Bimstore representatives attended the fourth annual _shift climate conference, hosted by our parent company, Space Group. Held on the 5th of November 2025, _shift brought together professionals from within the built environment and beyond for a day of networking and climate-focused conversation. We left with many valuable takeaways from the event; particularly around policy and material innovation, which are two areas we consider closely when creating and sharing BIM content. It was also great to catch up with our manufacturer teams in attendance.
As in previous years, the conference centred on accelerating the decarbonisation of the built environment; a challenge that relies on smarter tools and closer collaboration between designers, manufacturers, and the wider project teams. The message was clear: optimism should guide our commitment to better design, responsible construction, and more accurate carbon measurement. BIM can support us in this mission.
The Role of Policy & Technology in Carbon Reduction
_shift 2025 kicked off with a brief introduction from Rob Charlton, CEO of Space Group and Bimstore, who emphasised the urgency of the climate crisis, while also drawing attention to positive steps that are already being taken on a regional and global level.
Next, Chris Hines MBE, Founder of Grain of Sand, and returning chair of _shift presented the first talk of the day on Surfers Against Sewage and the need for cleaner oceans. Hine’s alluded to the vast landscape of the climate crisis, sharing how ‘89% of people believe that the climate crisis is the biggest thing their government should be doing more to address.’ His talk highlighted the importance of policy alignment, emphasising the role of digital transparency in driving accountability across the supply chain.
Up next, Clover Hogan, acclaimed climate activist and _shift 2025’s first keynote speaker. During her reflective talk, Hogan brought an external perspective to the design and construction industry, encouraging a change in attitude towards decarbonisation. She urged attendees to ‘embrace the Retrofit Revolution’ and emphasised the need for ‘shared collective energy systems’ and ‘decentralised community-owned power’ so that we can utilise technology to cut emissions at scale. Applying this to BIM uptake, we should be viewing BIM as less of a ‘tick-box tool’ and more of a creative instrument for more efficient and low-carbon design. Hogan’s session ended on a note of urgency and possibility, encouraging attendees to reflect on what meaningful change might look like in their own work.
Image: Clover Hogan giving her presentation on 'The World we Build'
Following Clover, Councillor and net zero expert Gareth Kane delivered a fascinating presentation on local power in policy delivery. He explored the challenges that arise when decision-making becomes too centralised, highlighting the necessity of open data, local action networks, and the potential uses of digital frameworks to deconstruct these barriers.
Then, Jillian Hardie, a Director at Arup, expanded on the critical role of retrofitting in advancing sustainability across the industry. She offered comprehensive insight into the frameworks and action plans needed to accelerate decarbonisation, supported by a detailed deep dive into recent Arup projects that demonstrated how retrofit strategies can be applied in practice.
The morning session drew to a close with the first panel discussion on Action by Design: How Policy Can Accelerate Change. Chris Hines was joined by Gareth Kane, Jillian Hardie, and Rory Keenan of ACAN! (Architect’s Climate Action Network) to consider the threat of unregulated technologies, the solutions that can be applied to protect and regenerate existing buildings, and the next steps for decentralising policy. From a BIM perspective, we noticed many correlations with our own approach at Bimstore, from our commitment to regulating and standardising BIM content through the Bimstore Bible to showcasing the potential of retrofitting and regenerative re-use through our manufacturer features and BIM product spotlights.
The Need for a Material Shift
The afternoon segment of _shift moved the attention away from policy, focusing more on material innovation and the emerging products and systems shaping low-carbon design. Kicking off the afternoon session was our second keynote speaker, award-winning BBC journalist and eco-adventurer Andy Pag. He shared a distinctive story about travelling to Timbuktu in a chocolate-powered vehicle and his subsequent passion for biofuels. Pag’s journey showed how patience and innovation can turn an ambition into reality; a message that resonates strongly with the sector’s ongoing efforts to decarbonise the built environment.
Next came the official launch of D-CARB, which marked an important moment for Space Group, the collective behind Bimstore, SPACE Architects, Twinview, and BIM Technologies. Developed by Catherine Sinclair, Head of Research at SPACE Architects, D-CARB is the result of years of dedicated research driven by Catherine through her Knowledge Transfer Partnership with SPACE Architects, Northumbria University, and Innovate UK.
D-CARB was created with fellow architects in mind. It is an open-access Revit plugin that supports early-stage design decisions. Catherine’s research shows that decisions made at the very beginning of a project can reduce whole life carbon by up to 40%. The choice to release D-CARB as an open-access tool was a deliberate one. SPACE Architects recognised that, while competitors could also use it, the environmental benefits of sharing the tool openly far outweighed the value of keeping it internal. By making D-CARB freely available, Catherine and the team at SPACE hope to accelerate low-carbon design practice across the industry, ensuring that architects and specifiers everywhere can embed its research findings into projects around the world.
For the Bimstore community, the launch aligns with our shared aim of helping designers adopt better digital, more sustainably conscious practices. Many of our members are architects, technologists, and specifiers who are already committed to improving the environmental performance of their work, and D-CARB provides an accessible way to embed low-carbon thinking from the outset.
Launched at _shift 2025, D-CARB is now available for anyone to download. To access the tool, contact dcarb@spacearchitects.co.uk
The final speaker, Barbara Jones, a builder, designer, trainer, and founder of the School of Natural Building, gave a spirited talk on straw-bale building. Sharing the many benefits of natural building materials, from increased indoor air quality to thermal storage and sound insulation, Jones’ passion for straw shone through. As a pioneering woman in the construction and sustainability space, Jones exudes confidence and an assuredness in the importance of natural building materials and educating the next generation of professionals.
Image: Final Panel Discussion of the day on 'Material Innovation: Rethinking Resources for a Low-Carbon Future'
Finally, to close the conference, Chris Hines led our second panel on Material Innovation: Rethinking Resources for a Low-Carbon Future. This time he was joined by Catherine Sinclair, Barbara Jones, Morgan Lewis of Material Index, and Neil Beattie, Professor of Energy Innovation at Northumbria University. The discussion covered several topics, mentioning photovoltaic systems, whole life carbon assessments, and the many misconceptions of straw-bale building.
As a closing thought, our attendance at _shift reminded to us of the strides that need to be taken towards decarbonisation. What is needed now is the maintenance of this momentum, the drive for better policies, and the recognition that many of the answers are already out there. Digital twins, BIM content, and technological advancements are crucial tools for achieving net zero carbon targets, and platforms like Bimstore are free and accessible in order to support this transition and uptake. We are proud to have been a part of such an enlightening event. Thank you to Space Group for another brilliant _shift.
Intrigued? You can watch the full recording of _shift 2025 here.