Taking over the blog this week is our new Director of Sustainability and Wellbeing, Charlotte Booth who responds to the UK Green Building Council’s (UKGBC) ‘Climate resilience and embracing nature: An ambition for the built environment’ report.
The UKGBC is a fantastic organisation which aims to ‘radically improve the sustainability of the built environment, by transforming the way it is planned, designed, constructed, maintained and operated’. We completely support its vital work and place sustainability at the heart of everything we do at BE Design – from initial drawings and concept designs, through to construction materials used onsite.
The ‘Climate resilience and embracing nature’ report’s ambition is that: ‘By 2030, all buildings and infrastructure will, throughout their lifetime, be climate resilient and maximise environmental net gains, through the prioritisation of nature-based solutions.’
I think this is a challenging target. But we have to be ambitious in order to make real change. Climate change isn’t going anywhere, so we have to be bold with our ambitions and take this growing issue seriously. We can’t be scared of failure.
We also have to think creatively if we’re going to reach this target – utilising the naturally occurring resources available to us. UKGBC has highlighted three nature-based solutions which will alleviate the need for air conditioning, manage the filtration of rainwater and improve flood defences. I completely support these methods. There are so many other benefits to using nature-based solutions too, including:
- Carbon offsetting
- Improvement to health and wellbeing
- Increased social value
- Net biodiversity gain
- Improved air quality
The second section of the report outlines the plans to develop a collaborative roadmap. This project will ‘provide a narrative on how the built environment can meet the ambition and the role each stakeholder can fulfil.’ This is due to launch in 2021. We’re looking forward to working on this project, alongside the work we’re doing as part of Architects Declare and Construction Excellence’s Zero Carbon roadmap, to influence design and ensure we create a built environment that is completely future-proof.
#BESustainablePlacemaking #FutureProofTheFuture
Image c/o UKGBC: www.ukgbc.org/ukgbc-work/climate-resilience-and-embracing-nature-an-ambition-for-the-built-environment