In fact, the country needs to see a green office “revolution” to maintain a sustainable, environmentally responsible economy in the years to come, according to the council.
Efforts are being made to this end across the country, but the UKGBC is keen to see the government back a range of relevant initiatives and provide sufficient financial backing to ensure they are well-positioned to succeed.
“Greening our built environment will drive economic recovery,” claims Paul King, chief executive of the UKGBC.
“In these constrained times, government must create the conditions that enable a massive flow of private sector capital into energy efficiency and renewables.”
Adding weight to his argument, Mr King suggested that office space refurbishment schemes and other energy-reducing endeavours would not only be good for the UK’s ‘eco’ credentials but would also create thousands of jobs in the process.
The green council chief was speaking ahead of the publication of the government’s Public Spending Review, which is expected to outline a wide range of Treasury spending cuts that could affect all publicly funded areas of the economy.
Some of the largest office space investors and developers in the UK were among UKGBC’s founding members, and the organisation aims to reduce the carbon footprint of the country’s built environment by at least 50 per cent over the next ten years.
Editor’s notes: In November 2022, the team at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) responsible for developing the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard (NZCBS) called for evidence to inform the new standard.
The new Standard will create a single, agreed-upon definition and methodology for the industry to determine what constitutes a net-zero-carbon building.
The cross-industry group developing the Standard includes representatives from the Better Buildings Partnership (BBP), the Building Research Establishment (BRE), the Carbon Trust, the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), the Low Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI), the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), and the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC).
The second edition of the RICS whole life carbon assessment (WLCA) standard came into effect 1st July 2024. The latest edition was extended to cover all built assets and infrastructure throughout the whole built environment life cycle.