Ramboll Foundation and WorldGBC partner to embed quality of life at the heart of the built environment

The Ramboll Foundation, owner of Ramboll Group, the global engineering and architecture consultancy, and World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) have launched a strategic partnership with a clear goal: make quality of life a measurable, deliverable outcome of the built environment, not an afterthought to carbon reduction.

It is grounded in the Ramboll Foundation's mission to equip decision-makers and practitioners with evidence-based tools that make best practices in health, well-being, and climate resilience accessible and actionable at city scale.

The partnership builds on over a decade of collaboration between Ramboll Group and WorldGBC, including co-authoring the influential 'Bringing Embodied Carbon Upfront' report (2019), serving as Regional Partner for WorldGBC's Europe Regional Network, and contributing technical input to UNFCCC-recognised national roadmaps in multiple countries.

This new partnership adds the Ramboll Foundation's funding, mission scope and research capacity, accelerating the shift from carbon-only metrics to outcomes that measurably improve people's lives.

Avoiding carbon tunnel vision

National building decarbonisation roadmaps are a core area of WorldGBC's policy work, and one of the partnership's explicit priorities is making sure they don't stop at carbon. Buildings are where people spend most of their lives, and the design of our spaces shapes mental health, social bonds, and life satisfaction as much as their energy performance does. A roadmap that delivers net zero but ignores indoor air quality, thermal comfort, equity, or climate vulnerability misses the point.

The partnership will shed light on the business case for sustainable buildings, going beyond energy savings to make the case for investment in outcomes that matter to people. It will develop and implement national roadmaps that integrate quality of life aspects alongside decarbonisation targets. And it will equip Green Building Councils and practitioners with the tools to make quality-of-life outcomes easy to understand, finance, deliver, and operate at city scale.

Voices from the partnership

“At the Ramboll Foundation, we believe that meaningful and lasting change in the built environment requires all actors to work together across the value chain. Our partnership with World GBC reflects a shared commitment to accelerating a holistic and inclusive sustainability transition. By providing both core and programmatic support, including flexible funding that enables WorldGBC to respond to emerging opportunities and scale impact where it matters most, we aim to strengthen their capacity to drive systemic change. Supporting the ambition loop across business, policy, finance, and industry is essential to unlocking healthier, more equitable and resilient built environments.”

Asbjørn Kristensen Høgsbro, Head of Philanthropy, Ramboll Foundation

"The most impactful projects are those designed with people at the centre, not just as a design philosophy but as a measurable outcome. Partnering with WorldGBC through the Ramboll Foundation lets us scale that approach, influencing the frameworks, roadmaps, and finance mechanisms that shape what gets built and how. Carbon cannot be the only measure of success."

Peter Heymann Andersen, CCO, Ramboll Group

“Through this partnership, we are unlocking the full potential of our global network to deliver climate action in the built environment that truly improves people’s lives. It builds on more than a decade of collaboration with the Ramboll Group, grounded in professionalism, trust and a shared commitment to transforming the built environment for the better. Together, we have already driven global progress on whole life carbon, circularity and embodied emissions. This next phase allows us to build on that strong foundation and go even further, faster. Crucially, this work is about people: the individuals who live, work and learn in our buildings. By strengthening this partnership, we can ensure that everything we do delivers places that are not only low carbon, but healthier, more equitable and resilient. I am excited to see what we will achieve together next.”

Cristina Gamboa, CEO, WorldGBC