Scottish innovation centre BE-ST has named the finalists for the 2026 Accelerate to Zero Awards, its fourth annual industry recognition programme for organisations and individuals decarbonising Scotland’s built environment. The winners will be announced at voco Grand Central in Glasgow on the evening of Thursday 5 November, on the closing evening of BE-ST Fest 2026.
Finalists span ten categories covering hero contributions, collaborative partnerships, gamechanger technology, diversity and inclusion, circular economy, technology impact, skills, retrofit acceleration, community championing and a BE Changemaker award for individuals early in their careers. Category sponsors include Balfour Beatty, Ryden, Zero Waste Scotland, KORE Retrofit, Vital Energi and BE-ST itself.
Scottish companies and projects feature strongly in the shortlist. Edinburgh-based recycled-construction-materials firm Kenoteq is nominated in the Gamechanger Award category — sponsored by property consultancy Ryden — for its K-Briq, a low-carbon unfired brick made largely from construction and demolition waste. Trust Housing Association is nominated in two categories, Accelerate to Zero Hero (alongside Kier Construction’s Prospecthill Court project and Energiesprong’s Emily Braham) and Technology Impact. The City of Edinburgh Council’s High-Rise Retrofit Programme is a finalist in the Collaborative Partnership Award category, and North Lanarkshire Council’s Embedded Retrofit Delivery Model is shortlisted in the Retrofit Accelerator Award — sponsored by KORE Retrofit.
Other finalists include Cundall (three nominations, across Gamechanger, BE Changemaker and Circular Economy), consultancy AtkinsRéalis, BakerHicks, the Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, engineering firm Vital Energi’s Seaham Garden Village scheme, Dundee-based Rock Solid Processing Limited (twice, including a KTP with the University of Dundee), Good Green Futures, Lothian Heat CIC, Moredun Holistic Improvement Programme, SmartSTEMs, SWIP (twice), and academics Dr Anitha Karthik of Edinburgh Napier University and Stephen Smith of the Glasgow School of Art.
BE-ST — full name Built Environment – Smarter Transformation — is Scotland’s innovation centre for the built environment. BE-ST Fest is the annual programme it describes as the UK’s largest festival for a zero-carbon built environment, hosting discussion and knowledge exchange across the sector. Tickets for the awards ceremony are available on the BE-ST website.
The full list of 2026 finalists is:
- Accelerate to Zero Hero (sponsored by BE-ST): Trust Housing Association; Prospecthill Court – Kier Construction; Emily Braham – Energiesprong.
- Collaborative Partnership Award: Transform-ER (Transform. Engage. Retrofit); University of Dundee and Rock Solid Processing Limited KTP; The City of Edinburgh Council High-Rise Retrofit Programme.
- Gamechanger Award (sponsored by Ryden): Material Health – Cundall; K-Briq – Kenoteq; Seaham Garden Village – Vital Energi.
- Diversity & Inclusion Award (sponsored by Balfour Beatty): Dr Anitha Karthik – Edinburgh Napier University and Centre for High Density Net Zero Buildings; SWIP; AtkinsRéalis.
- BE Changemaker Award: Jude McLoughlin, Cundall; Molly Armstrong, BakerHicks; Stephen Smith, Glasgow School of Art.
- Circular Economy Award (sponsored by Zero Waste Scotland): Good Green Futures; Rock Solid Processing; Cundall.
- Technology Impact Award: Trust Housing Association; Dynamic Knowledge and Intelartes Ltd; TRACE (Transforming Resources and Advancing Circular Economy).
- Skills Impact Award: Glasgow Chamber of Commerce; SWIP; SmartSTEMs.
- Retrofit Accelerator Award (sponsored by KORE Retrofit): Estate Retrofit Tool – Architype; Embedded Retrofit Delivery Model – North Lanarkshire Council; GreenFlip.
- Community Champion Award (sponsored by Vital Energi): Neil Pearce, Energiesprong; Moredun Holistic Improvement Programme; Lothian Heat CIC.
