Our priorities
You can download a flyer outlining our priorities for the year here.
These are turbulent economic times for our sector but sustainability has maintained a high profile. The environmental imperative is as strong as ever, however it is crucial for us to prove not just the environmental case, but the business case for green building.
We are proud of our claim to be radical campaign. We recently called for government and industry to work together to reduce carbon emissions from the built environment by 50 percent by 2020. You can read more about the UK-GBC’s target and our other manifesto pledges by downloading our 'Green Building Manifesto'.
Given the urgency of tackling climate change and the fact that buildings represent by far the most cost-effective mitigation potential, carbon has to remain firmly at the top of our list of priorities. We will continue to address other important issues from water to waste and materials, when we think we can add value. Throughout 2010 we will continue to work across building types, both homes & non-domestic, new build and existing stock along with community scale infrastructure.
OUR PRIORITIES IN 2010 INCLUDE:
The scale of the challenge: Further work to understand what a 50 per cent cut in carbon emissions from across the built environment by 2020 will require.
Sustainable Community Infrastructure: We will build on the joint task group with the Zero Carbon Hub. You can read more about the task group and read the final report here.
Zero Carbon Policies: On-going work to support the implementation of robust zero carbon policies for both new homes and non-domestic buildings, which included running consultation workshops with government
earlier this year.
Low Carbon Refurbishment: Work with both industry and government on opening up a huge new market for low carbon refurbishment, in both homes and non-domestic buildings. In the domestic sector this is supported through our work with the Grand Designs ‘Great British Refurb’ campaign, with Kevin McCloud.
IGT Review: Supporting the work of the new Chief Construction Advisor and the Innovation and Growth Team review of the industry’s ability to deliver on low carbon.
There are also a number of critical cross-cutting themes that we are working on:
Demonstrating the business case: Even the most committed companies need to be able to demonstrate why sustainability makes business sense, by adding value for all of their stakeholders, including shareholders and customers. We plan to produce an annual digest of the emerging evidence of the measurable benefits of more sustainable buildings, whether they relate to asset values, higher rents, or improved workplace productivity.
Measurement and reporting: We provide an at-a-glance guide to members’ measurement and reporting of their sustainability impacts. This is intended to help drive consistency and encourage action. We are also partners in the
development of the Global Reporting Initiative ‘Construction & Real Estate Sector Supplement’, which will be informed by, and inform, our members.
Sustainability Training and Education: We are working with the College of Estate Management on an introductory course for professionals across the sector, and with the University of Cambridge on a course aimed at leaders looking to transform the sustainability of their businesses. Both will be launched this year. Find out more about STEP here.
World Green Building Council: Engagement in international policy and programmes through the World Green Building Council. This includes on-going work on common carbon metrics to improve comparability of building rating tools. We will work to give UK-GBC members greater value from their membership of an increasingly global green building network.
