The aim of the inquiry is to examine the sustainability of the built environment and investigate the best routes to net zero for our future building needs. Last May, the Committee asked the construction industry for written evidence answering the following points:
• To what extent have the Climate Change Committee’s recommendations on decarbonising the structural fabric of new homes been met?
• How can materials be employed to reduce the carbon impact of new buildings, including efficient heating and cooling, and which materials are most effective at reducing embodied carbon?
• What role can nature-based materials can play in achieving the Government’s net zero ambition?
• What role can the planning system, permitted development and building regulations play in delivering a sustainable built environment? How can these policies incentivise developers to use low carbon materials and sustainable design?
• What methods account for embodied carbon in buildings and how can this be consistently applied across the sector?
• Should the embodied carbon impact of alternative building materials take into account the carbon cost of manufacture and delivery to site, enabling customers to assess the relative impact of imported versus domestically sourced materials?
• How well is green infrastructure being incorporated into building design and developments to achieve climate resilience and other benefits?
• How should we take into account the use of materials to minimise carbon footprint, such as use of water harvesting from the roof, grey water circulation, porous surfaces for hardstanding, energy generation systems such as solar panels?
• How should re-use and refurbishment of buildings be balanced with new developments?
• What can the Government do to incentivise more repair, maintenance and retrofit of existing buildings?
As one of the leading voices in the industry's effort to tackle the impact of embodied carbon on the built environment, we wanted to share our point of view and help shape the discussion.
We call for government legislation in the form of carbon taxes or embodied carbon limits embedded into the planning system. Our submission has been published, and it is available for downloading here
The full list of written and oral evidence is available on the Environmental Audit Committee’s website here
