and other stakeholders on their green infrastructure journey.
Andrew McLaughlin, CEO of Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, said: “We’re thrilled to see Building with Nature find such a fantastic home at Sintali, a move that will ensure it can meet ever-increasing demand for guidance when it comes to delivering quality green infrastructure.
“As we work to deliver nature’s recovery and tackle the climate crisis across the UK, providing developers with best-practice standards that bring green infrastructure to the mainstream is vital. As part of Sintali, we know that Building with Nature will continue to grow, raising the bar for the industry and ensuring high-quality developments with nature at their heart for people across the UK.”
Sintali, founded in 2020, aims to drive positive change by verifying the environmental impact of the built environment. As a global certification partner of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for the green building certification standard, EDGE, Sintali is well-versed in the development and execution of green building standards on a global level. In the past four years, Sintali has worked across 85 countries and verified the impact of over 9,000 projects globally.
The integration of Building with Nature into Sintali represents a new opportunity for the expansion of green infrastructure across the United Kingdom and beyond. As the world increasingly recognises the need for creating climate-resilient, nature-friendly communities, this strategic alignment creates a clear pathway to integrate these practices into new and existing developments.
