This is a joint press release issued by RIBA on behalf of the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard.
A pilot version of the UK’s first cross-industry Standard for net zero carbon aligned buildings has been launched today, Tuesday 24 September 2024. Leading organisations BBP, BRE, the Carbon Trust, CIBSE, IStructE, LETI, RIBA, RICS, and UKGBC have joined forces to champion this initiative.
The UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard (“the Standard”) is a free-to-access technical standard that will enable the built environment to robustly prove that built assets align with the UK’s carbon and energy budgets. Until this point, there has been no single, agreed methodology for defining what ‘net zero carbon’ means for buildings in the UK. Consequently, the area has been rife with spurious claims around the topic. The Standard provides a set of consistent rules to create a level playing field around such claims.
The Standard is for anyone who wants to fund, procure, design, or specify a net zero carbon building, and for anyone who wishes to definitively demonstrate that their building is net zero carbon aligned. As a robust industry-backed initiative, the Standard should be useful to policymakers as it outlines what is needed to support the UK’s net zero carbon transition.
It has been developed and agreed through collaboration between built environment organisations and industry leaders spanning architects, engineers, carbon assessors, developers, and more. Over 350 experts from across the industry have supported the Technical Steering Group during the Standard’s development phase. Wider stakeholder engagement and feedback through roundtables up and down the country, as well as through public consultation, captured the views of over 700 individuals.
The Standard’s mandatory requirements for building performance and construction quality are ambitious but achievable. They cover a range of topics such as upfront carbon, operational energy use, avoidance of fossil fuel use on site, renewables and refrigerants.
The pilot version contains the technical details on how a building should meet the Standard, including what limits and targets it needs to meet, the technical evidence needed to demonstrate this, and how it should be reported. Details on the subsequent verification process will be published separately.
The built environment industry is encouraged to use the pilot version to prepare for the process of verifying buildings as net zero carbon aligned.
Katie Clemence-Jackson, Chair of the Standard’s Technical Steering Group, said:
“The Standard has been created not just using industry data on what is achievable, but also cross-referencing this with ‘top down’ modelling of what is needed to decarbonise our industry in line with 1.5°C aligned carbon and energy budgets. It covers all the major building sectors, as well as both new and existing buildings.
With access to the Standard, the built environment industry is equipped to target, design and operate buildings to be net zero carbon aligned, driving the positive change that we need to meet our climate goals.
I would like to thank all our volunteers from across the built environment who have contributed their time, experience and knowledge to allow us to develop a robust Standard. This has been an immensely collaborative process, and we couldn’t have achieved it without your support.”
David Partridge, Chair of the Standard’s Governance Board, said:
“The Standard brings together data from thousands of buildings submitted by professionals from across the built environment and will be an important step towards a net zero carbon economy.
I encourage everyone within the built environment and real estate sector, from investors, funds and lenders, through developers to building designers, managers and contractors, to start to use the pilot version of the Standard. We will shortly be launching a pilot testing programme to glean feedback on applying the process on real projects.”
Download the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard.
Notes to editors:
- Media contact: Press@NZCBuildings.co.uk
- Download the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard and find out more: https://www.nzcbuildings.co.uk/
- Follow us on LinkedIn
- Organisations involved in the Standard include:
Better Buildings Partnership (BBP)
Building Research Establishment (BRE)
Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE)
Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE)
Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
UK Green Building Council (UKGBC)
Frequently asked questions
Who is the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard for?
The output will be for developers, contractors, asset owners and managers, occupiers, investors, financiers and funders, consultants, building industry professionals, building managers and product/material manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors.
It is for anyone who wants to either fund, procure, design, or specify a net zero carbon building and anyone wanting to demonstrate that their building is 'net zero' aligned with an industry-agreed Standard.
Will it be science-based?
Performance targets will align with science-based trajectories needed to achieve net zero by 2050 and a 78% reduction by 2035 in the UK, i.e. what is known to be required to stand a reasonable chance of mitigating global warming to 1.5°C.
It will also align with the energy demand reductions projected to be required to enable a net zero carbon energy supply sector.
What building types will it apply to?
The approach will be applicable to both existing and new buildings (e.g. Homes, Offices, Education, Industry, Retail, Hotels, Healthcare etc.). To start, the focus will be on the most common building typologies, especially those for which industry stakeholders have already robust performance data available to inform the setting of performance targets. The Standard will not apply to infrastructure.
