CCC strengthens warning on need for zero carbon action

CCC, zero carbon, CIBSE,
Baroness Brown of Cambridge

Baroness Brown, deputy chair of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has warned that action needs to be taken towards reaching net zero and that there are “significant risks” if the UK fails to act.

The warning was given at the CIBSE Build2Perform event in London at the end of November 2019. The two-day event included a series of lectures on a range of topics aimed at informing professionals involved in design and operation of buildings and to help progress towards meeting the 2050 net zero emissions target.

Baroness Brown, who is a crossbench peer in the House of Lords, said the committee is: “Pushing the new government to improve building standards.” She added that: “Government needs to take action in electricity, hydrogen, buildings, road transport, industry, land use and agriculture.”

She also pointed to progress that has been made in recent years: “We have been moderately successful since passing the Climate Change Act 2008.”

And further highlighted the role CIBSE members have to play: “This is an area where you have a real opportunity to help the UK deliver net zero carbon.”

However, there is still more to be done and Baroness Brown would like to see a real rise in green loans and sustainable investment to increase skills and ensure compliance and a rise in standards throughout the industry.

Throughout the rest of the event, there was an emphasis on digital technologies for engineering. Thayla Zomer, researcher from the Centre for Digital Built Britain, analysed BIM use by construction firms and explained that many adopt BIM ‘symbolically’ but have not yet processes in place to gain the maximum benefits of it. She also said that new things are not necessarily needed: “It is not about doing new things in the same way but about doing new things in a new way.”

Topics for the second day included change on Parts L and F of the Building Regulations, retrofitting buildings and adapting buildings to severe weather events.

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