The UK is still walking backwards as one of its top crises, housing, is put to the test.
Construction and renovation produce Co2 by the tonne and consume huge levels of unusable and seldom recycled resources.
The ground once absorbed rainwater and fixed greenhouse gases but is now covered in impermeable asphalt and concrete. So-called ‘energy efficient’ new buildings produce 1.45 tonnes of CO2 per year and use kWh/m2 of en Experimental Official Statistics based on Energy Performance Certificates per annum. use 276 kWh/m2 a year ((EPCs) - Ministry of Housing). So, no change there.
There are alternatives to concrete such as Hempcrete and Concretene (among others) and research into alternative materials is to be found all over the world.
We still accept that building a house will generate 80 tonnes of Co2 (for a cottage with two bedrooms upstairs and two reception rooms, and kitchen downstairs.
Each Member of Parliament should know that about 43 tonnes of Co2 are dumped on the world by each of their constituents annually.
Efforts to adapt the UK’s housing stock to the impacts of the changing climate: for higher average temperatures, flooding and water scarcity, are also lagging far behind what is needed to keep us safe and comfortable, even as these climate change risks grow.
Around 4.5 million homes overheat, even in cool summers; 1.8 million people live in areas at significant risk of flooding.
Average UK water consumption is higher than in many other European countries. Distributed water purification at house or street level is becoming a practical opportunity. Removing a large part of the need for massive collection and purification infrastructure is a welcome alternative and will reduce the loss of water from a national crisis of mains water leaks. Big is bad. Local is good.
Cost-effective measures to adapt the UK housing stock are not being rolled out at anywhere near the required level.
In its 2021 report ‘UK housing: Fit for the future?’ the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) warned that the UK’s legally-binding climate change targets will not be met without the near-complete elimination of greenhouse gas emissions from UK buildings. Single skinned commercial buildings are still being built!
The report finds that emissions reductions from the UK’s 29 million homes have stalled, while energy use in homes – which accounts for 14% of total UK emissions – increased between 2016 and 2017.
In the United Kingdom, renewable energy generation will need to increase by 50% by 2025 if the country is to reach its climate and energy targets.
With this in mind, a close examination of the UK Climate Risk report, an independent report to government published in early 2022, is important. This assessment takes a look forward 50 years (and beyond) being the minimum projection for the life of houses built and renovated in the next months.
It also notes that although the Paris Agreement commits the nations of the world to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C, projections consistent with policies currently in place worldwide imply warming of between approximately 2°C and 5°C by the end of this century depending on the rate of greenhouse gas emissions and the response of the climate system to these emissions. This will further increase the shifts in weather patterns and extremes, further increasing mortal risks to people and biodiversity, with higher warming leading to greater risks.
Since this report was published the ‘wind drought’ of 2021/2 has reduced electricity from wind turbines by 17%. Shifts in weather patterns sometimes come as a surprise.
Around 1.8 million people in the UK already live in areas of significant flood risk. If the frequent occurrence of major flooding events continues – which it has done in the UK nearly every year since 2007 – it is estimated that the number of homes at risk of flooding will rise by 40% to 2.6 million in as little as 20 years.
Every MP, Peer and Permanent Secretary needs a tattoo on the back of their hands. It needs to read 'Climate Change Mitigation Warrior'.
Author of Climate Change House which is available here amzn.to/3RgR4Vf
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