As part of this year’s World Green Building Week, we were joined by some of the most forward-thinking built environment professionals in our London office. On a sunny Wednesday morning, overlooking St. Paul’s Cathedral, our sustainability experts explored how we can overcome the harm we have done to our planet. The session hosted by Cyril Knabe-Nicol, Associate, included Gilles Alvarenga, Associate Sustainability Consultant, Blanca Russell Escrihuela, Graduate Sustainability Engineer, and Bobby Modler, Principal Sustainability Consultant.
The panel was opened by Cyril Knabe-Nicol who as London’s sustainability lead, shared some stark, yet unsurprising, remarks on our impact on the planet.
“We know that that for a long time we have done significant harm to our planet, and we know we need to do something about it,” he commented. “I don’t want to be too sceptical this morning, but the evidence is clear, we’re on track of exceeding the 1.5 to 2 degrees in temperature. Some of the guidance right now assess between a 1.8 to 2.7 degree increase in the future. So, there needs to be a very significant positive impact now to be able to change this.
“Currently our industry is responsible for a large portion of all the negative impact on nature, which needs to be reverted to go beyond net zero and towards regenerative design.”
Cyril spoke of the ‘carbon tunnel vision’ where the industry is hyper focused on net zero carbon to the point of where we lose sight of a plethora of other factors that are significant in the journey to a sustainable future. This includes air and water pollutants, biodiversity loss, poverty and inequality amongst other considerations.
He closed his introduction by saying, “Right now we know that the cost of action will be far less than the cost of inaction. Net zero is not an end game, it is a milestone that needs to be achieved, and we need to take everyone with us on the journey.”
Cyril was followed by Gilles Alvarenga, our whole life carbon (WLC) and circular economy (CE) expert, who provided insights into those two topics and material selection.
He shifted the audience’s focus to materials and explained how integrating circular economy can significantly reduce environmental impacts, including WLC emissions. Gilles also emphasised the importance of considering the broader aspects of materials beyond just carbon, such as their contribution to health and wellbeing.
“People believe that recycling materials is all that needs to be thought about, but don’t consider the energy needed to recycle them. Retaining and reusing materials tends to be the best option.”
Gilles presented an update on the WLC assessment methodology, known as RICS V2, and introduced Cundall’s new tool designed to better assess WLC and circular economy impacts on projects. He explained how the tool goes beyond carbon, evaluating additional environmental impacts such as ozone depletion and acidification potential. Gilles also emphasised key questions to consider when selecting materials, including their ingredient composition, whether they have take-back schemes, their life expectancy, and whether they emit or offset harmful gases, among other factors.
“You start seeing the building not so much like an asset, but as a bank of materials, things that gain value over time,” was Gilles message.
Blanca Russell Escrihuela followed on from Gilles where she spoke about retrofit first and policies within the context of regenerative design.
She broke down the most significant recent policies for a more sustainable built environment, focusing on Westminster’s newly proposed 'Retrofit First' policy. During her presentation, Blanca also covered other recent requirements such as the biodiversity net gain (BNG) legislation that mandates all major developments in England require at least a 10% increase in biodiversity.
When discussing the role of retrofit first in regenerative design, Blanca said, “Retrofit is not regenerative, however, it is a crucial step for minimising the depletion of our resources. Without this, true regeneration cannot happen.”
It is clear that the case for demolition over retrofit cannot be based on carbon. Retrofit projects should be the first choice, while new build schemes, when necessary, must address broader issues whilst incorporating best practice in minimising carbon impacts.
"We should focus on the retention of our existing building stock and embedding circularity of materials in the circularity of building's themselves," Blanca concluded.
Bobby Modler’s session covered regenerative design and communities by putting the built environment in a much wider social context, considering how places can impact societies. “Regeneration is critical to our industry and it's going to be very important moving forward... Biodiversity and social value are going to be the building blocks for this regenerative economy and therefore absolutely can’t be ignored,” Bobby said.
We can't make the case for urban regeneration without discussing the social side. In the UK, local councils are severely underfunded, facing a deficit of £4billion. Currently within the construction industry, it is typical that performing social value initiatives are passed directly onto the contractor. The widespread use of generic KPIs throughout the UK is resulting in a lack of meaningful, lasting benefits. Bobby also emphasised how important it is to focus on developing localised strategies and to include communities in decision making processes.
Bobby commented, “Regeneration is no longer a choice, it is a necessity within the built environment to create resilient, sustainable and thriving communities. Regeneration breathes new life into ageing infrastructure mitigates environmental impacts and fosters inclusive growth.”
While the discussions did cover a great range of topics, what remained amply evident was the urgency with which actions need to be taken. As highlighted in the theme of this year’s World Green Building Week ‘building the transition’, we need the entire industry to be engaged, willing to share lessons and knowledge to build a future that is sustainable. Waiting for policy and legislation to act would mean doing the industry an injustice.
