Ramboll Foundation and WorldGBC Launch Partnership to Put Quality of Life at the Centre of Buildings and Cities

Ramboll Foundation and WorldGBC Launch Partnership to Put Quality of Life at the Centre of Buildings and Cities

(IN BRIEF) The Ramboll Foundation and the World Green Building Council have launched a strategic partnership focused on making quality of life a measurable outcome of buildings and cities. The partnership aims to move the built environment sector beyond carbon-only metrics by integrating human health, well-being, equity and climate resilience into sustainable building and city strategies. It builds on more than a decade of collaboration between Ramboll Group and WorldGBC, including work on embodied carbon, regional green building networks and national decarbonisation roadmaps. The initiative will support the development of tools, business cases and national roadmaps that combine decarbonisation with quality-of-life outcomes such as indoor air quality, thermal comfort, social equity and resilience to climate risks.

(PRESS RELEASE) COPENHAGEN, 29-Jul-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — The Ramboll Foundation and the World Green Building Council have launched a new strategic partnership aimed at ensuring that climate action in the built environment improves not only carbon performance, but also human health, equity and resilience.

The Ramboll Foundation, owner of Ramboll Group, and WorldGBC said the partnership is designed to make quality of life a measurable and deliverable outcome of buildings and cities.

The initiative seeks to move the sector beyond a narrow focus on carbon metrics and toward a broader approach in which the built environment actively supports well-being, social inclusion and climate resilience.

The partnership is rooted in the Ramboll Foundation’s mission to provide decision-makers and practitioners with evidence-based tools that make best practice in health, well-being and climate resilience easier to understand and apply at city scale.

It builds on more than a decade of collaboration between Ramboll Group and WorldGBC.

That collaboration has included co-authoring the “Bringing Embodied Carbon Upfront” report in 2019, Ramboll’s role as Regional Partner for WorldGBC’s Europe Regional Network, and technical contributions to national roadmaps recognised by the UNFCCC in several countries.

The new partnership adds the Ramboll Foundation’s funding, mission-led focus and research capacity to the collaboration.

The partners said this will help accelerate the shift from carbon-only measurement toward outcomes that can demonstrably improve people’s lives.

A key aim of the partnership is to avoid what the organisations describe as “carbon tunnel vision”.

WorldGBC’s policy work includes national building decarbonisation roadmaps, and the new partnership will focus on ensuring that these roadmaps do not stop at emissions reduction alone.

Buildings are where people spend most of their lives, and the design, comfort and resilience of indoor and urban spaces can affect mental health, social connection and overall life satisfaction.

The partners said that a net-zero roadmap that fails to consider indoor air quality, thermal comfort, equity or climate vulnerability is incomplete.

The partnership will help develop the business case for sustainable buildings by looking beyond energy savings.

It will make the case for investment in outcomes that matter directly to people, including health, comfort, inclusion and resilience.

The partners will also work to develop and implement national roadmaps that integrate quality-of-life considerations alongside decarbonisation targets.

Another priority will be equipping Green Building Councils and built-environment practitioners with tools that make quality-of-life outcomes easier to understand, finance, deliver and operate at city scale.

Asbjørn Kristensen Høgsbro, Head of Philanthropy at the Ramboll Foundation, said meaningful and lasting change in the built environment requires all actors to work together across the value chain.

He said the partnership with WorldGBC reflects a shared commitment to accelerating a holistic and inclusive sustainability transition.

Høgsbro added that the Ramboll Foundation will provide both core and programmatic support, including flexible funding that enables WorldGBC to respond to emerging opportunities and scale impact where it is most needed.

He said strengthening the ambition loop across business, policy, finance and industry is essential to unlocking healthier, more equitable and resilient built environments.

Peter Heymann, Chief Commercial Officer of Ramboll Group, said the most impactful projects are those designed with people at the centre, not only as a design principle but as a measurable outcome.

He said partnering with WorldGBC through the Ramboll Foundation enables that approach to be scaled through the frameworks, roadmaps and finance mechanisms that influence what gets built and how.

Heymann added that carbon cannot be the only measure of success.

Cristina Gamboa, Chief Executive Officer of WorldGBC, said the partnership will help unlock the full potential of the organisation’s global network to deliver climate action in the built environment that genuinely improves people’s lives.

She said the partnership builds on more than a decade of collaboration with Ramboll Group, based on professionalism, trust and a shared commitment to transforming the built environment.

Gamboa added that the organisations have already helped advance global work on whole-life carbon, circularity and embodied emissions, and that the next phase will allow them to go further and faster.

She said the work is ultimately about the people who live, work and learn in buildings.

By strengthening the partnership, WorldGBC and the Ramboll Foundation aim to ensure that climate action delivers places that are not only low carbon, but also healthier, more equitable and more resilient.

The Ramboll Foundation is an independent Danish enterprise foundation with both corporate and philanthropic purposes.

Established in 1971, it owns Ramboll and was created to ensure the company’s continuity and development for the benefit of employees and society.

The foundation addresses significant societal issues through focused, mission-driven philanthropy designed to promote positive change for nature, society and people.

Ramboll Group is a global architecture, engineering and consultancy company founded in Denmark in 1945.

Headquartered in Copenhagen, Ramboll employs more than 18,500 people across 35 countries.

The company focuses on sustainable solutions across buildings, transport, energy, environment, water and management consulting.

The World Green Building Council is a global action network working to transform the built environment toward sustainability and decarbonisation.

Together with more than 85 Green Building Councils and industry partners worldwide, WorldGBC works to support the total decarbonisation of the built environment, healthier and more resilient buildings and cities, and the regeneration of natural systems and circular economies.

WorldGBC works with businesses, organisations and governments to help deliver the ambitions of the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Through the new strategic partnership, the Ramboll Foundation and WorldGBC aim to reshape how sustainable buildings and cities are planned, financed and delivered, placing measurable improvements in people’s daily lives alongside climate performance.

About the Ramboll Foundation

The Ramboll Foundation is an independent Danish enterprise foundation with both corporate and philanthropic purposes. It was established in 1971 with a mandate to own Ramboll and ensure the company’s continuance and development in perpetuity for the benefit of the employees and society. The Ramboll Foundation addresses significant societal issues through focused mission-driven philanthropy to promote positive change in nature, society, and people. Learn more about the Ramboll Foundation on our website and follow us on LinkedIn for news and updates.

About Ramboll Group

Ramboll is a global architecture, engineering, and consultancy company founded in Denmark in 1945. Headquartered in Copenhagen, the firm employs over 18,500 people across 35 countries, focusing on sustainable solutions for buildings, transport, energy, environment, water, and management consulting.

About World Green Building Council (WorldGBC)

The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) is the largest local-regional-global action network leading the transformation to sustainable and decarbonised built environments.

Together, with over 85 Green Building Councils and industry partners from all around the world, we are driving systemic changes to achieve:

• Total decarbonisation of the built environment
• Healthy, equitable and resilient buildings, cities and communities
• Regeneration of natural systems and thriving circular economies

We work with businesses, organisations and governments to deliver on the ambitions of the Paris Agreement and UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs).

Find out more at the World Green Building Council website

Media Contact:

Sofia Shevlin Bardenfleth
Global Partnerships Lead
+45 31 37 80 18

SOURCE: Ramboll