There are many industry groups and initiatives that have been driving change in the industry and which address the need to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings in order to meet net zero goals.

The ambition of a collaborative cross-industry initiative launched earlier this year is to develop a UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard to standardise the approach to the measurement and assessment of emissions from new and existing buildings.  Science-based and building on the work of many built-environment initiatives and organisations working in this space, the aim is for the Standard to provide industry with a single definition and methodology to determine what constitutes a net zero building across a wide range of sectors. This is intended to include residential premises, offices, student accommodation and academic buildings, commercial buildings, hotels, retail, healthcare and leisure.

It is proposed that the Standard will set out the metrics and performance levels to determine and measure net carbon performance, such as maximum embodied carbon, that must not be exceeded, and minimum performance levels, such as minimum renewable energy generation, that must be exceeded if a building is to comply with the Standard.

Data is key to the development of this Standard and the project recently launched its call for data. This would include energy consumption data from existing buildings, modelled data for those buildings being constructed; and embodied carbon data from buildings undergoing retrofit or construction.  More detail around the proposed standard and where to send relevant data can be found here.

The Standard is intended to help developers, contractors, asset owners and the built industry as a whole to demonstrate that their building is Net Zero aligned.

We will keep you posted on developments.