In this Thrive in Construction episode, communications leader Leanne Tritton argues that the built environment won’t change the story until it changes how it tells it. From newspapers to podcasts, PR stunts to policy, she shows how braver sustainability storytelling in construction can unlock trust, investment and action.
“In PR you don’t control the message, you influence it. The real power is knowing what you want to say, then having the courage to say it.” — Leanne Tritton
Progress needs a better narrative. For decades, other sectors have used media, PR and now podcasts to shape how people feel about change. Construction has largely stayed on the side-lines. Careful, cautious, scripted. Leanne argues that without confident sustainability storytelling in construction, we leave the field open to others who understand influence better than we do.
Instead of hiding behind “we don’t do podcasts” or endlessly polishing press releases, leaders need to understand the game: influence, not control. That means getting clearer on the story behind retrofit, reuse and net zero and being willing to show up in unscripted conversations.
Treat communications as a leadership responsibility, not a bolt-on. If you’re shaping strategy, you’re already doing sustainability storytelling in construction, whether intentionally or not.
Ditch the fully scripted soundbite. Audiences can hear media training a mile off. Aim for clear, human explanations of what you’re doing and why it matters.
Help senior voices practise in “safe” formats first. Internal podcasts, town halls or client roundtables build confidence before national media.
Use PR for influence, not spin. Think Branson or O’Leary: clear message, memorable hook, relentless consistency, without losing the substance on safety, quality and outcomes.
Because the biggest carbon wins are often the least visible. Reuse over rebuild, VAT reform, retrofit skills, unlocking local capital, these are nuanced stories, not simple slogans. Without strong sustainability storytelling in construction, ministers hear fragmented asks, communities see disruption not benefit, and SMEs never hear about the grants, pilots or partnerships that could make reuse viable.
Leanne’s work with the volunteer collective Don’t Waste Buildings shows the opposite in action: a clear, shared narrative about stopping unnecessary demolition, turning empty stock into homes, and aligning tax policy with climate reality.
Start where your audience already is. For some, that’s trade press. For others, it’s sector podcasts, local radio or LinkedIn. The point isn’t to “be everywhere” it’s to show up where your voice can genuinely shift understanding of sustainability storytelling in construction.
Leanne contrasts heavily scripted interviews with long-form, unscripted podcasts where expertise and personality can breathe. The latter builds trust faster, particularly when leaders are honest about constraints, trade-offs and what they still don’t know. That authenticity is the foundation for better sustainability storytelling in construction.
By lowering the mental effort as much as the financial risk. Small developers don’t have time to decode fragmented grant schemes, shifting policy and inconsistent local authority expectations. Clear, repeated sustainability storytelling in construction, about what “good” looks like, what support exists, and how others have done it, turns abstract ambition into copyable moves.
Case studies, building tours and practical explainers (like the Don’t Waste Buildings city visits) show investors and councils what’s possible in places that look like theirs, not just in central London.
Silence keeps the current bias in place: new-build over reuse, short-term over long-term, demolition over adaptation. Without joined-up sustainability storytelling in construction, policy stays fuzzy, incentives stay misaligned, and local champions are left to battle opaque processes alone.
We also miss a generational opportunity. Younger audiences are media-savvy; they know how to sort “wallys” from experts. If serious voices stay off the mic, they turn elsewhere, often to louder, less responsible storytellers.
From fabric-first retrofit strategies to whole-life carbon assessments and building reuse studies, we spend most of our time doing the hard yards behind the story: evidence, scenarios, sequencing. Increasingly, we’re also helping clients explain that work—to boards, planners, investors and communities—in ways that land. That’s practical sustainability storytelling in construction.
This is the kind of work we support at Darren Evans Ltd. From problem framing and option testing to carbon-led value engineering, we help project teams surface the story that sits behind the numbers and then deliver against it. If this resonates with your challenges, let’s talk.
Stop treating media as a threat and start seeing it as infrastructure. Every interview, board paper, planning statement or site tour is a chance to practise better sustainability storytelling in construction, and to make it easier for the next project to go further.
Bring your “tribes” together. Get development, design, construction, operations and comms into the same room and agree three core messages on retrofit, reuse and net zero that everyone can use. That shared sustainability storytelling in construction makes it easier for government, investors and communities to understand what you’re asking for.
Pick one existing building you influence, owned, managed or advised. Map the barriers to reusing or upgrading it (policy, VAT, grants, skills, finance). Then design a simple comms plan that pairs technical next steps with clear sustainability storytelling in construction for internal and external audiences.
In a sector that’s instinctively cautious, the advantage will sit with the teams willing to step up to the mic, tell the real story and use it to unlock the next wave of sustainable projects.
