Jo Wheeler Co-Head Policy and Places at UKGBC said:

UKGBC welcomes this consultation and proposal – we have long called for action to require landlords to achieve a minimum EPC C.

One in four renters are in fuel poverty so improving renters’ rights and introducing new minimum energy performance standards is an important justice, as well as climate issue for the Government to address. This regulation must be aligned with the proposed reforms to the current EPC system.

This proposal should form part of a wider national retrofit strategy with sufficient funding and comprehensive policies to coordinate action at the national and local level, and enable all householders to have homes that are warm, comfortable, and affordable to heat”

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FutureBuild brings together around 15k professionals committed to sustainability, innovation, and collaboration in the built environment – architect, engineer, contractor, policy makers – and offers insights, cutting-edge products, and networking opportunities to support sustainability goals. 

In partnership with: Mitsubishi Electric UK, Interface and Chetwoods Architects, we are returning to Futurebuild with our award winning stand, where you can learn more about our work, and our network.  As part of the 3-day event,  we are participating in two main stage events, and leading on three panel discussion as well as hosting a materials workshop on stand. See below for our full activity calendar.

Day 1 – Tuesday 4th March

12:00-12:45 How the circular economy and degrowth can avoid catastrophic tipping points

We have known about ‘limits to growth’ since at least 1972. We know that society’s use of materials for all purposes has increased from 7 billion tons in 1900 to 92 billion tons in 2017, and this is just not sustainable. We can recycle as much as we can but if we keep trying to grow GDP no matter the environmental and social costs, we risk missing our climate targets and triggering catastrophic tipping points. We then try to put a price on nature that doesn’t prohibit growth. Thinking ‘circular’ goes beyond waste and influences every decision that we make particularly for those working in the built environment. Time for an honest conversation about where we should be in 12 months? By 2030? by 2035?

Chair: Smith Mordak, UKGBC

Panel: Dr David Greenfield, SOENECS; Elwyn Grainger-Jones, Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute; Teresa Domenech, University College London

Day 2 – Wednesday 5th March 

13:30-14:15 How resilient is the UK built environment to climate impacts?

A session around the UKGBC Climate Resilience Roadmap, with a sneak peek at the roadmap content looking at how resilient and vulnerable the UK built environment is to climate impacts, including results of the Roadmap research as well as key insights.  We will explore ‘where should we be in 12 months / 2030 / 2035’ as we will tease the actions and recommendations. 

Chairs: Hannah Giddings, UKGBC; Macarena Cardenas, UKGBC

Panel: Ashely Bateson, Hoare Lea; Christine Cambrook, Buro Happold; Anna Oxenham, Mace

Location: Buildings Impact Stage

14:30-15:20 Material Matters Workshop delivered by Chetwoods Architects (UKGBC Stand)

Chetwoods Architects dive into all things sustainability when it comes to materials, including embodied carbon, health and wellbeing, and the circular economy. Information and exploration of a range of exciting material samples for an interactive session where you can challenge yourself to pick out the more sustainable material options, and identify the red herrings.

16:15-17:00 The Futurebuild Conversation – Achieving our low carbon future? Why aren’t we there yet? 

As we transition to our low carbon future we find ourselves at a pivotal moment as it is only 25 years to 2050 when we need to get to the legally binding target of reducing carbon emissions to net zero. So what are the opportunities and the barriers?Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning are major consumers of energy in any building and the HVAC equipment that is designed and installed over the next 5 years is likely to still be in use in 2050. That means that the decisions we all make now on both new-build, and more importantly retrofit must align with those net zero goals if clients are to avoid ending up with stranded assets.  Yet the technology that can help on the road to net zero already exists.

Chair: Dr Anastasia Mylona, Technical Director, CIBSE

Panel: Yetunde Abdul, UKGBC; Steff Wright, Gusto Group; Chris Newman, Mitsubishi Electric

Location: Futurebuild Arena

Day 3: Thursday 6th March

10:30-11:15 What is a ‘Regenerative Place’? and how do we get there? 

The word ‘Regenerative’ is being used with increasing frequency across industry, with a growing number of perspectives on what it the concept means. There is less understanding so far, of how it translates into practice and especially how we retrofit our homes and urban spaces to bring the vision into reality for UK communities.  The session will focus on Improving biodiversity and green space; offering health and social value benefits, strengthening climate resilience 

Chaired by: Joanne Wheeler, UKGBC; Anna Hollyman, UKGBC

Panel: Miles Lewis, Clarion Housing Group; Carl Walker, Hoare Lea

Location: Placemaking Impact Stage

13:30-14:15 Towards a nature-positive built environment 

A reflection on the built environment’s role in the global transition to a nature positive future. This session will outline our current understanding of what nature positive entails and focus specifically on addressing embodied ecological impacts from materials. It will showcase best practice examples and key principles to make a difference. 

Chair: Kai Liebetanz, UKGBC

Panel: Aaron Grainger, Buro Happold; Julia Baker, Mott Macdonald; Becky Gordon, Interface 

Deep Dive into Supply Chain Decarbonisation

UKGBC will be showcasing Supply Chain Decarbonisation on our stand at Futurebuild, in a series of five sessions. We will be sharing details of our work to date including the aim, scope, plans, activity to date and our desired outcomes from this workstream. UKGBC programme leads will be heading this event, with support from Partners and Task Group members in attendance.

In addition, attendees will have the opportunity to contribute to our testing of initial ideas for action, shaping our developing plans for future work. Whilst also learning how, as stakeholders in the built environment, you can get more involved in helping to drive progress.

The Deep Dive event will take place during the following time periods:
Tuesday 4 March 11:00-12:00, 14:00-15:00
Wednesday 5 March 11:00-12:00, 14:00-15:00
Thursday 6 March 11:00-12:00

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This report summarises a range of sustainable solution trends that UKGBC has seen over the course of 2024, provides context on their use, and comments on the relevant driving forces in the UK market. The solutions discussed range from innovative new platforms and materials to transformative business models and processes. The analysis is based on engagement with innovation-focused UKGBC members (including input from UKGBC’s Solutions & Innovation Advisory Group), interviews with UKGBC topic leads, and desktop research.

UKGBC does not formally endorse any of the solutions presented in this report. It is intended as a signpost and a source of inspiration for built environment stakeholders, who should always carry out their own due diligence before adoption. While this is a summary of some of the notable solutions of which UKGBC has become aware, there are likely to be other solutions available but not mentioned. Discover more solutions in our Solutions Library. 

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Many UK consumers are also struggling to afford their heating bills: the percentage of households in England spending more than 10% of their income after housing costs on domestic energy rose to 36.4% in 2023.  The new Government committed in its manifesto to upgrading five million homes over five years with the £6.6bn Warm Homes Plan. This is expected to include grants and low-interest loans to support families to invest in insulation, low-carbon heating and home improvements.  Alongside this, the Government has committed to boosting minimum energy efficiency standards for private rented homes and social housing.  

Jo gave evidence across themes of the current Warm Homes Plan detail, existing retrofit support schemes and why they have undelivered, and how the Government can help consumers make informed decisions. She emphasised the need for longer timescales to build industry confidence, policies which encourage homeowners to invest their own money (such as a Warm Homes Stamp Duty) and the importance of equipping local authorities with the skills and resources to carry out retrofit programmes.  Many of these points were echoed by Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh in a later evidence session.

Watch Jo’s session (from 14:57:09 to 15:56:28) here : Parliamentlive.tv – Energy Security and Net Zero Committee

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Any retrofit schemes should be locally focused, providing long-term solutions which support local areas. We need to see policies to equip local authorities with the skills and resources to carry out retrofit programmes. The Government should give local authorities and councils the devolved powers, responsibility, and resources they need to play a major role in the delivery of a nationwide home upgrade programme. The success of national retrofit schemes requires longer timescales to those currently on offer. This means setting out a 10 year strategic programme, with an initial 5 years of funding committed. This will build industry and financier confidence to invest, previous short windows and stop-start schemes have meant there was little trust or time for supply chain development.

The full details of the Warm Homes Plan expected in spring 2025 must draw on industry experience and be coordinated at both national and local levels.

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The Government has published its full response to the National Planning Policy Framework consultation today. Whilst they have updated the text to make clear that climate change is important in both decision-making and plan-making, this still doesn’t go far enough.

Anna Hollyman, UKGBC’s co-head of Policy & Places, responds to the government’s updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) announcement:

Every planning decision is an opportunity to create greener, safer and healthier communities. This updated NPPF has made a small step towards achieving this, but ambition on climate and nature in planning needs to be strengthened.   

That’s why we propose linking the Planning Act with the Climate Change Act and the Environment Act so that climate, resilience, and nature are given weight in every planning decision.  

Attention on high-quality, sustainable buildings is welcome, but this needs to be complemented by a Future Homes Standard which is fit for purpose and supports ambitious local authorities that want to deliver homes that are energy efficient and comfortable both now and in the future. Retrofitting and refurbishing existing buildings will lower carbon emissions and reinvigorate struggling communities by providing desirable homes.   

The planning system should work with nature, not against it. Protecting and integrating biodiversity and providing access to nature is essential to achieving the goal of creating climate safe, healthy and thriving communities. This means conducting biodiversity assessments on all sites, rather than assuming a greenlight for all brownfield development.” 

The Government has published its full response to the National Planning Policy Framework consultation today. Whilst they have updated the text to make clear that climate change is important in both decision-making and plan-making, this still doesn’t go far enough.  

We need a clear new ‘purpose’ for the English planning system – linked directly to the Climate Change Act, and we would argue the Environment Act too – so that every single planning decision needs to help, not hinder, our response to the climate and nature emergencies, as well as the cost-of-living crisis. 

This would mean that every decision would be more predictable, quicker, less adversarial, and the places created would be healthier, safer, and last well into the future. The green belt should be protected and rewilded except in exceptional circumstances. Strategic landscape-scale decisions should be made to protect communities from flooding and overheating. And our existing built assets conserved, with a presumption for retrofit over demolition and rebuild. 

The NPPF includes requirements to ensure homes are high-quality and well-designed, alongside promised updates to the National Design Guidance. This is welcome, but must be complemented by improvement to building regulations (through the Future Homes and Building Standards) and support for ambitious local authorities, who want to deliver homes that are energy efficient and comfortable both now and in the future. 

UKGBC was among the respondents to point out that brownfield land can be haven for nature in urban areas, and sometimes contains more biodiversity that greenfield land. The most sustainable way to build is to create greater density, while protecting green spaces. We do not believe the default answer when asked to build on brownfield should always be ‘yes’, and urge the government to considering assessing biodiversity on these sites before permitting building. 

The stakes were high. If we get the planning system right, we open a new era of clean electricity, affordable homes where they’re needed, and large strategic areas to protect and restore nature. However, if ambition on climate and nature remains weak we could destroy what’s left of nature, bust our legally binding carbon budgets, and see a nation up in arms. 

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UKGBC welcomes today’s consultation and the renewed commitment from government to ensure that EPCs are fit for purpose.  We’re particularly pleased to see recognition that domestic EPCs need to focus more on reducing carbon emissions and supporting people in reducing their energy costs. It is encouraging that the government has left the door open for future metrics and it must prioritise including information on actual energy use, health and climate resilience. EPCs are vital for understanding the impact our buildings have on our bills, our health, and our environment – this consultation is an important step towards updating a tool which will be crucial for meeting our net zero commitments, upgrading the quality of our built environment, and empowering individuals to transform their energy usage.  We look forward to working with our members to respond in more depth in due course.” 

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The good news is that much of the damage is unnecessary, and the alternatives would make our economy more efficient and offer the new Labour Government a new way to solve the affordable housing crisis. 

In the debates about house building, little attention is paid to the industry’s heavy reliance on extracting materials from biodiverse regions. Globally, we extract some 100 billion tonnes of raw material out of the fabric of the planet per year – equivalent to destroying two-thirds of the mass of Mount Everest every 12 months. Worldwide, the built environment sector is responsible for as much as 30 per cent of biodiversity loss. Unsustainable mining, quarrying, and logging for timber, metals, and stone are cutting swathes through pristine rainforests, polluting watercourses, and driving untold habitat loss. All while releasing vast amounts of ‘embodied’ carbon emissions. The impact on countless communities worldwide is devastating. 

The impact on UK inflation has been damaging too. The cost of imported construction materials has soared in recent years. Yet at the same time, construction and demolition waste now makes up almost two-thirds of all UK waste.   

Time is short. The Government’s targets for new homes and new infrastructure, mean the strain on nature will only escalate unless it takes urgent action to both address the amount and the way materials are extracted from other countries. 

Two solutions are on offer – tried and tested by some of the most advanced parts of the industry. But they need government action to be adopted at scale. 

Firstly, prioritise renovating and re-purposing existing buildings over demolition. Our hollowed-out high streets are dotted with vacant offices and shuttered shops. Many are places that could be transformed into affordable, high-quality, healthy ‘new’ homes. The numbers are big. In 2023, over 10,000 shops closed, office vacancy rates reached 8%, and more than 250,000 houses in England remain long-term vacant. 

Adopting a re-use first approach could help alleviate the affordable housing crisis, create tens of thousands of good skilled jobs and breathe new life into communities across the country. It would also reduce the need for costly new roads, transport, electricity, water and sewage infrastructure to service urban sprawl. 

Secondly, Environment Secretary Steve Reed is right to have put a ‘zero waste economy’ at the heart of his plans for DEFRA. Pioneering parts of the industry have already worked out how to re-use steel and many other materials, putting a ‘circular economy’ approach at the centre of their thinking. But we lack a national strategy so that every company treats used materials as valuable resources on a finite planet, not as disposable waste.  

The next step is to mandate more use of recycled, reused, and low-impact materials, while also requiring sustainable sourcing to prevent the destruction of habitats and human rights around the world. Such measures would not only reduce the need for raw material extraction, but turbocharge innovation within the industry, driving more efficient technology and practices. 

Both of these approaches can be fast-tracked if Labour takes a smart approach to its Planning and Regeneration Bill, expected in 2025. 

In Opposition, Labour voted repeatedly to align the planning system with the Climate Change Act. This was championed by green groups, because it would mean every single planning decision would help with our climate mitigation and adaptation goals. And it was backed by over 100 industry firms because it would make decisions more consistent, predictable and less likely to be bogged down with challenges. But Labour was defeated. Now it’s in government, with a huge majority, it can put pen to paper to write this into law.  

At the same time, it could adopt the proposals tabled by the House of Lords to extend that approach to the Environment Act. This would mean planning permission would only be granted if proposals were in line with local and national nature restoration strategies, including international commitments.  

As we assess the failure of COP16 in Colombia, we should all be alarmed by experts warning that humanity is on the verge of ‘shattering Earth’s natural limits’. We have run out of time for business as usual.

Voluntary measures and market-driven approaches have shown some of what’s possible, but they are just not enough. To protect biodiversity on a meaningful scale, we need a clear national plan and regulations to drive industry action. And that requires bold government leadership.

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The UK Green Building Council is delighted to announce that Simon McWhirter, Deputy Chief Executive, has been appointed as co-chair of the Built Environment Taskforce at the Climate Action Coalition alongside Coalition Chair Chris Skidmore. 

Simon brings a wealth of experience and insight into the decarbonisation and much-needed future adaptation of the built environment into the role and sits on the Boards of the National Retrofit Hub, the UK’s Green Construction Board, Scotland’s Built Environment – Smarter Transformation construction innovation centre. He also represents UKGBC on the World Green Building Council policy agenda; helping shape national and global discussions and the sharing of international best practice.  

The Climate Action Coalition, launched by Secretary John Kerry in June 2024, was established with the sole purpose of unblocking the policy barriers to deliver the objectives set out by Paris Agreement in 2015. With about 40 per cent of global emissions coming from the built environment, and with global trends towards greater urbanisation, progressing climate action to decarbonise buildings – and making them more resilient for a future warmer climate – will be an essential global step to reduce emissions and tackle climate change. 

The Built Environment Taskforce, led by Chris and Simon, will convene pioneering businesses, research bodies and civil society with a shared commitment to emissions reduction and adaptation. By focusing on both lessons from the UK and around the world, with a focus on the importance of setting clearer international standards, this new forum will share best practice and author its own policy interventions tracking progress across the calendar year in the run up to 2030, building momentum year on year between COP summits.

Speaking on Simon’s appointment, Chris said: 

“I am delighted to once again be working with Simon McWhirter. His insight and understanding of deeply technical and complex issues will be essential for the work of the Climate Action Coalition to calibrate its focus on where we can have most impact. Simon has held a variety of roles, advising governments and business, on the sustainability of the built environment, with a broad view across the linked climate, nature and cost-of-living crises. His commitment to this mission is renowned across the sector and was evident to me as Chair of the UK’s Net Zero Review in 2022.” 

Simon McWhirter said:

“The built environment has a panoply of progressive business and political levers that can act as real climate solutions in the environmental crisis we’re living through. And the Climate Action Coalition will help shape, promote and amplify those solutions on the global stage, and it enables us to use the pioneering work of our members and partners at UKGBC to help influence that international trajectory. So it’s great to be working with Chris again after the positive momentum we drove together through the Mission Zero Coalition. Now we can shift up a gear, helping facilitate the real-world deployment of the Buildings Breakthrough and giving governments the tools to show more ambition in the role that buildings can play in delivering braver global commitments.”

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Rachel Reeves’ £3.4 billion ‘first step’ towards the Government’s Warm Homes plan, seems more like a tiptoe. She’s left a huge gap to fill in the spring Comprehensive Spending Review. The Government knows how much money is needed to fix draughty, cold gas-guzzling homes for low-income families – Labour got it right in opposition, initially committing to £60 billion over 10 years. After cutting winter fuel payments, even in the face of high gas prices again this winter, pressure will build for a real long-term solution in the spring.  

The Chancellor should also look again at stamp duty. Just a nudge to reflect the energy performance of homes bought could drive billions into insulation, heat pumps and solar panels.  

The UK can’t meet its climate goals without decarbonising our gas-dependent homes.“

On public investment, both Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves doubled down on their downbeat ‘fiscal responsibility’ and ‘tough decisions’ narrative at September’s Labour Party conference. Without a shift in Treasury support for upgrading our nation of draughty homes – treating them as a national infrastructure priority, the Government’s ambition to reduce heating bills, deliver a clean electricity grid by 2030, and meet climate commitments, will remain out of reach. Our National Retrofit Investment Calculator shows sums needed are much closer to Labour’s previous commitment to £60bn over 10 years than the current £6.6bn over 5 years. Such public investment, alongside private and household investment, incentivised through tax changes like moving energy bill levies from electricity, would deliver vast year-on-year benefits to health, climate, electricity grid costs, and skilled jobs.

We’re encouraged to see confirmation of additional funding for planning officers and upskill local planning authority capacity to begin to tackle the huge shortfall in numbers and expertise that has built up over the past years. But 300 planning officers is less than one per local authority and much more will be needed to plug gaps in salaries and skillsets if we are to unblock the system and achieve more reliable decision-making.

There was a commitment of £400 million for tree planting and peatland restoration. This planting strategy should set clear goals for local authorities and support urban greening factor initiatives. The £2.4 billion towards flood resilience is welcome, but this must include upgrading our existing buildings and future-proofing new ones to protect communities across the country from the impacts of flooding.

We welcome this funding to address pollution in our rivers. This will need to be backed up by proper enforcement of water companies’ duty to upgrade wastewater treatment works. In areas of new development, the highest standards of sewage works and sustainable drainage will need to be in place before new developments are occupied. 

This certainly hasn’t been a ‘climate budget’, and small policy and investment decisions won’t be enough. From fixing the planning system and new build standards to upgrading the country’s draughty homes and workplaces, success or failure, public support or opposition, will rest on bold decisions in line with the climate science. Dialling-up investment in our net zero future is not just the consensus recommendation of the vast majority of industry, business, and society – it is central to Labour’s promise to bring down household energy bills and revitalise the UK’s towns, cities, and infrastructure.

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