The Association for Environment Conscious Building (AECB) has appointed architect and sustainability leader Ste Garlick as Chief Executive Officer and business leader Chris Iredale as Chief Operating Officer, introducing a dual fractional leadership model for the organisation. The appointments follow a competitive recruitment process and mark a new phase for the 2,000-member network as it continues supporting the UK and Ireland construction sector’s shift towards a low-carbon built environment. Both leaders will retain their existing professional roles alongside their AECB duties, a structure designed to keep them closely connected to the day-to-day realities of practice while steering the organisation’s direction.

A Leadership Model Built On Practice

Rather than stepping away from their existing careers, Garlick and Iredale will run the AECB fractionally, continuing their outside work while taking on strategic and operational responsibility for the organisation. The Board has framed this as a deliberate choice: keeping both leaders embedded in live sustainability and business challenges, rather than isolating them in a purely administrative role, so that the organisation’s guidance stays grounded in what practitioners are actually experiencing on the ground.

Garlick joins from multidisciplinary design practice BDP, where he serves as strategic and advisory lead for decarbonisation and retrofit. His remit at the AECB will centre on strengthening collaboration across the growing membership and building on the organisation’s evidence-based approach to building performance, while extending its influence across the wider built environment.

Operational Experience From Business Growth

Iredale brings more than 25 years of experience founding, scaling and exiting businesses across manufacturing, retail, construction and professional services, including co-founding and growing a manufacturing business to more than £9 million turnover and delivering 38% direct sales growth for a construction group. He continues to run Thriven, his fractional growth partner practice, alongside his AECB role, where he will lead operational development, governance and organisational growth.

Chris Iredale, Chief Operating Officer at AECB, added:

“I’ve spent my career helping ambitious, founder-led businesses build the operational backbone to match their ambition. What struck me about the AECB is that same potential – a genuinely purposeful organisation with a strong community behind it, ready for the same kind of disciplined growth. I’m looking forward to bringing that experience to supporting the AECB’s members and staff as we build on what’s already been achieved.”

Board Confidence In Complementary Strengths

Chris Herring, former Chair of the AECB and co-founder of the Passivhaus Trust, welcomed the appointments as a fit for the organisation’s collaborative, evidence-based culture, built up over decades of work with practitioners across the built environment.

Chris Herring, Former Chair of AECB and co-founder of Passivhaus Trust, said:

“Having been involved with the AECB and the Passivhaus Trust for many years, I’ve seen first-hand the value of bringing together people who are committed to improving building performance through collaboration, knowledge sharing and evidence-based practice. I believe our role has never been more important.”

“Ste and Chris bring complementary strengths across technical expertise, strategy and operations. The Board is confident they will build on the AECB’s remarkable legacy, foster practical collaboration, and ensure the AECB continues to provide independent leadership for practitioners across the built environment.”

Ste Garlick, Chief Executive Officer at AECB, said:

“The transition to a sustainable and climate-resilient built environment is an opportunity to create healthier, more adaptable, and more equitable buildings and places. For more than 35 years, the AECB has been at the forefront of this mission. I’m looking forward to working with our members and partners to build on that legacy, strengthen collaboration across professions and sectors, and raise standards across the built environment.”

Continuing A 35 Year Legacy

Founded in 1989, the AECB has played a role in introducing Passivhaus to the UK and developing the CarbonLite certification, and today connects more than 2,000 individual and corporate members from across construction and design through technical guidance, training and certification. Garlick and Iredale will work with the AECB Board of Trustees and partner organisations, including the Passivhaus Trust, to support members and help shape the direction of sustainable construction practice.

The organisation’s next public gathering, the AECB annual conference, takes place on 25 September 2026 at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, bringing together practitioners, suppliers, contractors, local authorities and policymakers to discuss developments in sustainable building and retrofit.

With both appointments now confirmed, the AECB’s dual leadership arrangement gives the network executives who remain active in the sectors they serve, a structure that ties its independent, evidence-based mission directly to the practical experience of its incoming leaders.