The World Green Building Council joins nine international organisations to sign a letter to COP26 President, Alok Sharma, requesting a Built Environment Day at the climate summit in November 2021. The day at COP26 would be dedicated to the action pathways to accelerate the decarbonisation of the built environment, and it will demonstrate how business and governments are catalysing solutions to the climate crisis. This comes a few days after WorldGBC took part in the UN’s Race To Zero Dialogues, discussing how policy, finance and industry leadership can accelerate decarbonisation and ensure the resilience of built environment assets. Cristina Gamboa, CEO, World Green Building Council: “It is essential to have a full day to recognise the building and construction industry at COP26. The sector accounts for nearly 40% of global energy and process-related emissions, up to 10% of global employment and around 50% of global wealth. Despite this, our sector often remains a blind spot in global climate negotiations. WorldGBC has signed a letter to COP26 President, Alok Sharma, together with nine fellow international organisations which are working to decarbonise and make more sustainable the built environment across the world. We look forward to his reply and discussing how we can work together to make COP26 the success it needs to be.” The letter argues that a Built Environment Day at COP26 would spotlight the sector’s unique capability to deliver powerful zero carbon solutions and serve as a rallying point for the sector’s diverse stakeholders. The day would allow the sector to collaborate with governments and policymakers and catalyse action towards ambitious targets for 2030 and beyond. List of signatories: Martina Otto, Head of Secretariat, Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction Mark Watts, Executive Director, C40 Cities Helen Clarkson, CEO, The Climate Group Andrew Higham, Chief Executive, MISSION 2020 Cristina Gamboa, CEO, World Green Building Council Peter Bakker, CEO, World Business Council Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Maria Mendiluce, CEO, We Mean Business Andrew Steer, President and CEO, World Resources Institute Julie Hirigoyen, CEO, UK Green Building Council Marco Caffi, Executive Director, Green Building Council Italia The letter urges the COP26 organisers to recognise the central role the buildings and construction sector can play in overcoming the key societal challenges we face: The sector can offer solutions to the climate and economic crisis caused by COVID-19 by driving a green recovery and support a climate-resilient future.  It can deliver short-term jobs and growth by improving and retrofitting existing built assets, as well as ensuring new ones do not contribute high levels of greenhouse gasses. Read the full letter.

The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has responded to the Housing, Communities & Local Government Committee’s (HCLG) report released today (24 November 2020) on the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Building Safety Bill. The report states that “the Government must improve on the detail if it is to demonstrate that its new building safety proposals will drive much needed reform in the sector…and that in its current form, the draft legislation fails to provide sufficient protection against leaseholders paying the bill for work to remedy existing fire safety defects.” The CIOB formally responded to the call for evidence and are supportive of the Committee’s recommendations. It is particularly pleased to see the Committee call for more detail around the yet unpublished secondary legislation to remove any doubt on the scope of the legislation and the responsibilities on building operators. Additionally, it is positive that the Committee have acknowledged the importance of accreditation to ensure that stakeholders have the confidence in the competence of persons undertaking the new building safety manager role. We look forward to working with the Government to ensure the Bill drives forward reform and remedies the flaws in the existing system as identified in the Hackitt review. The Committee’s report can be accessed here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5801/cmselect/cmcomloc/466/466.pdf

Halifax’s The Piece Hall Trust has secured almost £1 million from the government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help them through the coronavirus pandemic. 445 organisations will share £103 million, including The Piece Hall, to help restart vital reconstruction work and maintenance on heritage sites, keeping venues open and supporting those working in the sector. The £995,000 funding for Piece Hall will be used to ensure that the building can continue be safely operated and open to visitors, support its community and allow the trust to invest in equipment and skills which can help to generate income. “2020 has been a year which has posed unprecedented challenges for venues across the UK, particularly those with an offering focussed around heritage, retail and events. The response we’ve already received from a range of partners and also the public has been absolutely amazing, giving us great confidence for a bright and successful future. We’ve already seen fantastic demand for the live events we’re putting on in 2021, and while we are continuing to manage footfall in a sensible and effective way, things are moving in the right direction,” said Nicky Chance-Thompson, chief executive at The Piece Hall Trust. “This Culture Recovery Fund grant is brilliant for The Piece Hall and is something we are extremely grateful to receive. It allows us to safeguard our activities and plan effectively for the future, alongside funding already committed from our local partners such as Calderdale Council. These funding streams will allow us to plan for the long-term, and we believe this will make a huge impact on the local economy,” Nicky added. The Culture Recovery Fund is financed by government and administered at arm’s length by Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Green Homes Grant opens for business today to help homeowners upgrade their homes and save up to £600 a year on their energy bills Tenants also benefit from the new measures, with consultation launched on upgrading private rental properties by 2028 as well as new scheme for social housing New work will be created for accredited tradespeople in green construction, supporting 100,000 jobs across the UK £3 billion plan to upgrade buildings an essential part of building back greener from coronavirus and reaching net zero emissions by 2050 Homes, schools and hospitals across England are set to be greener and cheaper to run thanks to a £3 billion plan to upgrade the nation’s buildings – the biggest in a generation. Starting today, homeowners can sign up for big savings on upgrades to their homes under the government’s £2 billion Green Homes Grant, with an additional £1 billion announced to improve the energy efficiency of publicly owned buildings. The Green Homes Grant scheme will see the Government fund up to two-thirds of the cost of home improvements up to £10,000, to make over 600,000 homes more energy efficient. Those homeowners with low-incomes, including those on certain benefits, are eligible for a grant covering up to 100 per cent of the cost of works up to £10,000. Grants will be offered to cover green home improvements ranging from insulation of walls, floors and roofs, to the installation of double or triple glazing when replacing single glazing, and low-carbon heating like heat pumps or solar thermal – measures that could help households save up to £600 a year on their energy bills. It will cut people’s energy bills and carbon emissions, whilst also supporting over 100,000 jobs in green construction for local plumbers, builders and tradespeople across the UK. The launch of the Green Homes Grant forms part of a wider plan to upgrade the nation’s buildings expected to support an additional 120,000 jobs, which also includes: £1 billion to boost the energy efficiency of public buildings, including schools and hospitals through a Public Sector Decarbonisation Fund New measures to ensure nearly 3 million privately rented homes are upgraded to modern energy efficiency standards by 2028 £50 million to improve the energy efficiency of social housing Business and Energy Secretary Alok Sharma said: “Our plan to upgrade the nation’s buildings and help build back better is good news for jobs, the environment and people’s back pockets, as we reduce emissions and help cut energy bills. “I urge everyone to visit the Green Home Grants website to see how they can make the most of this fantastic scheme.” Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “We promised to support jobs and protect the environment – and the Green Homes Grant delivers on this. We’re giving homeowners, landlords and local authorities the funding they need to hire local tradespeople and make our homes more energy efficient. By supporting the green van men and women, we’ll save money, save jobs and save the planet.” £500 million of the of the Green Homes Grant scheme has been assigned for local authorities to provide green home improvements for households with an income of under £30,000. Tenants will also benefit from the Government’s plan to boost energy efficiency thanks to proposals for the private rental sector, published today. The improvements will be achieved by raising the energy performance standard of privately-rented properties, with landlords having to ensure homes meet Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Band C requirements. These could save nearly 3 million homes an average of £220 a year on their annual heating bills and lift up to 900,000 low income households out of fuel poverty. The plans could also support 90,000 jobs in the energy sector annually. Costs will be capped at £10,000 and landlords can take advantage of the Green Homes Grant to fund the necessary improvements. The private rental sector measures are being phased in to limit the disruption to both landlords and tenants, with improvements having to be implemented for new tenancies from 1 April 2025 and for all tenancies by 1 April 2028. In a further boost, the Government is making £50 million available for social housing through a demonstrator project for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF). This UK-wide demonstrator scheme will see grants supplied to upgrade the energy efficiency of over 2000 of the worst-performing social homes. It is estimated that those living in upgraded properties will save between £300 and £500 on their energy bills each year. As well as helping meet the country’s net zero emissions target, the SHDF Demonstrator will support up to 3200 jobs in the green energy sector. The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme will help public sector organisations in England, including central government departments and their agencies, local authorities, schools and NHS Trusts, to install energy efficiency and low carbon heating measures, reducing energy bills and carbon emissions. Installations under the PSDS are expected to support up to 30,000 low-carbon jobs. Today’s energy efficiency plan forms part of the Government’s wider efforts to ensure the UK meets its legally binding target to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and build back greener from coronavirus. Over the past decade, the UK has cut carbon emissions by more than any similar developed country. In 2019, UK emissions were 42% lower than in 1990, while our economy over the same period grew by 72%.