The government has been urged to move fast in setting out plans for whole-life carbon assessments for buildings.
A report from the Environmental Audit Select Committee, Building to net zero: costing carbon in construction, explores the role of the built environment in helping the UK to reach net zero by 2050 and achieve a 68% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.
The paper explores accounting methods for carbon, the use of low-carbon building materials, government procurement of buildings, issues around retrofitting and reuse, and construction skills and training.
In accounting for embodied carbon and encouraging low-carbon buildings, the committee recommends that “the single most significant policy the government could introduce is a mandatory requirement to undertake whole-life carbon assessments for buildings”.
It added: “This requirement should be set within building regulations and the planning system. Following introduction of whole-life carbon assessments, the government should develop progressively ratcheting carbon targets for buildings, to match the pathway to net zero.”
The report said a “clear timeline” for the introduction of such a requirement should be set and that the government “must set out plans this year to make this a reality”. “This policy will incentivise greater retrofitting, the development and use of low-carbon materials, and investment in low-carbon construction skills.”
The committee added that other supportive policy changes could result from an investigation into the effect that extensions to permitted development rights have had on incentives to retrofit existing properties. “PDRs should then be reformed to align with the government commitment to promote reuse and retrofit ahead of demolition, if needs be,” it added.
British Property Federation chief executive Melanie Leech welcomed the call for a whole-life carbon assessment.
“We can only truly understand the progress we are making if there is a robust standard for measuring the carbon impact of a building over its life cycle,” Leech said. “As such, we would support proposals to introduce the regulation of embodied carbon for new buildings and major refurbishments, starting with large buildings and developments.
“The UK is behind other European nations in mandating whole-life carbon assessment and, as the committee notes, it is imperative government acts to put an agreed methodology in place.”
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