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Memorandum from the Royal Institute of British Architects
To the Communities and Local Government Committee
Existing Housing Stock and Climate Change
Royal Institute of British Architects 26 September 2006
1. Introduction
1.1 The Royal Institute of British Architects welcomes this opportunity to comment on existing housing stock and climate change. We welcome the Committee's inquiry and considers it an extremely timely and useful contribution to the current debate on need for urgent action to address the carbon emissions from existing housing stock.
1.2 The RIBA is one of the most influential architectural institutions in the world, and has been promoting architecture and architects since being awarded its Royal Charter in 1837. The 30,000-strong professional institute is committed to serving the public interest through good design. It also represents 85% of registered architects in the UK through its regional structure as well as a significant number of international members. Our mission statement is simple - to advance architecture by demonstrating benefit to society and promoting excellence in the profession.
2. Background
2.1 Climate change brought about by man-made emissions of greenhouse gases has been identified as the greatest challenge facing human society at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Every individual, every industry and every profession will have a part to play in meeting the challenge.
2.2 The RIBA is encouraging architects to engage with the issue of climate change and to deliver low-carbon new buildings and low-carbon refurbishment of existing buildings. The institute is currently producing guidance to enable architects address the demands of increasingly environment-conscious clients and tougher regulation.
2.3 The RIBA's approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions is known as "contraction and convergence". This involves emissions from industrialised nations reducing (contracting) and emissions from all nations converging to an overall target. The target would be set to stablise emissions at a sustainable level, and the convergence process would promote equitable distribution of the benefits associated with the energy use giving rise to the emissions. To achieve this equitable distribution, each of us in the UK would need to reduce our average annual carbon dioxide emissions from ten tonnes to two tons. Cutting the emissions from our homes would be one of the most important aspects of that reduction.
3. Housing
3.1 There are approximately 25 million domestic buildings in the UK. The stock has grown from 18 million in 1976 and is expected to reach 27 million by 2020 - 50% growth in less than 50 years.
3.2 Despite measures to improve the energy efficiency of dwellings, carbon dioxide emissions are rising, mostly because of a significant increase in the numbers of electrical and electronic appliances in homes. Increasing household numbers and a tendency to heat our properties to higher temperatures are also contributing to rising emissions.
3.3 The following diagram suggests the extent of emissions reductions that is likely to be required from the housing stock to meet the targets implied by a policy of contraction on convergence:
3.4 Average emissions per dwelling are around 6 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. A new dwelling built to modern standards will produce around 3 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year. A large, uninsulated, insufficiently heated dwelling could produce over 40 tonnes per year.
3.5 Emissions reductions on the scale suggested by the above chart are likely to require:
· insulation of all unfilled external cavity walls · insulation of all lofts with 300mm thick mineral fibre or equivalent · insulation of 15% of solid walls · installation of high-performance windows throughout the stock · installation of, on average, two low or zero carbon technologies in every dwelling. These could include solar water heating, solar photovoltaics or micro-CHP.
3.6 The replacement rate of existing housing stock is less than 1% per year. Emissions from the existing stock dominate - accounting for 99.7% of the total emissions from housing, whereas new dwellings contribute approximately 0.3% of carbon dioxide emissions.
3.7 At the current rate of turnover of the stock, 80% of the dwellings that exist today will still exist in 2050. To put it another way, two thirds of the dwellings standing in 2050 already exist. This means it is impossible for the UK to meet its carbon emissions reduction targets without an extensive programme of improvements to the energy efficiency of existing dwellings. This will require robust direction and investment from government, working in partnership with the built environment professions.
3.8 There may also be an increase in the rate of replacement, as existing dwellings that are most costly or difficult to improve are identified.
3.9 A side-effiect of improving the energy efficiency of dwellings is the potential increase in summer overheating of well-insulated, air-tight dwellings with significant solar and internal heat gains. This presents a design challenge: to design dwellings in which acceptable internal temperatures can be maintained without resorting to air conditioning (which uses electricity and therefore generates more carbon dioxide emissions).
4. RIBA climate change policy
4.1 The Royal Institute of British Architects has adopted a robust climate change policy. Architects are centrally involved in a sector of the national economy that is responsible for between 40% and 50% of UK national emissions. The RIBA and its members therefore have a part to play and an opportunity to work with others to influence the future.
4.2 Tackling climate change requires concerted and focused action. This will include reducing carbon dioxide emissions by changing the ways in which buildings are designed, constructed, managed and used. The broad principles of sustainability or sustainable development are complementary to the measures needed to mitigate climate change, but addressing climate change has emerged as a matter that must be tackled in its own right. 4.3 Action to help mitigate and adapt to climate change is now starting to be undertaken by the built environment professions. The first step has to be towards raising awareness: not so much of the issue of climate change, but of the developing language and figures as they relate in particular to the built environment. Then it will be necessary to establish the scope of action accessible to architects and their clients, and the associated cost. From there, programmes of action, standards and skills for addressing for key tasks (e.g. improving the existing building stock) can be developed. Other components of the RIBA's Climate Change Tools package are designed to support this activity.
4.4 The RIBA's climate change policy is set within the over-arching framework of contraction and convergence, and includes a plan of action with four key components:
· Targets - the RIBA has adopted the policy of contraction and convergence as the overarching policy to guide targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions associated with the use of energy in buildings. Contraction and convergence involves a globally balanced approach to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to safe levels, consistent with the aspirations of different communities to development and quality of life.
· Tools - the web-based package of Climate Change Tools is intended to provide critical, authoritative guidance for architects, their clients and their partner consultants about the standards and targets, measurement and assessment techniques, design principles, technical tools and skills that are necessary to the delivery of low-carbon buildings.
· Corporate behaviour - the RIBA is developing policies to guide reductions in its own impact, and that of its members, on greenhouse gas emissions, and to help them to take action.
· Campaign - The RIBA will continue to organise lectures and events to promote greater public awareness of the climate change threat, and will join with other institutions to lobby government and to influence other public and private organisations.
4.5 Other professional institutions (notably CIBSE) and organisations and agencies within the building industry are adopting parallel, complementary initiatives that have the collective potential to form the basis of a comprehensive industry-wide response to the challenge of climate change.
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