Resource efficient buildings

Most existing buildings will still be with us in 2050 when the UK has committed to reaching an 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions against 1990 levels. The built environment is responsible for almost half of the UK’s carbon emissions.

Buildings also account for half of our water consumption, about a third of landfill waste and a quarter of raw materials. As building stock turnover is low in the UK - housing stock annual figures are 1% - identifying how existing buildings can be re-fitted and refurbished to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions and improve their resource efficiency is urgently needed.

Innovations in integrating renewal energy generation technologies into the building fabric will continue to be a prime driver. In order to understand what works and what doesn’t, the Institute has been working on innovative retrofit projects with partners and focusing on measurement, monitoring and evaluation (MME) to encourage investor confidence in the market and promote a step change in the industry.

The £10 million FLASH (Facilitation, Learning and Sharing) programme aims to support a step change in the built environment industry by engaging London Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) with the commercial potential of low carbon building and retrofit. Over one thousand businesses are currently members...read more>>>

FLASH+ is a £2 million programme of free information, guidance and support to ensure built environment small and medium-sized businesses in the South East are ready and able to deliver against challenging low carbon targets...read more>>>

Through the Queenborough and Rushenden project the Institute is conducting MME of approximately 70 homes within a 270 home community retrofit scheme intended to deliver substantial carbon, energy and financial savings for communities in Queenborough and Rushenden (Q&R), Kent...read more>>>

Geo-clusters, a strategic FP7 Cooperation and Support project, will characterise, map and exchange best practice on energy efficient buildings including cluster analysis to better understand the heterogeneity of and market opportunities for the European Union (EU) retrofit market.

For new buildings, the pan-European Open House FP7 project aims to develop and implement a common and transparent European building assessment methodology for planning and constructing sustainable buildings. The Institute will lead on developing case studies in the UK, Ireland and Iceland.