London, 24 September 2026, Will Arnold, Head of Sustainable Materials at Useful Simple Trust, has today been elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) – the UK’s highest engineering honour – in recognition of his transformation of how the construction industry addresses embodied carbon.
At 39, Will is among the youngest engineers elected to the Fellowship. The Royal Academy of Engineering’s (RAEng) citation describes him as:
“Will Arnold is an extraordinary leader in engineering sustainability, a pioneer in transforming the approach to carbon reduction within the building industry. He has energetically and decisively changed the discourse on embodied carbon in buildings – his bold and visionary leadership directly led the Institution of Structural Engineers to adopt an ambitious position on sustainability. A turning point for the profession globally. To deliver real change at pace and scale, he has equipped engineers with enhanced professional standards and created best-in-class technical guidance and training. Will inspires future leaders and champions engineering’s role in addressing the climate crisis.”
Will’s election recognises the breadth of his impact across the built environment. As the first Head of Climate Action at the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), he embedded sustainability into the professional requirements governing the UK’s structural engineers – including chartership qualification, CPD, and award criteria – for an institution with more than 30,000 members worldwide. He is the lead author and convenor of Part Z, the industry proposal to regulate embodied carbon in UK Building Regulations, now backed by more than 200 firms and every major built environment institution. Part Z has helped drive two Private Members’ Bills and a House of Lords amendment. He is also the technical author and embodied carbon lead for the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard, described as the most ambitious attempt to limit carbon emissions from buildings to date. Today, Will leads the Useful Simple Trust’s work on sustainable materials, a service articulated as a ‘materials systems-change consultancy’, which aims to use construction projects as a catalyst for wider supply chain decarbonisation.
Commenting on his election, Will said:
“To be elected a Fellow of the Academy is the greatest honour of my career. I hope to use this platform and privilege to drive faster decarbonisation of construction materials, and to help our industry to move more quickly from its current status quo, towards a future that is regenerative, inclusive, and full of hope.”
Faith Wainwright CBE FREng, commented:
“Will’s election to the Fellowship is a fitting recognition of the clarity, conviction, and practical leadership he has brought to one of engineering’s most urgent challenges. His work has helped shift professional expectations around embodied carbon and shown how engineers can drive meaningful change across the built environment.”
The Fellowship comes weeks before the publication of Will’s first book, Future Build: How Construction Can Heal Our Planet (Bloomsbury), to be released 1 October 2026. Written for a general audience, the book argues that construction – one of the most environmentally damaging activities on Earth – is also humanity’s greatest opportunity to change course, showing how buildings can be designed and built in ways that use less, reuse more, and work with nature. It has drawn advance praise from figures including Architect and Broadcaster George Clarke, Environmentalist Jonathon Porritt, and Engineer and Author Roma Agrawal MBE HonFREng.
Judith Sykes, Chief Executive Officer at Useful Simple Trust, commented:
“This is a richly deserved recognition of the influence Will has had in reshaping how the industry understands and acts on embodied carbon.”
-ENDS-
Will Arnold is one of 75 new Fellows announced by the Royal Academy of Engineering this year, part of the lasting impact of the Academy’s Fellowship Fit for the Future initiative, launched in 2020. Read more about this year’s Fellowship appointments here.
