Bim Afolami

MP for Hitchin & Harpenden

Afolami was elected as the MP for Hitchin & Harpenden in 2017. He spent 10 years in the City, first as a corporate lawyer at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett, then as a senior executive at HSBC. Through this he helped to advise some of the biggest companies in the world. His experience is put to good use in parliament, where he is chair of several cross-party groups, including the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Renewable and Sustainable Energy, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Credit Unions, and the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Financial Markets & Services. He is also co-chair and net zero champion for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking. He has served as PPS to the foreign secretary, work and pension Secretary, and trade secretary and as vice-chairman of the Conservative Party .

Jose Alvarez

Head of building physics, Hollis

Alvarez is head of building physics at With a passion for sustainable building design, he is an experienced engineer and leads the firm’s work on energy projects, EPCs, net zero carbon and decarbonisation strategies. Alvarez is a low carbon consultant and low carbon energy assessor. He holds MCIBSE membership (CEng), NABERS, PASSIVHAUS, RESET AP & BREEAM AP accreditations.

Holly Brown

Director, investment property management, Collilers

Brown is a director in the property management team at Colliers, leading on client management and strategy. She has more than a decade of experience within the real estate industry, across property management, capital markets and client management. Brown works closely with major investor clients to drive commercial value by implementing ESG, tech and customer experience strategies. 

Ian Cartwright

Project manager, GPE

Cartwright is a project manager at GPE and has been with the company for more than 20 years. He has worked on a wide range of commissions, including leading The Hickman development project and as supporting project manager at Hanover Square. More recently, Cartwright is part of the team at GPE charged with delivering the new-build scheme at 2 Aldermanbury Square in the City of London. A career spanning over three decades in construction, first as architectural technician then as a chartered building surveyor and more recently project manager, Cartwright has a wealth of experience across all stages, through acquisition, design, procurement, delivery and into operation.

John Davies

Head of sustainability, Derwent London

Davies is head of sustainability at Derwent London and sits on the executive committee. He is responsible for leading the company wide sustainability and responsibility agendas. John is a recognised sustainability expert in the commercial property sector and has been instrumental in creating a number of industry leading sustainability programmes and strategies. Prior to joining Derwent London John was head of sustainability at Davis Langdon LLP where was responsible for developing and delivering its range of sustainability services.

Dr Seyed Ebrahimi

Principal consultant of sustainability operations, Alfa Energy Group

Ebrahimi has extensive research and consultancy experience in sustainable operations, data science, and technology applications in the real estate, energy, finance, aviation, agro-food and automotive sectors. He is well-versed in GHG emissions mapping scopes 1, 2 and 3, green supply chain strategies, net zero business strategies, life cycle assessments, the circular economy, Industrial-urban symbiosis and environmental mitigation strategies.

Helen Goulden

Chief executive, Young Foundation

Prior to joining the Young Foundation in October 2017, Goulden was the executive director at Nesta, leading its innovation lab, supporting and scaling innovation in the arts, civil society, government and education sectors. Previous roles have included developing digital strategies and solutions for global corporate clients. She spent five years consulting in the cabinet office, office of the deputy prime minister and DCLG, developing national innovation programmes for local government and leading R&D projects for interactive TV public services. She is a trustee of the Big Education Trust, a multi-academy trust working towards a more expansive education system.

Charlie Green

President, The Office Group

Green spent his early career working in acquisitions as a chartered surveyor, before he was appointed managing director of developer MWB’s serviced office business aged 27. He left to co-found TOG with Olly Olsen in 2003, and has since led on business growth, building design and acquisitions. In 2022, TOG has grown to more thsn 50 workspaces across the UK and Germany. Passionate about design, architecture and sustainability, Green is vocal about the real estate sector’s responsibility to make a positive impact – both on people and the environment. He has driven TOG’s innovative approach to workspace design, which treats every building individually, respecting its character to create unique experiences for TOG members.

Alex Hill

Managing director, ZTP

Hill is the managing director and co-founder of ZTP, the energy consultancy and software specialist. In addition to overseeing company direction and strategy with fellow board members, his primary focus is ensuring ZTP’s digital offerings exceed the demands of existing and future clients in an ever-evolving landscape. This drive to pre-empt requirements and surpass expectations has led Hill’s work into areas including bureau operations, risk management, commodities trading, consumption monitoring and targeting, carbon reporting, ESG and net zero road mapping. He has a firm belief that companies and individuals need to approach the net zero challenge as a collective, sharing best practice, knowledge and data more openly to reach a common goal.

Julie Hirigoyen

Chief executive, UK Green Building Council

Hirigoyen joined UKGBC as chief executive in 2015, and has since been credited with transforming its strategy into a more member-focused, holistic sustainability agenda with a strong focus on impact measurement. At the helm of a fantastic team, Hirigoyen and UKGBC have some important achievements to celebrate – including galvanising industry support for a net zero carbon legislative target in 2019, convening industry consensus around definitions of net zero carbon buildings and circular construction, and influencing government policy at both national and local levels on a range of impact areas including net zero carbon, biodiversity net gain, climate resilience, and waste and resources strategy amongst others. Her own purpose is to support and empower her team to drive effective change, and to act as UKGBC’s spokesperson with the media, members, regulators, and wider stakeholders, as well as forging links with other GBCs across the world. She was previously UK head of sustainability and an international director at JLL.

Paul Holden

Director, Carbon Profile

Holden is a director at Carbon Profile, specialising in energy consultancy to the real estate sector and hosts the Carbon Times podcast. He has spent time with some of the largest consultancies. His last role at Arcadis was in environmental planning, covering housing development projects, major infrastructure projects and supporting large public and private organisations plan and sustainably manage their estates. At Carbon Profile, Holden is working across the real estate sector helping find the solutions to the complicated challenge of managing compliance and energy in an ever-shifting world of corporate ESG objectives.

Vivienne King

Founder and managing director, Impactful Places

King has held leadership positions in real estate for more than 30 years, working across investment development, regeneration and management, joint venture partnerships, strategy development and ESG. She is founder and managing director at Impactful Places and also head of real estate social impact at Good Economy, the UK’s leading independent social impact advisory firm. King’s NED roles include the Greater London Authority’s Property X-Change, where she is its ambassador focusing on regenerating London’s high street communities, chair of the shopkeepers’ campaign for business rates reform and Revo operating board member.

Martin Quinn

Head of technical project delivery, GPE

Quinn is head of technical project delivery for GPE. For the past 15 years he has been responsible for the delivery of some of GPE’s most significant developments. Over the course of his 30-year career, Quinn has worked in the London commercial real estate sector in both a consultant role and in construction delivery, striving to exceed the high-quality and ESG benchmarks expected for this market. He has recently completed GPE’s Hanover development, a complex scheme in close liaison with Crossrail, working above and around their Bond Street Elizabeth Line station.

Sarah Ratcliffe

Chief executive officer, Better Buildings Partnership

Ratcliffe has more than 20 years’ experience working in the property sector on sustainability issues. She is chief executive of the Better Buildings Partnership, a collaboration of the UK’s leading commercial property owners who aim to deliver market transformation through sustainability leadership and knowledge sharing across the property industry. Ratcliffe has contributed to a wide range of industry initiatives and task forces and is currently serving as a member of the Green Property Alliance, the Investment Property Forum ESG committee and EG investment advisory board, and is also board director of the Sustainable Development Foundation, non-executive of Evora Global and a strategic adviser to Property Market Analysis.

Charlie Russell-Jones

Senior leasing manager, HB Reavis

Russell-Jones is responsible for leasing activities in the UK with a current focus on Worship Square, HB Reavis’ first fully net zero carbon scheme. Since joining HB Reavis in 2017, he has undertaken a number of transactional and client-facing roles, from sourcing development opportunities to delivering integrated leasing campaigns. Recently, Russell-Jones successfully leased Bloom Clerkenwell to a global tech company. He is passionate about sustainable design and has worked closely with the product team across HB Reavis’ UK portfolio, ensuring the schemes represent business and people’s future needs. Russell-Jones was recently shortlisted for EG’s Rising Star of the Year. Prior to joining HB Reavis, he worked within BNP Paribas’ West End investment team, advising clients on acquisition and disposal of both income-producing and development assets across central London.

Andrew Waugh

Founding partner, Waugh Thistleton Architects

Waugh is a founding director of Waugh Thistleton Architects, a practice dedicated to delivering beautiful buildings and places that acknowledge their effect on the environment. He is a world-renowned spokesperson for low-impact architecture and innovative construction, and lobbies and lectures internationally, communicating the urgent need for change to mitigate the climate crisis. A pivotal player in the global shift towards renewable, bio-based materials, Waugh’s innovative approach to design has been acknowledged by many awards including, the RIBA President’s Award for Research and a Stirling Prize nomination in 2018. The practice is currently engaged on both research and design projects throughout Europe and North America.