Housebuilders called on to combat climate change

Property experts are pleading with the housebuilding industry to plan developments that won’t cost the Earth; while building greener homes has been climbing the government’s agenda, the property industry has been painfully slow to amend its ways.

The Zero Carbon Homes policy was due to come into effect in 2016 after nine years of discussions with housebuilders and other stakeholders, but the Treasury cancelled it six months before implementation.

The government has since launched a fresh assault on carbon emissions, introducing a raft of measures over the last year.

Now, a group of property experts have called for the industry to step up the fight against climate change by making sustainability a key priority in the UK’s planning system, warning that the industry faces substantial financial risk if it continues to drag its feet.

Property consultants Bidwells, global architects Perkins and Will and policy advisory business Blackstock Consulting have published a manifesto which includes contributions from 26 property and investment companies. The manifesto contains 16 policy recommendations to overhaul the tax, transport and planning systems to help make Britain build more sustainably.

Asif Din, sustainability director at Perkins and Will, said: “In 2019, we should be embedding sustainability at the heart of any development policy. Climate change is here and now, which means the days of greenwashing within our industry must end. We need to see beyond the the net-zero barrier and thread it through everything we design, deliver and operate, which needs to be reflected in the planning system.

“To do this, we need to garner a greater understanding of the operational and lifecycle emissions of buildings. We need to work together as an industry to create buildings that are fit for purpose over their whole lifespan, to incentivise long-term investments, and to design adaptable buildings to face the challenges that the climate crisis poses.”

As an industry, UK property is currently responsible for approximately 40% of Britain’s carbon emissions, according to the UK Green Building Council, making it one of the largest sole contributors to the nation’s carbon footprint. Despite the UK Government becoming the first to legislate for a net-zero target by 2050, the property industry is yet to make substantial progress in driving down emissions.

This comes at a substantial cost to homeowners. Analysis from property experts Bidwells, has shown that all properties in England rated D-G on their energy performance certificates had a potential energy bill of £21.3bn a year – and this could be brought down to £15.2bn if all those properties were brought up to at least a C standard, saving £6bn on household energy bills.

Former Chancellor George Osborne’s 2015 decision to scrap the Zero Carbon Homes policy is costing occupants of new-build homes more than £200 per year on their energy bills, according to the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU).

To turn this around, property experts are calling for PassivHaus principles to be enshrined in planning for all new build developments across the Oxford and Cambridge Arc.

PassivHaus is a rigorous approach to sustainable design that originated in Germany but has been widely adopted across the UK, with the local councils in Norwich, Exeter and York embedding the design standards into their development requirements.

Separately, the National Federation of Builders’ (NFB) Major Contractors Group (MCG) launched its ‘Transforming Construction for a Low Carbon Future’ report, warning that the construction industry must be transformed within a generation, otherwise it will have failed the country and the Government will fail in its zero carbon ambitions.

Mark Wakeford, Chair of the NFB’s Major Contractors Group, said: “The year 2050 might seem a long time away but it’s really not much time to radically change our industry. We must start now and the government, in whatever guise they return, must lead the way and make this a firm priority post election. Anyone still operating the same way as they are today in 20 years’ time will be lucky to still be in business. There are no excuses: Government, contractors, the supply chain, manufacturers, designers and the trades must all embrace the challenge now, as highlighted in our recommendations.

“To make this happen, domestic housing requires a government spend of £15 billion a year, industrial and commercial property and infrastructure requires up to £10 billion a year, flood defences £1 billion a year, and the power sector £20 billion a year. But it’s about more than just money: the transformation required in the construction industry is multi-faceted and it is critical that Industry and Government take a joined-up approach to bring together developments in skills, procurement, design, products and materials, transport and more.

“The report we are launching today is a call-to-arms, we’re telling the Government and the industry alike to wake up to the reality of zero carbon and act now.”

While the Report warns against the risks of not acting now, it also spells out the huge opportunities that exist across the sector, including domestic, industrial, flood defence, the power sector and transport. It looks at funding streams, the transformation of skills, procurement and design, and innovative approaches to reducing carbon emissions and waste.

Eleanor Jukes, senior investment manager at Legal & General, concluded: “The impacts of climate change on the built environment make partnership and collaboration essential for successful and sustainable regeneration. It’s crucial that the development process becomes greener, but to make serious headway in curbing the sector’s emissions we need to take a holistic approach that links transport, clean energy and digital infrastructure back into the built environment. Our vision is to create a sustainable ecosystem that underpins the urban centres of the future and connects systems, people and places.”