WITH Northern Ireland set to vote this week to form a new Executive, we are calling on our political leaders to effect positive change in the built and natural environment, particularly in relation to addressing climate change.
RICS is delivering eight calls to action in a bid to embed net-zero targets, support economic recovery and growth and creating a sustainable future.
Climate change is undoubtedly one of our greatest challenges and increased carbon emissions may have severe adverse environmental, social and financial effects around the world if temperature levels continue to rise.
International treaties and initiatives, the most important being the Paris Agreement (COP21) adopted in December 2015, aim to restrict the impact of global warming by mitigating carbon emissions. Reducing carbon emissions also contributes to limiting resource depletion and reducing pollution.
To deliver a net-zero transition, accurate, consistent carbon measurement and reporting must become central to government policy. RICS is calling on the Executive to embed procurement approaches as industry standard and embrace the whole life carbon assessment, international cost management standard and built environment carbon database, all of which are tools to evaluate and benchmark the carbon impact in the built environment.
The new RICS framework, International Building Operation Standard (IBOS), invites a new approach to measure and manage how buildings perform for people through data. The pandemic changed how we interact with commercial property significantly, the IBOS is set to support organisations in attracting people back to the workplace, by delivering confidence for end users that the building they’re in is supporting their wellness, and benchmarking success against driving down the commercial sector’s carbon footprint.
The IBOS is supported by both the commercial and public sector and is the first of its kind globally to deliver a consistent approach to help organisations assess and improve their building’s performance in such a broad way. It will provide data on buildings with people at the centre of future decision making and help embed ESG into real estate strategy.
IBOS can be applied irrespective of the type of property or its location. It provides a clear definition of the data organisations need to capture to create consistency in building operations and benchmarks services to determine the level of performance.
With focus on carbon measurement RICS is pushing the Executive to recognise the role of the built and natural environment in promoting a healthy, sustainable, and productive regional economy. The built and natural environment impacts every aspect of our lives.
Delivering safe and warm homes for our citizens, with easy access to essential services and future-proofed digital and physical infrastructure, will drive up living standards and unlock our collective potential. Buildings which are people-centred can transform places of work and study and elevate the productivity of their inhabitants.
As we move towards net-zero carbon targets, RICS is calling on the new Executive to use public spending to decarbonise our society, embed net-zero carbon targets at the heart of decision making and to embed procurement approaches as industry standard in order to build a sustainable future for society.
:: Sharon McClements is chair of RICS Northern Ireland, which promotes and enforces the highest professional qualifications and standards in the development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure.
