Monday 24 February 2020

‘Retrofits are the way forward in cutting emissions from buildings’

‘Retrofits are the way forward in cutting emissions from buildings’

The potential 'big wins' possible when cutting emissions from the building sector lie with the retrofitting of existing structures rather than relying solely on more sustainable methods of construction.

That's the suggestion from Paul Sheffield, President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, who spoke to future Net Zero Founder Sumit Bose about the role of the organisation in helping green the built environment sector.

He said the time it takes to construct new buildings is "just too slow" to drive decarbonisation on its own - at current rates, only 10% of the country's housing stock can be built every 20 years.

As a result, without putting "modern systems into old buildings", it is expected to take a long time to significantly reduce the volume of emissions being generated.

Mr Sheffield said: "We definitely need to make sure that new things that we build are done efficiently and ecologically but we mustn't forget the huge rump of the old building estate and infrastructure estate that we use every day."

He noted even listed structures with limited potential for retrofitting can still be upgraded with more efficient lighting and heating systems to help minimise their carbon impact.

 

 

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

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