World Green Building Council launches guide to climate change resilience

World Green Building Council launches guide to climate change resilience

climate changeThe World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) has launched a new industry guide on ‘Climate Change Resilience in the Built Environment’, collating effective and practical steps that can be taken on a building, community and city scale in order to adapt and build resilience to the changing climate. Under the inevitable impacts of climate change, which are affecting at least 85 percent of the world’s population, bringing acute hazards such as droughts, rising sea levels, heat waves and floods increasing frequency and severity, resilience action is essential to build community capacity to survive and thrive in our built environments. More →

Winter is coming: don’t be in the dark about blackouts

Winter is coming: don’t be in the dark about blackouts

a lit candle to illustrate the idea of blackoutsThe National Grid has warned that the UK could face blackouts this winter. The worst-case scenario is that homes and businesses could lose power for pre-defined periods of up to three hours if gas power plants are not able to keep running due to the energy crisis that keeps on giving – or rather, taking. While the British government has dropped its energy rationing campaign, which once formed a crucial part of its plan to prepare for potential energy shortages and blackouts, countries across Europe are drawing up winter contingency plans, as are forward-thinking businesses. More →

Transparency and collaboration key to real estate decarbonisation

Transparency and collaboration key to real estate decarbonisation

An image of the Earth to represent decarbonisationThe Urban Land Institute (ULI) has warned of a ‘carbon bubble’ in the pricing of European real estate and urged the industry to work together to preserve values across the sector as it aims to meet the decarbonisation targets set in the Paris Agreement. To support a more collaborative approach, at the inaugural ULI C Change Summit, the institute has published its Transition Risk Assessment Consultation Guidelines as part of its C Change programme. These guidelines set out a standardised method for assessing the costs of decarbonising buildings and disclosing between owners, investors, potential buyers, and valuers the main transition risks and impact on values. More →

Reliance on hero leaders holds back progress on the environment

Reliance on hero leaders holds back progress on the environment

Reliance on a wise ‘guru’ leader or ‘hero CEO’ endangers progress in tackling the environmental crisis by shifting responsibility, according to a new report from CEMS. Instead, all leaders need to adopt a corporate culture of ‘collective’ responsibility, empowering all employees to make decisions with a generational outlook if real change is to take place.  The new report – Leading for the Future of Our Planet – builds on findings from a CEMS survey of 4,206 professionals across 75 countries revealing that the environment is the single greatest concern facing modern-day business leaders, overtaking technological advancement. More →

Demand for sustainable commercial property rises modestly, but supply side still falls short

Demand for sustainable commercial property rises modestly, but supply side still falls short

sustainable commercial propertyProgress is being seen in some aspects of the built environment on the drive to be more sustainable, according to the latest annual sustainability report produced by RICS, however the rate of advancement needs to accelerate significantly and become more widespread. The 2022 RICS Sustainability Report, which collated sentiment from almost 4,000 chartered surveyor contributors, around 1200 of which are from the UK, across commercial and construction sectors globally, shows that some improvement in the push for sustainability has been made in the past year, notably in the commercial real estate sector as demand for sustainable commercial property continues to rise. More →

The twenty-five technologies that can help climate action

The twenty-five technologies that can help climate action

climate actionA new report by the World Economic Forum’s Climate Trade Zero initiative calls for scaling up trade in 25 key technologies to support climate action and cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 to meet targets set out in the Paris Agreement on climate change. As many parts of the world face rising energy bills, reducing trade barriers can cut technology costs, as well as speed up availability, innovation, access and adoption. More →

World Architecture Festival announces Special Prize shortlist

World Architecture Festival announces Special Prize shortlist

World Architecture FestivalThe World Architecture Festival (WAF) has announced the 2022 Special Prize shortlist, ahead of this year’s festival which takes place in Lisbon from 30 November – 2 December. The projects shortlisted for the Special Prizes are selected from across the greater WAF Awards shortlist to shine a light on the submissions that exhibit an outstanding use of Engineering, Colour, Natural Light and Certified Timber, as well as the best Small Project of the Year Prize. This year sees two inaugural new prizes, The Futureglass Prize supported by Aestech and The Royal Fine Art Commission Trust International Building Beauty Prize supported by Ballymore. More →

Data centre design is entering a new era

Data centre design is entering a new era

data centre designA new exhibition has shone a light on the often overlooked building typology of the data centre. The show, entitled Power House running to 28 February and curated by design journalist Clare Dowdy looks at the architecture of data centres, showcasing proposals and existing designs by architecture practices around the globe, from vast complexes in remote locations, to retrofitted buildings in urban centres. More →

Digital infrastructure is the key to achieving net zero

Digital infrastructure is the key to achieving net zero

digital infrastructureA net zero future hinges on the creation of the right digital infrastructure, although doubts remain about our preparedness, claims a new report from Princeton University’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment and Worley. The report, From Ambition to Reality: Measuring change in the race to deliver net zero is part of a series that the firm claims examines the infrastructure delivery challenge of reaching mid-century net-zero. More →

Circularity is now essential in the delivery of net zero buildings

Circularity is now essential in the delivery of net zero buildings

net zero buildingThe UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has published new insight into the positive impact circular thinking can have in delivering whole life carbon reductions and value creation across construction projects. The study, ‘How Circular Economy Principles can impact carbon and value‘ seeks to increase understanding within the built environment sector of how circularity can support reductions in whole life carbon in achieving net zero. It also seeks to enable project decision-makers and key built environment stakeholders to strengthen the business case for implementing circularity. More →

ESG: only a third of people think their workplace has a positive impact on society and the environment

ESG: only a third of people think their workplace has a positive impact on society and the environment

ESGAccording to a poll from YuLife and YouGov, just over a third (39 percent) of people think their place of work has some sort of positive impact on society and the planet. This is in spite of the many announcements from organisations about how ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) can boost employee engagement and help them stand out from their competitors. With many businesses having upped their ESG investment in recent years,  the new YuLife-YouGov report claims to shed light on what UK working adults want and expect from their workplaces, equipping businesses with vital insights into how to focus their ESG programmes most effectively. More →

It should be much easier to identify genuinely green products

It should be much easier to identify genuinely green products

green productsWe all need to become more environmentally conscious, so there’s a greater focus than ever on workplace sustainability. Trying to find greener products, and making sure they truly are better than the alternatives, is a complex task. Once you’ve acknowledged that you really do need to make a purchase and other options have been exhausted, you’re in a prime position to swap to a cleaner, greener alternative, but choosing one product over another can be a headache.  More →