We all know that we are amidst a climate emergency, and the built environment plays a significant part in this. As we continue to strive towards achieving net zero and making our cities more resilient, we must put decarbonisation at the heart of decision making.
At the recent Rics conference in Northern Ireland many discussions of the day focussed on sustainability, and how we as professionals of the built environment can work together to address and tackle the challenges that the sector is facing.
Events like the Rics conference in Northern Ireland are a great reminder that members are doing great things for our built environment and are really championing sustainable development, but there remains a significant challenge and opportunity for all chartered surveyors to do more. Gathering together and having these discussions allows us to better address these issues as an industry, and work as a collective to build a sustainable future.
The most recent Rics global sustainability report tells us that in the UK, around three-fifths of respondents suggested that investor demand for green buildings rose to some extent in the past year. In saying this, we are still seeing a lack of measurement with around 43% of respondents globally reporting they make no measurement of embodied carbon on projects.
We need carbon measurement to become common practice, and Rics is continuing to provide tools and resources to enable industry professionals to measure carbon effectively.
Tools like Rics’ Whole Life Carbon Assessment (WLCA), which is helping to steer the industry towards decarbonisation. Applicable to all buildings and infrastructure projects, WLCA will guide the industry in a direction that supports greater sustainability and decarbonisation.
This powerful tool enables lower carbon designs and helps quantify the impact of construction, but it’s important to understand what we can measure, and we can then manage but ultimately understanding the scale and scope of emissions is a key first step.
As chair of Rics regional board in Northern Ireland, I am continuing to use my knowledge and experience to advocate for our industry. I will continue to encourage members and industry professionals here to employ carbon measurement as part of day-to-day practice, to also embrace tools like WLCA.
By addressing the industry challenges that play a part in climate change, we can build a more sustainable future for our local communities in Northern Ireland.
- Martin Doherty is Northern Ireland regional board chair of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), which promotes and enforces the highest professional qualifications and standards in the development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure.
