The UK Green
Building Council (UKGBC) has launched a series of online infographics designed
to profile ‘The State of Sustainability in the UK Built Environment’.
The specially
commissioned project provides an accessible overview of the industry’s
sustainability performance and impact across five priority areas:
- Climate change
- Resource use
- Nature and biodiversity
- Health and wellbeing
- Socio-economic impact
With input from
wide-ranging stakeholders, including a significant number of UKGBC’s own
members such as Arup, BRE and University of Leeds, the project has brought
existing datasets together alongside some data that was previously unpublished.
UKGBC views the
project outputs as an important step in clarifying the scale of the
sustainability challenge facing the built environment industry. As the
organisation embarks on its second decade, it calls for all built environment
professionals to take responsibility for making positive and transformational
change happen.
Stand out stats
include:
- 22% of UK carbon emissions
come from the operational and embodied carbon of the built environment
- 10% of UK carbon emissions
come from heating buildings alone
- 3.2 million homes are in
areas at risk of flooding from surface water
- Waste from construction,
demolition and excavation represents 59% of the total UK waste
- Since 1970 56% of monitored
species in the UK have declined
- The health effects of
particulate air pollution cost the UK around £16 billion per year
- 11% of occupied homes in
England are in serious disrepair
The landmark series
was launched at UKGBC’s largest ever event, with over 400 built environment
professionals in attendance to celebrate the charity’s 10th year of operation.
In addition to the
‘State of Sustainability in the UK Built Environment’ project launch, guests
also witnessed the unveiling of a new brand identity for UKGBC and heard from
David Partridge, Managing Partner of Argent LLP, who takes over as Chair of
UKGBC’s Board of Trustees. The event was made possible thanks to the generous
support of sponsors: Atelier Ten, Barratt Developments, BRE, Kingspan, Landsec
and The Crown Estate.
Julie
Hirigoyen, Chief Executive at the UK Green Building Council, said: “This series of infographics and insight
has been produced in response to demand from UKGBC members for clarity and
perspective on the journey ahead. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve produced,
but it’s not the whole picture: it’s clear that there’s a large amount of
important data that simply isn’t being collected. In many cases, the data that
does exist has so much variation in time and scope as to make direct
comparisons very tricky.
“This project was
designed to bring the data that is available to life, and in collaboration with
experts, to highlight where we urgently need to either measure new aspects or
take different actions to address the magnitude of the challenges we face.
“Now more than ever,
our industry must show leadership and galvanise around some of these issues. We
need bold and decisive action to make sustainable development truly second
nature in the built environment.”
