Energy & Sustainability

The Sustainable Energy Association (SEA) and its partners have called on the UK government to ensure its policy on transitioning buildings to net zero, including heating systems and smart controls, reflects a diverse range of low-carbon technologies. 

A structural retrofit of a 1960s London tower has extended the building upwards by 70% to create new work and retail space as well as social housing. We speak to the structural engineers behind the innovative and sustainable design

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has announced government investment of £32m in a new Heat Network Efficiency Scheme, which will make existing heat networks in England and Wales more energy efficient.

Every household will be within a 15-minute walk of green space or water under the new environmental improvement plan (EIP) for England set out by the government.

The University of Sheffield’s new Energy Centre Transformer Building has an electrifying façade thanks to Proteus

An innovative paediatric and maternity building has created comfortable conditions in sweltering Senegal without using air conditioning, Matt Lamy explains

An equivalent MOT system for homes could help Scotland achieve zero-carbon goals and save energy, according to Scottish architect Christina Gaiger, former President of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) and Trustee of the Edinburgh Architectural Association.

The Hanson team, based at its Ribblesdale cement works in Clitheroe, Lancashire, has proved that enforced carbonation of recycled concrete paste (RCP) within the plant’s existing wet scrubber allows for a high CO2 uptake within 30 minutes, preventing emissions.

Against a backdrop of health conditions and fatalities caused by poor social housing, the Welsh government’s approach is genuinely inspirational, says Peter Crush

A number of organisations providing climate solutions have been highlighted at charity Ashden’s annual awards.

On 8 February, PBC Today Webinar will discuss ‘Future Homes Standard: Next Steps on the Road to 2025’.

ThermoSphere’s Managing Director Alistair Bell considers attitudes to decarbonisation and direct electric heating in the construction industry

Theresa Mohammed, Partner at Watson Farley & Williams, says the UK government’s net-zero strategy hangs in the balance with the High Court ruling of R (Friends of the Earth and others) v Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy [2022]

Stagg Architects Meera Nash and Ben Stagg believe community-driven projects are an important part of the social fabric and have set up the BELONG architectural studio to foster collaborative and sustainable local design projects that genuinely reflect the needs of end users.

The Department for Education’s announcement in December 2022 of £500m for schools to reduce their energy use falls far short of the funding needed for a nationwide retrofit programme to reduce costs and emissions, says schools climate campaign Let’s Go Zero.

Thinking of applying for Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) status in 2023? Here’s what you need to know

Following the Business and Energy Secretary Grant Shapps’ announcement in November 2022 of funding of an extra £1bn for energy efficiency, Simon Brammer, Head of Cities at climate solutions charity Ashden, said: “This covers just a few hundred thousand homes over the next three years, compared to 19 million homes that must be insulated by 2035 to hit the government’s own net-zero targets.

Office building performance review by climate tech firm IES identified €108k of annual energy savings

NatWest research shows that 76% of large UK businesses are urgently searching for more efficient, low-carbon energy sources in 2023 in response to rising energy costs.

Searches for solar on eBay alone have almost tripled and small-scale solar installations (homes and small businesses) have more than doubled.