To limit climate change sounds simple: we need to stabilise and then reduce the concentration of harmful greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.  To achieve this we need to dramatically reduce GHG emissions and, increasingly, remove them from the atmosphere to close the emissions gap.

But for most building assets, either new build or retrofit, we are unable to fully close the gap and are left with a residual, and possibly considerable, GHG output. What should we be doing as a sector to remove these emissions or should we be embracing offsetting to deal with the issue? Or is offsetting cheating?

the Edge will be discussing the principles of offsetting at an invited debate and will be addressing:

·       How much decarbonisation can we achieve and where are we ‘stuck’?

·       Why carbon offsetting should never be used to meet decarbonisation targets.

·       What are the current offsetting mechanisms?

·       Should offsetting be regulated?

·       How can a community / locality based approach be deployed?

·       What is the state of play with permanent greenhouse gas removals?

·       How do we move forward from a focus on decarbonisation to GHG removals and a climate positive built and natural environment?

Chair:         Alex Benstead, UK Green Building Council

Speakers:  

• Professor Paul Ekins, UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources

• Lily Ginsberg-Keig, BeZero Carbon

• Eli Mitchell-Larson, Co-founder, Carbon Gap & co-author Oxford Principles for Net Zero Aligned Carbon Offsets

• Estelle Dehon KC, Cornerstone Barristers

Venue:        FCBS, 20 Tottenham Street, London W1T 4RC & Online

Timing:        11th September 2024, 18.00 – 19.30

Downloads:

ED172 Invitation

ED172 Speakers biographies

ED172 Presentations

The new Labour government faces an urgent challenge: the need for new homes, energy and transport infrastructure is pitched against the biodiversity and climate emergencies. The challenge goes to the heart of more than housing supply. Energy and food security are at risk and atmospheric heating and species loss are existential threats. Central to facing this down is how we use land efficiently and optimally to achieve multiple critical outcomes.

Edge Recommendations emerging from theRoundtable

• A National Land Use Framework should be established as a national service enabling everyone from policy-makers in central and local government to local groups and businesses to access the accurate information they need to plan for the future.

• The National Land Use Authority should be positioned in Government so that it can link and coordinate the work of different government departments (See Appendix B), while sitting at arms-length from those agencies and departments.

• The remit for a National Land Use Authority should be to rapidly deliver a bare bones land use framework covering key datasets (as above) but also to lay the foundations for a much richer national resource including a wide range of information as well as the capacity for crowd-sourced citizen mapping.

In 2022 The House of Lords Select Committee on Land Use in England explored the need for a comprehensive framework to tackle this. Richard Benwell, Chief Executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said in his submission to the committee that “a land use framework must have three features.

·       Target-driven, setting out the land use changes needed to support key goals like climate change mitigation.

·       Carry weight in planning, permitting and spending decisions, steering decisions away from harmful land-use choices, and helping reward nature-positive planning.

·       Be transparent and adaptable, so the public can see whether government is on track.”

In response the Conservative Government committed Defra to publishing a land use framework (LUF) for England in 2023. When it did not appear, publication was promised before the 2024 summer recess.

While the scope of the LUF was never defined, there were high expectations that it would develop and provide comprehensive, accessible information systems to facilitate integrated land use and planning decisions and actions nationally, regionally and locally. In Baroness Young’s words, it should integrate “all the key land uses, including infrastructure, housing and transport, not just those for which DEFRA has a responsibility in terms of agriculture, carbon and biodiversity”.

This may have been the government’s intention as, in response to the Winser Review’s call for a Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP), it refers to its “work to map out economy-wide land and marine use, such as the Land Use Framework.”

For now, though; as a result of the General Election; the creation, scope and purposes of a LUF are in limbo and it will be up to the next government to pick up the development work done on it - or not.

Whoever wins the election; a LUF must be much more than a technician’s tool. It should be an innovative, technology-driven resource to help policy makers resolve the challenge of accommodating people’s present and future needs within a rapidly changing natural world. As the Government’s former food tsar, Henry Dimbleby, said in 2022; “In terms of food, biodiversity, carbon and fuel ... the single most important thing the Government needs to do in this area is ...  to create a [land use] framework, which informs, at a local and a national level, planning regulation and the [Environmental Land Management] (ELM) policy."

The inauguration of a new government with a strong change agenda creates the opportunity to re-engage in the discussion about a land use framework and drive it forward. To enable this, the Edge is bringing together key stakeholders as we emerge from the election to discuss:

·       The LUF’s remit;

·       Learning from experience of frameworks elsewhere;

·       The mechanics of an effective LUF;

·       Opportunities for cross-departmental and cross-sectoral working; and

·       An implementation programme.

By invitation only

Venue: RICS, 12 Great George Street, London SWIP 3AD

Timing: 11th July 2024, 14.30 - 17.30

Downloads:

• Summary of Outputs from Roundtable

• Roundtable Discussion Note

Further Reading:

The full outcomes of the Edge/RICS round table on why we need a land use framework held on the 11th July 2024 are available at https://edgedebate.com/edge-events/edge-roundtable-173-delivering-a-national-land-use-framework

The House of Lords Land Use in England Committee report: Making the most out of England’s land (December 2022) see: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/33168/documents/179645/default/

The Edge’s evidence to the House of Lord’s inquiry. See - https://edgedebate.com/s/Edge-Response-to-Land-Use-Inquiry-2022-220426.pdf

The Geospatial Commission’s Finding common ground: Integrating data, science and innovation for better use of land (May 2023): See - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/finding-common-ground-integrating-data-science-and-innovation-for-better-use-of-land/finding-common-ground-integrating-data-science-and-innovation-for-better-use-of-land

In April 2024 the Edge issued a draft paper making the case and calling for the creation of a an independent, authoritative Public Sector Research Establishment for the built environment. to support policy making, public health, sectoral productivity and the overall effectiveness in the construction and property sectors in the UK. At the end of the month a Round table was held under the Chatham House Rule between former government advisors, practitioners and academics to discuss the paper. The paper and the notes from the meeting are downloadable below.

A revised draft of the paper has been published (June 2024) following the discussion and is available below

• Building Competence and Capability: The case for a Public Sector Research Establishment for the built environment - Draft paper v7c

• Notes from meeting to discuss a National built environment research organisation 29/4/24

• Building Competence and Capability: The case for a Public Sector Research Establishment for the built environment - Draft paper v10 (June 2024)

the Edge has been running a series of workshop discussions on undergraduate education for built and natural environment professionals asking the question whether we need to reform education in the face of the climate and nature emergencies.

As a result of these meetings a group of institutions* have agreed to the following statement:

“We the undersigned have a shared understanding that the climate and nature emergency presents an existential crisis not just for our immediate environment, but also for our planet.  It is fundamental that undergraduate education in all built and natural environment professions adequately responds to this crisis.  It needs to teach climate and environmental literacy and ethics and develop the ability in students to collaborate, communicate, challenge and advocate. 

“We agree that urgent action is required, and that this will require active collaboration between educators, industry, professional institutions and accreditation bodies.”

* The Architects Registration Board, The British Institute of Interior Design (BIID), The Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT), The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), The Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM), The Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT), The Commonwealth Engineers’ Council, The Construction Industry Council (CIC), The Engineering Council (EC), Engineers without Borders UK  (EWB-UK), Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), The Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM), The Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES), The Joint Board of Moderators (JBM), The Landscape Institute (LI), The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng), The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and The Society for the Environment (SocEnv).

Download the Press Statement

Education Roundtable (Edge Debate 167) - 6th July 2023

A Roundtable discussion about undergraduate education for built environment professionals

Downloads:

Education Roundtable Agenda 060723

Workshop 1 (Edge Debate 168) - 13th february 2024

Students/Recent Graduates and Industry – What is needed?

Downloads:

E4C-Workshop 1 Talking points E4C Workshop 1 - Notes

Workshop 2 (Edge Debate 169) - 21st March 2024

Universities – How can Universities provide those needs?

Downloads:

E4C Workshop 2 - Notes

Workshop 3 (Edge Debate 170) - 25th April 2024

Accreditation bodies/Professional Institutions – What should the requirements be that satisfy those needs?

E4C Workshop 3 - Agenda + Propositions E4C Particpants biographies E4C Workshop 3 - meeting notes

Day 3 of the Conference examines how we can stimulate and encourage the degree of change needed: through education, AI, local actions to lead the future and getting net zero right.

Edge Debate #163: 10.30-11.30

The role of education in climate awareness

What role can education play in creating an informed climate-literate citizenry?

From nursery schools to lifelong learning education must pave the way for better understanding of environmental issues.  Within the built environment, numerous initiatives are driving change, including the Climate Framework, the ACAN Education working group, Zero Construct and the CIC Climate Change Committee toolkit for professional institutions.  Mobie encourages young people to engage with construction.

Teach the Future prepares children starting school today to be climate and ecologically literate to enter the workforce or further education by 2035 and as Teach the Future supporter, Nadia Whittome, MP reports “Labour has adopted my Climate Education Bill in our draft policy programme.”

Moderator:

Django Perks, Teach the Future

Speakers:

Our main asks

• Niamh Crisp-O’Brien, Teach the Future

• Inspiring young people to build the homes of the future

• Gerry Ruffles, Head of Education, Ministry of Building Innovation and Education (MOBIE)

Climate and ecological literacy led initiatives for the construction industry

The Climate Framework

• Mina Hasman, founding member of the Climate Framework, Sustainability Director, SOM and author of the RIBA Climate Guide and CIC Climate Change Committee

The CIC Toolkit for professional institutions

• Aled Williams, Chair, CIC Education & Future Skills Committee and Executive Director, Innovation & Partnerships UCEM

The Competence Framework

• Simon Foxell, the Edge

Edge Debate #164: 12.00-13.00

For better or for worse: the role of AI as an industry disruptor

Discussions of artificial intelligence (AI) range from championing its positive gains to extreme caution about dire unintended consequences. This debate examines the issues.

Chair:

Dr Olli Jones, Head of Sustainability and Innovation, Cundall

Speakers:

All systems go

• Martha Tsigkari, Head of Applied R & D, Foster & Partners

• Mike Moseley, Knowledge Transfer Manager – Construction, BridgeAI

versus

Proceed with caution

• Aaliyah Pollock, Data and Tech Analyst, RICS

• Brian Hills, CEO, The Data Lab

Edge Debate #165: 13.30-14.15

Hustings / Call for action. The Future is local for a just transition

Many local authorities, organisations and businesses have declared climate and biodiversity emergencies. While central government has seemingly lost direction on these critical issues, regional governance and action is leading the way.

A recent report by the Mission Zero Coalition, The Future is Local, identified over 30 recommendations on how the Government can give greater agency to local authorities to deliver net zero.

Mayors, local leaders and community activists from across the country are here to tell us more.

Chair:

Julia King, The Baroness Brown of Cambridge and Chair of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Independent Commission on Climate Change

Speakers:

Combined authorities as agents for change

• Dr Nik Johnson, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority

Making our net zero goals real – all new build to be net zero carbon by 2025

• Cllr Louise Upton, Cabinet Member for Planning, Oxford City Council

People-power to create a zero carbon, socially just and nature friendly city

• Anzir Boodoo, City Plan Lead, Climate Action Leeds

How the civic movement can deliver the climate change agenda

• Ian Harvey, Joint Founder, Civic Voice  and Interim CEO, Institute of Place Management

Edge Debate #166: 14.45 -15.45

‘PECHA KUCHA’: Getting Net Zero Right

Whatever the political outcome of the next election, we must act now for today and for the future. In this session, future leaders share their visions for how to get it right.

Chair:

Ramesh Deonarine, Team Leader – Built Environment, Climate Change Committee

Speakers:

Architect

• Gina Windley, architect/sustainability designer, Levitt Bernstein; RIBA Rising Stars shortlist 2023

Engineer

• Ellen Griffin, Senior Engineer, Volker Stevin and ICE Northwest Rising Star winner 2023

Natural Environment

• Chris Moss, Senior Consultant, Greengage Environmental Ltd and CIEEM highly recommended Promising Professional 2023

Sustainability

• Michelle Wang, Sustainability Manager, Deloitte Global Real Estate

Planner

• Dr Ada Lee, Infrastructure and Climate Change Specialist, Royal Town Planning Institute

Zero Construct

• Sam Burdett, Carbon Manager, Skanska and Co-founder of ZERO Next and Education co-lead, ZERO

Get it right initiative

• Gavin Ford, Project Handover Manager, Costain Group PLC and winner of the inaugural ICE Tom Barton Award, Get it Right Initiative

Day 2 looks at what can be done to deliver change. 2024 is an election year. What policies for net zero and nature recovery should industry put forward to move the dial from talking to doing?

Edge Debate #158: 10.45-11.45

Delivering net zero buildings in reality

Forward thinking clients are demanding net zero buildings in line with their ESG obligations but often lack a detailed understanding of how to achieve this in practice.

An important first step is the agreement of a consistent global definition of net zero and that delivering net zero should be a required professional duty.

The industry already has the knowledge and skills to ensure that any new buildings and the reuse of existing buildings achieve net zero carbon both in development and in operation. Professionals must step forward and work with clients and across project teams to ensure net zero outcomes at the scale needed.

The most successful schemes champion sustainability from the outset all the way through to post-completion management. This means getting the brief right, tracking progress throughout and monitoring actual performance in use once a project is complete.

Chair:

Jamie Quinn, Sustainability Director, Argent Related

Speakers:

The client’s Net Zero Carbon strategy for newbuild and retrofit

• Richard Tetlow, Associate Sustainability Consultant, Buro Happold

Creating the right brief for net zero buildings and operations                                              

• Alexi Marmot, Founding Director, Alexi Marmot Associates – AMA  and  Founding Director, Global Centre for Learning Environments, Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, UCL 

Designing for net zero carbon – leading a collaborative team                              

• Peter Fisher, Director, Bennetts Associates

Operating ‘net zero carbon’ buildings                                                                      

• Stephen Hill, Associate Director – Sustainability Consultant, Arup

Edge Debate #159: 12.00 – 12.45

Call for action - Delivering Nature 2030

The UK’s extractive approach to natural resources has made it one of the most nature- deprived countries in the world. The irony of the outcry over the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree at Hadrian’s Wall is that the tree, while located in a visually bucolic setting, sits in a denuded landscape with limited biodiversity.

The Nature 2030 Campaign, developed by the Wildlife and Countryside Link coalition of over 80 environmental organisations, has put forward five key policies for nature recovery:

• A pay rise for farmers, doubling the support for farmers to make sure that they can deliver nature-friendly farming and nature restoration

• Making polluters pay, ensuring that businesses have nature and climate plans in place and setting new duties to drive private investment in species and habitats recovery.

• Making more space for nature, restoring more protected sites and landscapes by 2030, and creating a Public Nature Estate across England with the support of local and national partners.

• Creating more green jobs, delivering widescale habitat restoration and creating green jobs in urban, rural and coastal habitats and in species recovery through a National Nature Service.

• A Right to a Healthy Environment, establishing a human right to clean air and water and access to nature.

The Environmental Principles Duty, set out in the Environment Act 2021, came into force on 1 November 2023 and requires all ministers and policymakers to consider the environmental impact of new policies.

Four Prospective Parliamentary Candidates will set out their policy proposals.

Chair:

Richard Benwell, Chief Executive, Wildlife and Countryside Link

Speakers:

• John Cope, Conservative Prospective Party Parliamentary Candidate for Esher and Walton

• Carla Denyer, Green Party Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Bristol Central

• Polly Billington, Labour Prospective Candidate Parliamentary Candidate for South Thanet

• Pippa Heylings, Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for South Cambridgeshire

Edge Debate #160: 13.00-14.00 

Planning: mending the system

Planning plays a crucial role in shaping the future of both our built and natural environment and never more so than in this time of climate and ecological breakdown. What is the optimal planning framework to deliver a more equitable, climate responsive, nature-positive world?

Planning reform has been repeatedly in the news in 2023 with numerous calls to better align the planning system with net zero goals by setting specific guidance and more ambitious targets for carbon reduction. Schemes must be scrutinised for net zero delivery in practice. This will only be possible by upskilling officers and councillors so they are well equipped to assess schemes in a timely manner.

Policies, regulations, spatial plans, local plans: what have we got and what do we need?

Chair:

Helen Fadipe MBE, MRTPI, Managing Director, FPP Associates Ltd, Founder and Chair BAME Planners Network and Vice President, RTPI

Speakers:

What policies do we need for real zero?

• Paul Ekins, Professor of Resources and Environment Policy, Institute for Sustainable Resources, University College London (UCL)

What should the planning response to the climate crisis be?                         

• Hugh Ellis, Policy Director, TCPA

What policies, regulations and land use planning do we need for nature recovery?

• Sue Young, Head of Land Use Planning, The Wildlife Trusts

Doughnut Economics in the Council’s decision-making revisited

• Jane Cox, Council Strategy and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, Cornwall Council

Edge Debate #161: 15.00-16.00

Water – one of our most critical infrastructure challenges

The world has a water crisis and the UK is no exception. The National Audit Office has forecast that by 2034 total demand for water will exceed supply.

 Water has been undervalued as a resource as has the true cost of managing sewerage and storm water. The effective management of our water and sewerage is relevant for all working in the built and natural environment.

Since privatisation, water companies have paid dividends in place of investing in new infrastructure and maintenance. Reports of leaks, blocked drains, increased flooding due to changing weather patterns and polluted rivers are increasingly common.

The water challenge does not stand alone. Access to sufficient water impacts land use and many supply and waste solutions require an energy network to deliver it where it is needed.

Should we continue to build where water supply is most challenged?  How do we balance water use between people and agriculture?  To what level must we reduce personal water use? How can we ensure that sewerage management stops polluting our rivers?

Chair:

Catherine Wenger, UK, India, Middle East and Africa Water Business Lead, Arup

Speakers:

The extent of the crisis

• Tim Smedley, environmental journalist and author of The Last Drop

Why we need to build resilience

• Nikki van Dijk, Technical Director, Climate Resilience, Mott Macdonald

The water-energy nexus - two sides of the same coin

• Andrea Gysin, Service Line Director, Water Strategic Advisory, WSP

Protecting our rivers and environment

• Erica Popplewell, Campaigns Manager, River Action UK

Day 1 of the Conference focuses on the need for assured action on housing, retrofit, buildings fit for the future, safe products and overcoming the systemic barriers to climate change

Edge Debate #154: 10.45 – 11.45

Net zero housing: the quality-affordability conundrum

Housing today must address a triple bottom line: climate resilience, health and affordability

The Climate Change Committee calls for all new homes to be net zero carbon. Climate resilient homes must also be located in the right places with adequate services, jobs and transport nearby. They must be more than ‘housing estates’ and promote healthy living, with green spaces on their doorstep or at least within walking distance.

With the dramatic increase in remote working, what a ‘home’ must provide has changed. Homes need to be more adaptable and ideally, they should include flexible workspace, though this can also be provided through work hubs in community facilities. The sharing economy can support social interaction and neighbourliness.

In areas where average house prices can be multiple times local incomes, affordability is a dual challenge: initial purchase price and ongoing maintenance. New housing must be durable for the long term and designed to perform so that energy use is predictable.

Chair:

Catherine Adams, Director of Building Systems and Net Zero’, Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC)

Speakers:

Standards, policies and action plans

The Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard

• Katie Clemence Jackson, Technical Project Manager, UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard

The Healthy Homes Bill for healthy, affordable homes

• Rosalie Callway, Healthy Homes Campaign Leader, Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA)

The long-term delivery plan responding to the challenges

• Ed Lockhart, Chief Executive, Future Homes Hub

What is really ‘affordable’?

• Cara Pacitti, Senior Economist, The Resolution Foundation

A developer’s perspective: the right homes in the right place 

• Andrew Day, Sustainability Director, Hill Group

Edge Debate #155: 13.00 – 14.00

Retrofitting our existing homes at scale

The UK’s approximately 28 million homes are responsible for almost a third of our CO2 emissions. The challenge is to develop realistic whole house retrofit strategies that can be rolled out at scale across a wide variety of housing types and tenures.

The establishment of the National Retrofit Hub creates a single platform to coordinate learnings and actions across this highly fragmented sector that is crucial to achieving both net zero and a just transition. Launched in March 2023, the Hub has assembled a dynamic and diverse team drawing together experts from industry, the professions and academia. 

Retrofitting homes delivers much more than carbon saving – it can dramatically improve health and wellbeing and reduce social inequality.  How do we value the social co-benefits: local jobs and skills, improved health and ultimately low or lower running costs?

And crucially how do owners and tenants find out what should be done and trust that it will be undertaken well?  For each individual home or archetype, what is the right balance between heat demand reduction and heat supply decarbonisation?

Chair:

Lynne Sullivan, Chair, National Retrofit Hub and Good Homes Alliance

Speakers:

What do we need to know? Lessons from Wales

• Chris Jofeh, Chair, Independent Implementation Group on the Decarbonisation of Existing Homes, Welsh Government

Housing types and their appropriate decarbonisation journey

• Sara Edmonds, Co-director, National Retrofit Hub

What is the finance? How do we estimate how much is needed?

• David Adams, Net Zero Strategic Consultant, UK Green Building Council (UKGBC)

Local delivery models and skills

• Brian Berry, Chief Executive, Federation of Master Builders

Edge Debate #156: 15.00-16.00

Post-Grenfell update: can better product testing improve building safety?

 In her report on the Grenfell tragedy, Dame Judith Hackitt highlighted the weaknesses in the industry’s current approach to product testing, labelling and marketing. About two-thirds of construction products are currently unregulated, according to the Independent Review of the Construction Product Testing Regime (April 2023) led by Paul Morrell OBE and Anneliese Day KC.

The Independent Review provided comprehensive recommendations for both industry and government to tackle the lack of accountability in the construction products marketplace.

What measures have been taken in the year since publication? What must be done next?

 Chair:

Caroline Gumble, Chief Executive, CIOB

 Speakers:

The report one year on:

• Paul Morrell OBE, Inquiry co-chair

A Code for Construction Products Information

• Peter Caplehorn, Chief Executive, Construction Products Association (CPA)

The Specifiers’ perspective

• Richard Harral, Technical Director, Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE)

Edge Debate #157: 16.15-17.00

Systemic barriers to tackling climate change

 Dealing with climate change is proving an intractable challenge. Is this a failure of public leadership as well as systemic challenges? What can unlock the barriers for change at the pace required? 

Who needs to make the changes? Where are the glimmers of hope?

•  Smith Mordak, Chief Executive, UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) in conversation with their guests,

• Danisha Kazi, Head of Economics, Positive Money

• Simon Sharpe, Director of Economics for the UN Climate Champions, Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute and author of Five Times Faster

the Edge, in collaboration with the NIC and ICE held a Round Table discussion on the 16th November 2024 to address the question of the costs and risks associated with delaying the implementation and maintenance of critical infrastructure in the UK . The session laid out, examined and tested examples of the available evidence in order to make proposals for positive change in the sector.

The discussion built on the NIC’s Second National Infrastructure Assessment report available on the their website.

It was not planned to cover every possible delay or variety of infrastructure in the short time available and we are most interested in specific examples and case studies where delay has resulted in a quantifiable cost (not necessarily financial). The session focused on three indicative areas; grid transformation, clean water and transport; looking at examples of the environmental, social and economics costs of delay in each sector.

For each topic area the three speakers were asked to spend a maximum of five minutes (with or without a presentation) discussing an example or area of evidence relating to the impact of delay. There will then be a short discussion between them on the bigger, possibly interconnected, picture before passing on to the next topic

The session ran as follows:

Welcome – The Institution of Civil Engineers

Chair: Karl Fitzgerald, Project Director, Infrastructure and Projects Authority

Introduction: Sir John Armitt, Chair NIC

Speakers:

Grid Transformation

·   Environmental cost – Charles Wood, Deputy Director, Energy UK

·   Social cost - Daisy Powell-Chandler, Head of Energy and Environment, Public First 

·   Economic cost - Paul Wakeley, Head of Strategic Network Development, National Grid ESO

Clean water

·   Environmental cost - Erica Popplewell – Campaigns Manager, River Action

·   Social cost - Ana Mijic, Reader in Water Systems Integration, Imperial College

·   Economic cost - Daniel Johns, Managing Director, Water Resources East

Transport

·   Environmental cost – Sue Percy, Chief Executive, Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT)

·   Social cost - Professor Tim Benton, Director Environment and Society, Chatham House

·   Economic cost - Martin Tugwell, Chief Executive, Transport for the North

Table discussion

Summary: Sir John Armitt

This, by invitation only, event is a collaboration between the Edge, the National Infrastructure Commission and the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Venue:  The ICE, 1 Great George Street London SWIP 3AA (The Rennie Room)

Date:   16th November 2023

Downloads:

• Summary notes of the discussion prepared by the NIC

• Full version of notes of the discussion prepared by the Edge

A Roundtable of leading experts was brought together by the Edge to discuss to help DLUHC to answer difficult questions: are Local Plans a useful vehicle to deliver net-zero objectives; can they quantify net-zero outcomes; can they bring the private sector and communities along the road to net-zero? If so, how best can we use them to tackle the climate emergency?

The discussions were confidential but please watch this space for a report on the discussion

Several relevant recent reports were cited in the discussion:

Climate emergency: time for planning to get on the case?, CPRE, March 2022 https://www.cpre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/climate-emergency-and-local-plans.pdf

ADEPT Policy Position: Climate Change & Green Growth, May 2022

https://www.adeptnet.org.uk/system/files/documents/ADEPT%20CC%26GG%20Policy%20Position%20May%202022.pdf

Manifesto for stronger places, ADEPT, Autumn 2023

https://www.adeptnet.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/2023-09/ADEPT%20Manifesto%20Asks%20Autumn%202023.pdf

The Climate Crisis: A Guide for Local Authorities on Planning for Climate Change, tcpa/RTPI, January 2023

https://www.tcpa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/TCPA-RTPI-Climate-Guide-4th-edition-1.pdf

Spatial planning for climate resilience and Net Zero, CCC July 2023 https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/spatial-planning-for-climate-resilience-and-net-zero-cse-tcpa/

Join key stakeholders at an invite-only event at Woburn House in central London to discuss meeting sustainability goals, share ideas and highlight innovative practice. Following the event, attendees are invited to join networking drinks and canapes.

This in-person event aims to bring together heads and directors of sustainability from the leading organisations in the built and natural environment sector; including property owners and developers, designers and consultants, contractors and managers; to discuss developments in meeting sustainability goals in practice, share ideas and highlight innovative practice. 

We hope that the event will provide an important opportunity to network with others in this fast-moving sector with presentations addressing not only the challenges around achieving net zero carbon and delivering on biodiversity improvements but also to hear from speakers on how they have made it work effectively within their organisations.

Successful leadership in this field is becoming critical not only for achieving global obligations under the Paris and Kunming-Montreal agreements and performing against ESG requirements but also for the success of the construction, built environment and property sectors as we all look forward to a future dominated by new approaches to address climate and biodiversity concerns.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Amanda Clack, Partner & Regional CEO - EMEA, HKA

• Richard Ellis, Director of Sustainability. Peabody

• Guy Grainger, Global Head of Sustainability Services & ESG, JLL

• Andy Nolan, Director of Development and Sustainability, University of Nottingham

• Hero Bennettt, Head of Sustainability, Max Fordham

• Joe Jack Williams, Partner FCBS

• Penny Gowler, Director and Head of Sustainability, Elliott Wood

Venue: Woburn House Conference Centre, Tavistock Square London WC1H 9HQ

Date & Time: Thursday 13th July 2023, 14.00 - 18.30

Register at Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/leadership-for-sustainability-in-the-built-environment-tickets-623594847977

The event is jointly organised by the Edge and UCEM with support from the CIC and CLC

The recent ‘Policy Proposals for the Built and Natural Environment’, published by the Edge provides a clear, holistic and ambitious set of ideas and strategies for “tackling the poorly performing built environment sector” to policy-makers - particularly in relation to the urgency surrounding global heating and biodiversity loss.

However, current responsibilities for the built environment are spread across many different government departments.

• Is greater coordination needed?

• How can ambitious and interlinked policies be adopted and implemented?

• What evidence, arguments and collaborations are needed to drive profound changes?

• What responsibilities and tasks can be delegated to and delivered by local authorities?

• What powers, resources and capabilities do local authorities need?

Other countries are also addressing these concerns and implementing ambitious programmes.  For example, building regulations that create carbon budgets for buildings and ambitious retrofit programmes. What lessons can the UK adapt from other countries in terms of commitment, adoption and implementation over the short and long term? Can successes from elsewhere help to leverage action and minimise risk?

What could be the next steps for implementing the Edge’s policy proposals?

Introduction:    Simon Foxell, the Edge

Speakers:      Matti Kuittinen, Ministry of the Environment, Finland 

                     Pascal Smet, State Secretary of the Brussels-Capital Region

                     & others tbc

Online:          Zoom

Timing:          26th June 2023, 17.00 – 18.30

To attend please register at:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/built-environment-policy-implementation-lessons-tickets-654015948307

Edge Ministerial Keynote #145: 10.15-10.30

Trudy Harrison, Government post of Parliamentary Under-Secretary. Department of

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Edge Debate #146: 10.30-11.30:
The Big Nature Debate: Our contract with nature for a nature positive world

Nature can survive very well without us and would embark on a ‘restoration programme’ with surprising speed and ease. Unfortunately, we cannot survive without nature. We cannot continue to extract nature’s freely given reserves at the current rate and not suffer unintended consequences. The already apparent evidence of those consequences has led to a global understanding that we are facing a climate and ecological emergency.

COP15 has delivered some clear targets for protecting nature and we, as an industry, must now bring it to the forefront of our decision making going forward if we are to have a sustainable and regenerative future. The UK government has committed to manage 30% of the land for nature by 2030 but, according to Wildlife and Countryside Link “only 3% of land could reliably be said to be specifically protected by nature, rather less than the 26% suggested by the Government.” How can we close the present 27% gap and is 30% actually enough for future resilience?

The challenge ahead is considerable and urgent, but actions need to be taken for long term recovery not quick tree planting projects!

FUTUREBUILD PROPOSITION NO 9:
The natural and built environments are so tightly interconnected that any decision making on development must be influenced by its impact on nature.

Chair: Dame Fiona Reynolds, former Master of Emmanuel College Cambridge and former Director-General of the National Trust

Assessing the state of the natural world and resources in the UK

Craig Bennett, Chief Executive, The Wildlife Trusts

Restoring the natural world must be part of the economy

James Alexander, Chair, Finance Earth

We need comprehensive, integrated land use framework for the whole of the UK so that nature recovery and essential development can co-exist
Jenny Merriman, Technical Director, WSP

The Environment Act – what next?

Richard Benwell, Chief Executive, Wildlife and Countryside Link

Edge Debate #147: 11.45-12.45
Facing Challenges: Edge Policy Proposals

This year’s Futurebuild conference has been looking forwards to ensure lessons are learned, so that changing and taking action become second nature. We are ready to take a stand for a better built and natural environment and take the action that is needed in the critically short window of time that we have to take it. the Edge considers that successfully overcoming the existential threats of climate change and biodiversity loss is feasible, but only if two conditions are met – first that there has to be a clear focus and overriding combined commitment by government, industry and society to address the major challenges that face us all and, second, that the necessary changes are carried through with the utmost urgency.]

FUTUREBUILD PROPOSITION NO 10:

We need a national economic plan for transforming our built and natural environments.

Chair: Ben Westerman, Head of Policy, Aldersgate Group Introduction to the proposals:

Simon Foxell, The Edge and Principal, The Architects’ Practice

1. An economy for the environment

   Antonia Jennings, Associate Director, Centre for Local Economic Strategies

2. Planning for Society

   Sophie Beagles, Principal Regeneration Officer, Ealing Council and Learning Facilitator, Public Practice

3. Using our Land
   Martin Baxter, Director of Policy and External Affairs, IEMA

4. Essential Infrastructure

   Pete Winslow, Director, Expedition

5. Climate Skills and understanding

   Professor Elena Marco, Pro Vice-chancellor and Head of College of Arts, Technology and Environment at the University, West of England (UWE)

6. Measuring, declaring and eradicating carbon

   Fabrizio Varriale, Space and Place Analyst, RICS

7. Creating a resilient built and natural environment.
   Dr Martina Girvan, Green Construction Board (Biodiversity Working Group) and Senior Technical Director- Ecology, Arcadis

8. Design and construction performance and building passports

   Marianne Heaslip, Technical Lead, People Powered Retrofit

Edge Debate #148: 13.00-13.45
Activism: Teaching the new curriculum: education is key to positive action on climate and ecological breakdown

A clear understanding of both the climate and ecological crisis is the critical first step for taking action. This should start in the earliest years and continue throughout our formal education and into lifelong learning. It could be argued that these are the two most important issues on which we all need clarity so that we can all take the right decisions and actions to achieve the degree of change that is needed for a sustainable and regenerative future for all.

FUTUREBUILD PROPOSITION NO 11:
We need to redesign our whole education on a multi-disciplinary basis around the climate and biodiversity emergency.

Chair: Keith Clarke CBE, Intercity Development Partners - Partenaires de Développement Interurbain and Chair of Constructionarium

What students are asking for

Eleanor Andrade May, Student volunteer, Teach the Future

How politicians are responding

Zoe Arnold, Campaigns Manager - Education, Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK)

What we need for climate and ecologically literate built environment education

Dr Neal Shasore, Head of School and CEO, London School of Architecture

&
Dr Jenny Russell, Director of Education and Learning, Royal Institute of British

Architects (RIBA)

Edge Conversation #149: 15.00 – 15.45
Futurebuild conversation: What have we got right? Which exams have we passed? What are our re-sits? Are we heading for expulsion? What next?

The challenges that we face are closely interrelated and it is important that we do not focus so much on one – reaching ‘net zero’ for example - that we overlook the others. How are we doing in tackling the multiplicity of challenges relating to climate and ecological breakdown both in the UK and taking account of our global responsibilities? We last took the stage in the wake of COP 26, since then both COP 27 and COP 15 have taken place

This conversation between a scientist and practitioners assesses how we are doing one year on.

Chair: Sara Edmonds, Coordinator, Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN) and Director, Studio seARCH

Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science, University College London and author of How to save our planet: the facts

Lara Young, Head of ESG, Cromwell Property Group

Smith Mordak, Director of Sustainability and Physics, Buro Happold

DAY 2 of the Futurebuild Conference will explore the nature of Changing and especially ‘behaviour change’ (the second most sought topic in the 2022 Futurebuild survey after energy). We know that an urgent transition is required but how can we make the necessary changes? What does the transition involve? How can we bring others along with us?

Register for the Conference here

Edge Debate #141: 11.15 – 12.15
The Big Behaviour Debate: Changing our professional and personal behaviour so we can live within planetary boundaries.

Our main challenge in responding positively to the impacts of climate and ecological breakdown is social and not technical. As the recent report from the House of Lord’s Environmental and Climate Change Committee (In our hands: behaviour change for climate and environmental goals) explained – “32% of emissions reduction up to 2024 requires individuals and households to adopt low carbon technologies, choose low carbon products and reduce carbon-intensive consumption.”

We know that we have to live within planetary boundaries if we are to have a future and that we owe a future to the young and future generations. Our responsibility to consider the ‘future’ inevitably impacts on our decision making today. We know that we must stop the increase in global heating below the 2°C agreed in Paris and that we absolutely cannot afford an increase of 2-3°C that we are currently heading towards. How can the necessary changes be welcomed as benefits and liberation and not as deprivation?

We first discussed this issue at Ecobuild in 2009 and ‘Behaviour change’ was the second most highly rated topic for discussion in a recent Futurebuild survey and we know that there is concern about ‘climate change’ amongst the general public.

FUTUREBUILD PROPOSITION No 5:
We have the capacity to change the way we work and live our lives to create a fairer world within planetary boundaries.

Chair: Dr Viktoria Spaiser, Associate Professor in Sustainability Research, University of Leeds

How a Wellbeing of Future Generations Act for England will inspire change

Daniel Zeichner, MP, Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Future Generations

Empowering young people to deliver change

Anna Burrows, Chief Executive, See It, Be It

With” traditional economics” continuing to fail in the face of our multiple current challenges, what is the new economics teaching that is needed?
Dr Christian Spielmann, Reader of Economics Education, University of Bristol

Achieving change in the built environment

Dr Niamh Murtagh, Principal Research Fellow, Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, UCL

Edge Debate #142: 12.30 – 13.15
Facing Challenges: Change management

The aim of ‘change management’ is to implement strategies for effecting change and enabling adaptation for change. This involves identifying goals and processes for making the transition.

FUTUREBUILD PROPOSITION No 6:
We will have to change the way that we do things to achieve net zero carbon at scale

Chair: David Partridge, Chairman Related Argent and Governance Board Chair, Net Zero Building Standard

How is ‘change’ to be achieved?

Elspeth Kirkman, Chief Programmes Officer, NESTA

How much change did ‘Modernise or Die’ achieve change? And what I would recommend today.
Mark Farmer, Chief Executive, Cast Consultancy

Behaviour change - voluntary, legislated, economically managed or a combination?

Andrew Simms, Coordinator of the Rapid Transition Alliance and co-director of the NewWeather Institute

Edge Debate #143: 13.30-14.15
Activism: Understanding social change

In November 2023 George Monbiot wrote: “ Nothing can now be achieved without mass

But...this is only part of the challenge. We also need to translate our demands into action,

which requires political, economic, cultural and technological change. All are necessary,

none are sufficient. Only together can they amount to the change we need to see.”

So, how do we achieve that critical mass so that people embrace change as a way to improve our lives for the long term rather than as a threat to our current living standards? How can we make change inclusive and fair for all?

FUTUREBUILD PROPOSITION No 7:
A critical mass of people can embrace change as a way to improve our lives in a way that is fair for all and for the long term rather than as a threat to our current living standards

Chair: Areeba Hamid, Joint Executive Director, Greenpeace

How to inspire mass social change

Dr Jennifer Rudd, Senior Lecturer in Innovation and Engagement, University of Swansea

Mobilising the emerging generation of leader

Nicola Kench, Director, Groundswell Ecosystems

Energising Communities with Active Buildings

Professor Mark Gillott, Chair in Sustainable Building Design, Department of Architecture & Built Environment, University of Nottingham
&

Charles Bradshaw-Smith, CEO, SmartKlub Ltd.

Edge Debate 144: 14.30 – 15.30
Wise heads: Time for reflection and inspiration for change

This is not a new discussion – we have had at least 15 sessions at Futurebuild (ecobuild) on the topic over the last 15 years. What is different is that the timescale has dramatically shortened. Jonathon Porritt warns “Who knows what lies beyond this decade? But if we haven’t dramatically changed our ways by then, genuine hope will have become the scarcest resource on earth.”

FUTUREBUILD PROPOSITION NO 8:
Changing how we do things is the critical challenge for us all.

Chair: Baroness Parminter, Chair of the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee

The benefits of living a 1.5degree lifestyle

Lewis Akenji, Managing Director, Hot or Cool Institute

Changing behaviour, increasing fairness and equity

Paul Chatterton, Professor of Urban Geography, University of Leeds; member of the Rapid Transition Alliance and author of the forthcoming How to Save the City: a guide for emergency action.

Thinking circular, changing behaviour in the built environment

Jane Manning, Director, Allies and Morrison Urban Practitioners

DAY 1 of the Futurebuild Conference 2023 will focus on Looking Forward to develop the foresight necessary to break out of our current mindset, for as William Catton has explained - “we tend to seek adaptation to the circumstances we presently confront, not the circumstances posterity will face.”

Register for the Conference here

Edge Debate #137: 10.45 - 11.45

Big Energy Debate: 100% renewables are needed to reduce global heating

We once believed that fossil fuels were a wonderful thing for the human race and over the last 2-300 years, we indulged ourselves by drawing down the reserves that nature had laid down over millions of years before we, as a species, arrived. We call it coal, oil and gas ‘production’ but it has of course been ‘extraction’, claimed by us without charge. We have demanded that this free ‘bounty’ is as cheap as possible and we have been happily profligate in our use of it. Of course, nothing comes for nothing and the consequence has been an increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases and the heating of the earth itself, the results of which are now unfolding at a rapid rate.

What are the critical challenges we face going forward?

We must decarbonise our energy supply, re-organise and rebalance the grid, lower overall and manage peak demand and achieve greater energy efficiency across the board.

We have learnt the hard way to be aware and careful of where our energy is coming from and to take energy security seriously, with the ultimate goal of meeting our ‘reduced’ demand from clean and local sources, a goal that unfortunately may run counter to the operations of a free global energy market!

If our energy is to come almost entirely from renewable sources this has implications for all aspects of built environment professionals’ work in the construction industry and especially for materials, building performance, transport, and biodiversity

The window of opportunity for effective change is closing at speed and so we must make a rapid transition to a real green energy and net zero carbon future. As part of this transition, we need to be aware of the sources of and often lethal competition for critical materials such as rare earths for batteries, as their use will necessarily form an essential part of our strategy.

We are being told that, with some adjustments, we can continue with business as usual, just transitioning our energy sources but is this really the case?
Do we need to consider other measures such as carbon rationing if we are to live within an agreed carbon budget and stand a chance of limiting global heating to 1.5°C?

FUTUREBUILD PROPOSITION No 1:

We need to act now on a plan to make a rapid energy transition with a balanced decarbonised grid, demand reduction at scale and maximum energy efficiency. If so, what is our plan?

Chair: Fiona Harvey, Environment Correspondent, The Guardian

Energy producer – game changing, what are you doing?

Sam Gardner, Head of Climate Change & Sustainability, Scottish Power

How to make a rapid energy transition – what is the action plan to get there?

Libby Peake, Head of Resource Policy, Green Alliance

Energy economics: rationing, pricing, taxing?

Paul Ekins, Professor of Resources and Environment Policy Bartlett School Env, Energy & Resources, University College London

The role of the construction industry to increase energy efficiency

Helena Rivers, Director, AECOM and Vice President IMechE

Edge Debate #138: 12.00 –13.00

Facing challenges: Learning lessons, being prepared

In 2022 alone we have had the return of war to Europe, an ongoing pandemic, floods, drought, record breaking temperatures exposing the inadequacy of our buildings and the fragility of our urban environments as places in which people can be expected to live and thrive. It was a year in which energy shortages, rising energy costs, rampant inflation and food shortages revealed the narrow margins by which sections of society are living. We need to find solutions even while facing worker shortfalls and a planning system mired in uncertainty and change.

Can we learn from the events of last year and focus on the circumstances we are in, so that we are ready to act and do not just revert to ‘business as usual’?

FUTUREBUILD PROPOSITION No 2:

We must all learn the lessons and be better prepared – no excuses

Chair: Fiona Harvey, Environment Correspondent, The Guardian

Foresight and preparedness – what have we learned from recent events?

Reflections on how we dealt with Covid and how prepared we were and lessons to learn from other potential catastrophes such as recent global climate change experiences, energy and food shortages etc - which has also had impact in the UK - what we have learned and the measures we are recommending

Brooke Rogers OBE, Professor of Behavioural Science and Security, King’s College London

Ecological preparedness to protect and restore nature

Nature is in crisis globally and seriously in the UK – our sustainable future depends on nature’s health.
Beccy Speight, Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

Energy preparedness – what the built environment must do.

For built environment professionals, improving the energy performance of built stock is something that we can do, so why are we having so much difficulty in making this happen at the scale needed?
Paul Ruyssevelt, Professor of Energy and Building Performance, Building Stock Lab Leader, UCL Energy Institute, UCL

Edge Debate #139: 13.15 – 14.00

Activism: Act now, or face extinction

Over the years there have been many warnings about the increasing threats and consequences of climate and ecological breakdown, but the rate at which we have responded to these challenges has been slower than is needed.

A recent UN report states that “ there is “no credible pathway to 1.5C in place”, the UN’s environment agency has said, and the failure to reduce carbon emissions means the only way to limit the worst impacts of the climate crisis is a “rapid transformation of societies”.

So, what will change things? Will we act now or move eyes wide shut into an uncertain future?

FUTUREBUILD PROPOSITION No 3:

Talking about the problem is our ‘comfort zone’, but those working in the built environment know what we need to do, so let’s all agree to act.

Chair: Ben Goldsmith, Chair, Conservative Environment Network and Chief Executive, Menhaden Plc

Our climate action campaigns

Sara Edmonds, Coordinator, Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN) and Director at Studio seARCH

How we are influencing action across the built environment

Kat Scott, Low Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI) and Sustainability & Regenerative Design Manager, dRMM Architects

What we are doing to effect change

Smith Mordak, Built Environment Declares and Director of Sustainability and Physics at Buro Happold

Political action is critical for making progress

Dr Amy McDonnell, Campaign Director, Zero Hour and a co-author of the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill

Edge Debate #140: 15.30 -16.30

Futurebuild debate: Rebuild or Retrofit: Planning and Whole Life Carbon

Our preferred option is habitually to clear the site and start again, but carbon calculations too often advise that this is not appropriate. An alternative has been to retain the facade leaving it looking out of place, but why not retain the building? Adaptive reuse of, and where appropriate extensions to, existing buildings can be more challenging, but more rewarding against many of the measurements we can apply including the continuity of place. Is it the designer’s obligation to put zero carbon first?

This debate will look at the issues from both sides. The audience will be invited to vote for the motion at the start of the session and again at the end once the arguments have been aired.

Debate motion:

Planning must presume in favour of retrofit for whole life carbon and cultural reasons

Chair: Isabel Allen, Editor, Architecture Today

For the motion:
Why planning is the key to building retrofitting and reuse

Estelle Dehon, KC, Cornerstone Barristers
The designer’s responsibilities for whole life carbon

Peter Fisher, Director, Bennetts Associates

Against the motion:

What about viability?

Matt Richards, Planning Director, Planning Residential and Business Space, Savills When demolition and rebuilding is the right decision

Jo Bacon, Partner, Allies and Morrison

Housing Adaptability

More than (but essential to) climate issues?

In 2022, the refereed journal Buildings & Cities (B&C) published a Special Issue, Housing Adaptability, guest edited by Sofie Pelsmakers and Elanor Warwick https://www.buildingsandcities.org/journal-content/special-issues/housing-adaptability2.html - all papers are freely available.  This joint Edge and B&C event will use the Special Issue as the basis for an in-depth examination of the need for housing adaptability and the barriers to its provision.

While retrofitting the existing housing stock for climate change mitigation has been well researched, less consideration has been given to the increasingly important issues of the adaptation and flexibility of our homes – especially given the decreasing size of dwellings and changing nature of work and education. What can policy makers, planners, clients, developers and designers do to make new and existing dwellings more adaptable?

A home’s adaptive capacity supports an individual’s and community’s resilience when faced with inevitable life events and changing demographics (ageing population, migration, fluidity of household structures) and their associated disruptions and consequences.

The debate will explore the climatic /environmental, social and economic perspectives for making housing more adaptable. An emphasis on durability will entail buildings that are adaptable to different user needs, but also able to respond to the changing climate to remain fit for purpose. Can a small additional initial investment in adaptability maximise a building’s value throughout its life – if so, what is holding us back and what needs to change?

This virtual event will explore these questions in relation to current practice and new initiatives with contributions from an invited panel and afterwards from the audience.

Chair                 John Palmer, Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, UK

Introduction:        Elanor Warwick, Clarion Housing Group, UK

Speakers:              Jyrki Tarpio, Tampere University, Finland

The value of adaptability to residents

Astrid Smitham, Apparata Architects, UK

Adaptable housing to accommodate life’s changes

Marta Smektala, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland       

Do we know what inhabitants need?

Online:              Zoom

Timing:              27th February 2023, 17.00 – 19.00 GMT

Download: Debate Notes

Debate videos:

If you are interested in continuing the debate 'Heritage & Net Zero - A wicked problem?', please do so through the Bcause platform, developed by a team from the OU.  You can sign up and add your ideas at the following link: https://bcause.app/discuss/debate/-NE1XlQht8qDqbnrZESU “. 

We plan to let the discussion develop over the next 2-3 weeks in the first instance, and to work with the OU to bring out the key points and messages. At this stage, of course we can predict what will emerge from the exercise, but we will review the consolidated material to see how best this can be used to encourage the right actions by key stakeholders. 

[If you would like to take a look at the Bcause platform, you can access it at: https://bcause.app/discuss/landing Alternatively, you can watch the following video Bcause.short video]

 In England alone there are over 400,000 listed buildings as well as many hundreds of thousands more in over 10,000 conservation areas and areas identified as being of particular national and local significance. Many of these buildings are not iconic individual properties but homes and business premises in private or housing association ownership. They are often in locations where property values are relatively low and like all other buildings they need to be thermally upgraded if the UK is to meet its 2050 net zero target

Buildings in heritage settings face significant additional costs and constraints compared with the rest of the UK’s building stock, yet making good use of such buildings is essential from an embodied carbon as well as a cultural perspective. This won’t happen if they become unaffordable to either heat or improve.

Do the priorities of development and decarbonisation of such buildings need to be adjusted in the light of the climate emergency, the need for more homes and rising fuel costs and fuel poverty? Are we being too restrictive in the nature and extent of improvement works allowed on ordinary homes and business premises in heritage settings, especially works aimed at improving their energy and environmental performance?

In particular:

·       Inconsistent application of planning policy and conservation guidance means that improvement proposals meet with widely different and unpredictable responses in addition to delays caused by the strained planning system.

·       Buildings that are not on a net zero pathway are in danger of being down valued by finance providers facing their own targets for financed emission reductions.

·       Cost of upgrades, which are always higher for properties in a heritage setting, are unaffordable for individual owners in low wage, low property value areas.

Chair:               Steven Bee, Consultant and former chair of The Academy of Urbanism

Speakers :       Paul Norman, Clarion Housing Group

             Esther Robinson Wild, Robinson Wilde Consulting

             Crispin Edwards, Historic England

             Peter A. Cox, Carrig Conservation International

                        Anna Beckett, Symmetrys

                        Chris Jofeh, Consultant to Arup and Chair of the independent Decarbonisation of Homes in Wales Advisory Group

Online:                    Zoom

Timing:              17th October 2022, 17.00 – 18.30

Debate notes:

• EDGE 135 Heritage+NetZero notes

Presentations (downloads):

• Paul Norman

• Esther Robinson Wild

• Crispin Edwards

• Peter Cox

• Anna Beckett

• Chris Jofeh

• + Debate Questions & Comments

Further reading:

• Sustainable Past and Future Guide - RIBA, November 2021

• Addressing the Challenge of the Back-to-Backs in Leeds, Re’new, November 2008

• Port Sunlight - Local Listed Building Consent Order (LLBCO)

Links from the discussion:

• Heritage Declares

• Building & Cities - on personal comfort

• Conservation Area Toolkit with Islington

• HIstoric England - Energy efficiency advide for historic buildings /

• Or Historic Environment Scotland

• ACE

• Agenda 21

• Retrofit to regeneration - STBA

• Fit for the Future

• Circular Economy for re-use of Buildings

In 2021 in collaboration with Taylor Wessing and UCEM, the Edge published City 2040: an investigation into the future of UK cities. The City 2040 report was itself the result of intensive soundings conducted over 6 evidence-taking sessions,. On October 6th, a much delayed launch was held for the report with a session chaired by Philip Georgiadis of the Financial Times.

A panel of sector experts discussed how the report's findings apply to some of the biggest challenges of today., addressing how the pressures of climate change are impacting upon the nature of development and the tensions between refurbishment and demolition, whether our planning system is fit for purpose, and the need to create healthy and vibrant city and town centres.

Welcome: Adam Marks, Partner, Taylor Wessing

Introduction: Simon Foxell, the Edge

Chair: Philip Georgiadis, The Financial Times

Panel: Dr. Katherine Gunderson, CEO, Grand Bequest Ltd

Ojay McDonald, CEO, Association of Town and City Management

Sarah Allan, Head of Architecture, Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities

Alistair Watson, Partner and UK Head of Planning & Environment, Taylor Wessing

Are new entrants to built environment courses adequately informed and prepared for the climate and ecological challenges that they will be dealing with in both their training and careers?

Those entering the built environment professions today will be expected to rapidly develop the skills and ability to ensure that the projects they deliver have net zero carbon emissions and increased levels of biodiversity. In all likelihood achieving these two goals will be the primary focus and undertaking of their future careers. To accomplish this, new entrants to built environment courses need to arrive with the right knowledge and mind-sets, and schools need to ensure that they have prepared potential entrants by the end of sixth form with the attributes they require to succeed in their subsequent technical and professional training.

To reach this point environmental education needs to start in the earliest years, building up awareness of the twin challenges of climate and ecological breakdown and a positive approach to and belief in what can be done to tackle them. Only in the later stages will courses need to deliver more specialised content aimed at students applying to built environment courses.

Universities and colleges have the capacity to set the standards of awareness, understanding and skills they expect to be demonstrated by potential entrants to their courses and this should apply across built environment undergraduate courses from as early as 2022 or 2023 at the latest. But in the event that the school curriculum is not able to move at the pace needed, it may be necessary for them to offer pre-degree foundation courses to provide the required climate and ecological education as a ‘catch-up’ for new entrants.

As Professor Tim Ibell of the University of Bath has identified: “It would help enormously were education in schools repositioned to tackle the cultural changes needed over the coming decades to look differently at how we use our resources.

If every schoolkid knew intrinsically, for instance, that the ordering to achieve net zero was USE LESS STUFF, then SPECIFY LOW-CARBON STUFF and finally OFFSET to just sneak us over the net-zero line, we would have a start in changing things radically for the better.”

How can this be put into practice? The Edge’s Education Round Table will explore the issues.

Chair: 

Jane Davidson, Pro Vice-Chancellor Emeritus, University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Round table presenters:

• The challenge to the industry and recruitment - Jon Bootland, Director Sustainable Development Foundation

• The need for well informed and motivated entrants to BE courses (including expected standards) - James Norman - Professor of Sustainable Design. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Bristol

• Ensuring the school curriculum delivers - Dr Lizzie Rushton, Associate Professor and Research Lead, UCL Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education

• Teach the Future’s programme/demands - Josh Tregale, Mechanical Engineering Student and Climate Activist

• Student expectations and the future - Jamie Agombar, Executive Director of Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK)

• The financial consequences of inaction for climate and ecological education - Emma Crichton, Head of Engineering at Engineers Without Borders

Round table participants:

• Laura Webb, Director of Membership, Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE)

• Andrew Close, Director of Education and Profession, Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)

• Séan Harris, Director of Membership, Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)

• Alex Whitcroft, The Climate Framework and Director, KIN

• Aled Williams, Executive Director: Innovation and Partnerships, University College of Estate Management (UCEM)

• Juliet Upton, Head of Education and Skills Policy, Royal Academy of Engineering

• ·Julia Stevens, CEO, Constructionarium

• Nick Ford, Design Engineer, Pipsqueak Developments

• Mike Cook, Chair, Climate Emergency Task Group, the Institution of Structural Engineers

Downloads:   

Edge notes and references following the Roundtable

We have been set the goals – energy efficiency improvements to all buildings by 2030 and net zero carbon emissions by 2050, requiring a 12% reduction in heat demand every year to 2050. 

We also know the measures to take, but do we have an industry ready to deliver? How can our industry be transformed to achieve the task – it is a challenge equivalent to nationwide wartime retooling – do we have the outline of a plan?

Introduction: Robin Nicholson, Convenor of the Edge

Chair: Chair: Keith Clarke, Chair Constructionarium and the Active Building Centre

Speakers:

• Advising on Change – leadership and behaviour - Clare Shine, Director & CEO at Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)

• Planning for change - Emma Davies, Principal Sustainability Consultant at Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service

• Investing for change - Alexandra Notay, Placemaking and Investment Director, PfP Capital

• A changing industry - Mark Farmer, CEO, Cast

Questions coordinator: Simon Foxell, The Architects Practice and the Edge

Climate and ecological breakdown are intertwined and leading to an emerging crisis for human health across the planet with the physical impacts of heatwaves, food insecurity, reduced soil fertility, water shortages, extreme weather events, wildfires, the spread of diseases through mosquitoes which will be more prevalent in the UK as the result of climate change etc; the social and economic impacts of climate migration, economic breakdown all impacting on human physical and mental health. There are synergistic interactions between climate change and health and these are likely to be felt more intensely in urban areas in the UK, especially in those of social and economic deprivation with of course the global threat to rural workers, agricultural and food supply chains that will affect us all.

Our professional institutions, local authorities et al have declared “a climate and ecological emergency”. That is step one. Step two is taking action and this must be taken at all levels – personal and professional. Dr Hugh Montgomery will explain why climate change is the greatest threat to global health and set the scene for a conversation on how built environment professionals can and should respond as now is the time for positive responses, with no time for despair. There is much that built environment professionals can do to meet this emergency.

Introduction: Robin Nicholson, Convenor of the Edge

Chair: Kristen Guida, Urban Resilience Team, Greater London Authority

Keynote: Climate change is the biggest threat to human health of the 21st century 

Professor Hugh Montgomery OBE,  Professor of Intensive Care Medicine, UCL and Director, UCL Institute for Human Health and Performance

 Responses: 

Maria Dunn, MRTPI  |Head of Development Policy| Planning and Development | Inclusive Growth, Birmingham City Council  

Ann Marie Aguilar, Senior Vice President EMEA and IWBI

Questions co-ordinator: Julie Godefroy, Julie Godefroy Sustainability and the Edge

We cannot achieve net-zero construction without net-zero construction materials, but, while materials producers say they have committed to carbon-zero targets, these rely heavily on carbon capture by others rather than committing to investment in new materials technologies. So, the rate of development of suitable materials is moving too slowly, with the government continuing to rely on market forces, while the markets are showing no signs of recognising the problem – let alone fixing it at the scale required. So, the ‘material challenge’ is central to our declared carbon goals, but the tendency is for us to ignore it.

• What can drive the change?

• Are there success stories that we can learn from?

• How should each of the key players – consultants, contractors, developers – respond and give the investors/funders the confidence to have something in which they can invest that will manage the climate risks of construction?

This session will examine the issues and seek solutions.

Introduction: Robin Nicholson, Convenor of the Edge

Chair: Louise Ellison, CCO, Longevity Partners

Speakers:

• Graham Dodd, Director Materials and Manufacturing, Arup

• Will Arnold, Head of Climate Action, the Institution of Structural Engineer

• John Downes, Global Head of Facade Supply Chain, Lendlease

• Alison Vipond, Sustainability Lead, Ecology Building Society

An exploratory discussion between an award-winning architect and engineer on how building design can and must respond to the climate and ecological emergency.

Chair: Hattie Hartman, Sustainability Editor, Architects Journal

Peter Clegg, Senior Partner, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

Hanif Kara OBE, Co-founder and Design Director, AKT II and Professor in Practice of Architectural Technology - Harvard GSD

Having recognised in time that our future as a species depends on the health and viability of the only planet that we can live on, we took George Monbiot’s advice and stopped putting our various wicked problems into boxes marked ‘‘climate’, ‘biodiversity’, ‘pollution’, ‘deforestation’, ‘soil loss’, ‘overfishing’, ‘drought, ‘flood’, ‘fires’ because we understood that “all these boxes contain aspects of one crisis”. We recognised that maintaining human health and wellbeing depended on a healthy ecosystem along with our economy and all the resources that sustain life. We acknowledged that we needed to control consumption so that we could all have resilient and sustainable life support systems. So, having put the restoration of our natural environment at the top of our ‘to do’ list with immediate and effective action taken by all including planners, designers and developers, we find ourselves in a ‘Nature Positive’ UK in 2030.

Chair:  Matt Browne, Advocacy Lead, Wildlife & Countryside Link 

Panel:

•  Our connected networks for wildlife dispersal and movement - Matt Shardlow, Chief Executive, Buglife

•  How we reclaimed engagement with nature for our children - Ellen Bradley, Communications and Outreach, Curlew Action

•  Living in a Nature Positive UK in 2030 - Dr Ruth Waters, Director of Evidence, Natural England, lead scientist on the Dasgupta Review and co-author of Nature Positive 2030

We successfully decarbonised our energy supply by 2035 and reached net zero by 2050.

In 2021 a YouGov poll indicated that two thirds of the British public supported a transition to 100% clean electricity and it was with their support we solved the critical issues of the supply of zero carbon energy, matched availability with demand and overcame the problem of excessive peak heat, a demand driven by the state of the UK’s poor building stock, that frequently increased energy use six-fold in the winter months.

In 2020 the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) select committee launched an inquiry into ‘Decarbonising heat in homes’  - “Domestic heat accounts for 13% of the UK’s annual emissions footprint…less than 5% of the heat used across the UK’s 29 million homes is from low-carbon sources…It is expected that 20,000 homes will need to be upgraded every week between 2025 and 2050. At the current rate, it would take over 700 years to reach the 19 million heat pumps that the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) suggests are needed.”

 Our ‘energy transition’ also made much greater demands on renewable, decarbonised energy for other uses, including transport. We faced issues such as energy security and the balance between the UK and overseas suppliers. Yet, we did it and in far fewer than 700 years.

What did our transition plan look like? How did we reduce demand? We improved the energy performance of our existing buildings and especially our housing, and vastly exceeded the ambitions of the Government’s 2021 Heat and Buildings Strategy. We implemented the Construction Leadership Council’s National Retrofit Plan (part of its CO2nstructZero strategy) and then redoubled our efforts again and then again. We changed our own behaviour and overcame our reluctance to limit our demand, and both carbon rationing and carbon pricing had an important, but unexpected, part to play in our achievement.

This session will explore our journey.

Chair: Gillian Charlesworth, Chief Executive, Building Research Establishment (BRE)

Panel:

• How we decarbonised our energy supply and know how much energy we have - Tadj Oreszczyn, Professor of Energy and Environment, UCL Energy Institute.

• How we retrofitted our existing housing stock and the role of building renovation passports - Lynne Sullivan, OBE, Member, Green Construction Board and Chair, Good Homes Alliance (GHA)

We must nurture a talent for excellence throughout our industry to act on the wicked problems we have to resolve. The Climate Change Committee’s 3rd Risk Assessment (CCRA 3 - 2021) made it very clear that there is no time to delay. What is the new vision and mission for our industry leaders and their organisations? How can we move towards requiring benefits, not profit for profit’s sake, as an outcome? How can we engage more widely and move from following orders to being more influential - starting with clients, briefs, design outcomes and confirming that we will deliver net zero in all our projects as part of our contract with clients?

Our speakers will each give us five minutes on raising aspirations to introduce a wider discussion.

Chair: Bea Natzler, Senior Analyst Business and Buildings, Climate Change Committee

Panellists:

• LETI – providing guidance to support competence and delivery - Jennifer Elias, Principal Building Performance Engineer, Building Engineering, AECOM and member of LETI

• ACAN - taking action to address the twin crises of climate and ecological breakdown - Sara Edmonds, Director, Studio seARCH, Coordinator, Architects Climate Action Network

• Black Professionals in Construction Network (BPICN) – spreading careers awareness - Amos Simbo, Managing Director, Black Professionals in Construction Network (BPICN) and Member, CIC 2050 Group and Managing Director, Winway Services

• Thinking circular for sustainability in engineering - Penny Gowler, Director and Head of Sustainability, Elliott Wood  

• Built Environment Declares - Ed Clark,  Director, Arup, Chair of Engineering Leadership Group IStructE, Chair of Structural Engineers Declaration Steering Group 

• Landscape Architects respond to the Climate and Biodiversity Emergency - Luke Engleback,  Owner, Studio Engleback

• The challenge for developers - Sue Riddlestone OBE, Chief Executive, Bioregional

In a recent paper, Professor Danny Dorling, University of Oxford, described the “human geography of the UK is a very unlevel playing field – more akin to a mountain range than a field. Inequalities vary greatly. Parts that you might not think of as especially unequal are in fact sometimes the most jagged of the socioeconomic mountains “. In turn the UK is one of the most unequal countries in Europe. “Inequality” covers a wide range of disparities including health and life expectancy, the quality of life, education, income, employment and transport access to work, as well as childcare and other elements of social infrastructure. We also need to recognise that the need to ‘level up’ is a problem for the whole of the UK

In a keynote speech on ‘levelling up’ delivered on 15th July 2021, the Prime Minister described the catalytic role that government needed to play and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has been renamed the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), under the leadership of Michael Gove, with the task of delivering on this agenda.

This session will explore what making levelling up should and could be in practice and what role those in the built environment should contribute.

Chair: Rose Grayston, Co-author of the report of the No Places Left Behind Commission

Panel:

• What are the social equality strategies that we need to ‘level up’? - Dr Fran Darlington-Pollock, Chair, The Equality Trust and an NGO Research Advisor 

• What are the economic strategies that we need to ‘level up’? - Sarah Longlands, Chief Executive, Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES)

• How can regional and local government respond to the challenge? - John Wrathmell, Director, Strategy, Research & Economy, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA)

• What does ‘levelling up’ mean for planning? - Richard Blyth, Head of Policy Practice and Research, Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)

At the request of Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the National Engineering Policy Centre set up a Commission to review the actions needed to make infrastructure more resilient to infection. This identified the most critical issues as: (1) working to establish what good and bad ventilation in buildings look like, with clear guidance on the amount of fresh air required; (2) Highlighting the vital role ventilation plays in controlling infection spread and how can we raise the knowledge and skills levels for those managing non-domestic buildings and (3) for most buildings, domestic and non-domestic, the skill level of the people responsible for managing ventilation doesn’t lead to good decision-making and effective control. Who will promote the policies required to ensure that both existing and new buildings are infection resilient environments?

Chair: Professor Peter Guthrie OBE FREng, Commission Chair

Panel:

Professor Catherine Noakes OBE FIMechE, FIHEEM, University of Leeds

Dr Shaun Fitzgerald OBE, FRENG, University of Cambridge

Dr Hywel Davies, Technical Director, Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers

We cannot hide from the science telling us that we are fast approaching dangerous tipping points for the earth’s systems. This is a problem for all of us, affecting all aspects of our lives and not one to leave solely to government, business or individuals to solve. As Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, spelled out clearly: “We need bankers as well as activists – we have 10 years to cut emissions by half.”

●      What is the nature of the new political economy that can take us back from the brink and create a resilient, low climate risk future for all?

●      What is the practical financial infrastructure for green finance?

●      How should the banking system change to respond?

●      What are the impacts of climate-related financial disclosures and nature-related financial disclosures on decision-making?

●      How do we address these critical issues and what does it mean for built and natural environment professionals in their work?

This session explores the risks and solutions around these questions.

Chair: Nick Molho, Chief Executive Officer, Aldersgate Group

Panel:

• The challenge of establishing a greener tax system - Andrew Simms, Coordinator, Rapid Transition Alliance, author, co-director of the New Weather Institute and Assistant Director, Scientists for Global Responsibility, Research Associate, University of Sussex

• The challenge to establish a real, practice financial infrastructure and banking system for green finance. - Tony Greenham, Executive Director, South West Mutual, former Director of Economics, Royal Society of Arts and Founding member,  Financing A Just Transition Alliance

• The challenge for investment and the risk of stranded asset - Sarah Ratcliffe, Chief Executive, Better Buildings Partnership

• The challenge for planning - Cllr Katie Thornborrow, Cambridge City Council

We would like to see an industry with appropriate education at all levels, the necessary skills to deliver and perform in all areas all with a diverse, equitable and inclusive working environment. This is fundamental to achieving (net) zero carbon as well as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Putting forward proposals for COP 26, the Edge focused on people – raising aspirations, developing skills, providing support, integrating climate and ecological education as a requirement in all built environment education and continuing professional development (CPD) courses and improving employment conditions by moving from outsourcing of labour to employee contracts that provide job security, in-service training and a career path that will attract and retain good people.

People are the key to delivering our long-term sustainability agenda.

Chair: Robin Nicholson CBE, Fellow Cullinan Studio and Convenor of the Edge

Panel:

Julie Godefroy, Head of Sustainability, CIBSE

Keith Clarke CBE, Chair, Constructionarium

We need to use fewer resources and ‘close the loop’ so that ‘thinking circular’ influences all our decision making on this finite and increasingly resource-challenged planet. This session explores three key areas where thinking circular can have significant impact:

Think water: water is not an infinite resource (World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Risk Report 2020) and water crises are among the top global risks. Think materials: reduce materials and focus on low carbon materials - engineering and construction are some of the worlds’ largest consumers of raw materials. Think waste: this should be considered as part of the material economy. Are the new buildings and infrastructure designed for reuse actually reused? Finally, do we have the skills and knowledge needed and sufficient understanding about partnership working to deliver a circular economy?

The session explored the following issues.

Chair: Professor David Greenfield, Managing Director, Soenecs and  RAEng Visiting Professor of Circular Economy, University of Brighton (confirmed)

Panel:

• Closing the Loop - Kate Young, Senior Public Affairs Officer, Aldersgate Group

•  Why we must decarbonise materials  - Dr Cyrille Dunant, Senior Research Associate in Material Efficiency in Construction, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge and member, the Use Less Group

•  Droughts and floods, why a circular approach is critical - Siraj Tahir, Senior Engineer, Circular Water Economy Lead, Arup

•  Why waste is part of the material economy - Judith Sykes, Director, Expedition Engineering