This week, the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee (EAC), which is a cross departmental select committee, shared the findings of their Heat resilience and sustainable cooling inquiry.
The report outlines the stark dangers of failing to act as the planet warms. It echoes RIBA’s own recommendations for a well-funded National Retrofit Strategy and to expand urban green space. We fed into the inquiry both via written evidence and in Parliament.
Likening heat to a “silent killer,” the EAC are clear about the dangers that heatwaves bring. By the 2050s and without adaptation, deaths due to extreme heat could reach 10,000 per year under a high-warming scenario. Decisive action is vital if we are to improve the UK’s preparedness against heat.
There are 19 million homes in need of retrofitting, many of which are ill-equipped for the changing climate. So, a well-funded long term strategy is essential – an issue we made clear in our evidence to the inquiry.
We have been vocal about the need for a National Retrofit Strategy, and are pleased that MPs are backing this proposal. If we are to deliver the retrofit needed at scale, we also need to address green skills – another RIBA recommendation echoed by the committee.
Efforts to improve the energy efficiency of our homes, while adapting them to ensure they can withstand overheating and other climate threats, must be done in tandem. Taking a whole house retrofit approach, and building in resilience simultaneously, can help to avoid unintended consequences, such as moisture building or unexpected overheating.
In our evidence to the inquiry, we also made the case for wider use of Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE). POE is the assessment of how building performance measures stack up against design intention. While an essential tool for measuring actual energy performance, it can also reveal issues such as overheating.
The report references our own ask of government to require POE as a condition of buildings that receive public funding. Although the EAC recommendation doesn’t go as far as this, it does suggest that measures taken under Part O of the building regulations, which aim to reduce overheating and limit solar gain, should be subject to POE during their first year of installation. If adopted by government this would be a positive step forward.
The inquiry also emphasised the importance of utilising nature-based solutions and increasing the volume of green space. The urban heat island effect, which results in urban areas, particularly large cities like London, facing hotter temperatures than in rural areas, was also investigated by committee.
There is clear evidence to show that expanding green space can help tackle this problem – urban green space helps mitigate heat by lowering temperatures via a cooling effect. Green space has the added benefit of improving the image of open public spaces and promoting community cohesion. Unfortunately, the amount of urban green space in England has been declining – a trend that we told the inquiry must be reversed.
The government’s 25 Year Environmental Plan includes a commitment to creating more green infrastructure, including accessible green spaces. It has led to the Green Infrastructure Framework (GIF), which was unveiled by Natural England in February 2023, offering guidance on designing and implementing green infrastructure.
In oral evidence to MPs in Parliament, RIBA’s Executive Director for Professional Knowledge and Standards, Adrian Dobson, stressed that the GIF is excellent, but also that it is only guidance. We support the EAC’s recommendation to expand urban green space and mandate local authorities in urban areas to use the GIF.
This reflects our evidence to the inquiry, that there should be a national target for increasing the area of urban green space. By embracing and expanding green space, the government can harness relatively low cost solutions to achieve real impact across our cities.
The built environment is at the heart of our lives, and well-designed buildings and places can enrich and strengthen our communities. But with a backdrop of more severe heatwaves and other worsening climate challenges, we need ambitious measures to ensure buildings and places are resilient and sustainable for future generations.
We continue engaging with government and policymakers to ensure that our and the committee’s recommendations are swiftly implemented.
