Coalition Calls for Tougher Carbon Controls on New Buildings

Posted by Thurston Group on 7th October 2021 -

A coalition has written to Jeremy Pocklington, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government calling for tougher carbon controls. They’re warning that the proposed Future Buildings Standard (FBS) contains “significant shortcomings”. Also highlighting that the Government needs to be far more ambitious in the regulation of energy consumption in new buildings if it wants to meet carbon reduction targets

RIBA president also said the proposed standards don’t go far enough to reduce the built environment’s carbon footprint. A letter, including 21 signatures from the likes of RIBA, Architects Climate Action Network, Greenpeace, CIOB and the UK Green Building Council, highlights significant concerns around the proposed energy and ventilation standards for non-domestic buildings and existing homes in England.

The letter states there are several areas that are critical to achieving the UK’s net zero goals. And with the right decisions, can demonstrate global leadership and create a “world-leading built environment sector”. 

The coalition, comprising architects, built environment and climate groups, has said if the Government wants to achieve this they need to start regulating total energy consumption, and not introduce primary energy, and set actual energy performance targets for buildings. The consultation states that new buildings should be “zero carbon ready” but to address the climate emergency, we need to be building net zero carbon buildings. We also need to assess building performance better to close the performance gap, introduce and regulate embodied carbon targets for buildings and set a clear National Retrofit Strategy. 

RIBA President, Alan Jones, said, “The built environment is responsible for approximately 40% of the UK’s total carbon output. Put simply, the proposed Future Buildings Standard does not go far enough to reduce this impact. To reach net zero carbon emissions, demonstrate global leadership and create a world-leading built environment sector England needs more ambitious regulations. The Future Buildings Standard provides an opportunity to make critical and essential changes: to regulate total energy consumption and set critical targets for actual energy performance and embodied carbon. I urge policymakers to realise its potential.”

We’re committed to reducing our carbon footprint and ensuring that we’re building a better future. We do this by observing the ten circular economy principles to help achieve true net zero buildings and adopting a fabric first approach. Offsite construction is more sustainable than traditional methods. We work hard to minimise waste and make sure we’re building sustainable modular and portable buildings. Though more organisations could do better to combat climate change and ensure that our planet has a better future.  

You can read the full letter here.