Business

Clement Lau: 'We can all learn from Erne Campus’ leadership and ambition'

The new South West College campus in Enniskillen, which was recently named RICS project of the year.
The new South West College campus in Enniskillen, which was recently named RICS project of the year. The new South West College campus in Enniskillen, which was recently named RICS project of the year.

I WAS very pleased to meet Northern Ireland based members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) over the past couple of days during a visit about a wide range of issues, including one that affects us all, climate change.

Northern Ireland is clearly making progress in addressing climate change, symbolised by the Erne Campus at South West College in Enniskillen, which recently won RICS project of the year, in large part due to its sustainability credentials.

I toured the campus and saw first-hand many of the impressive initiatives that have been put in place to reduce the college’s impact on the environment.

The £34 million scheme, which won the project of the year title ahead of hundreds of entrants from across the UK, is the world’s first educational building to achieve the highest international standard in environmental construction.

The new South West College campus in Enniskillen, which was recently named RICS project of the year.
The new South West College campus in Enniskillen, which was recently named RICS project of the year. The new South West College campus in Enniskillen, which was recently named RICS project of the year.

It secured both 'PassivHaus Premium' and 'BREEAM' outstanding accreditations. It was commended by judges for its pioneering sustainability efforts, which will also see it yielding an anticipated 90 per cent reduction in energy costs for the college.

And Erne Campus was not Northern Ireland’s only success in the awards.

Underling this region’s excellence in the built environment, the team behind the North West Multi Modal Hub won infrastructure team of the year, and Belfast-based chartered surveyor Diana Fitzsimons was awarded the inaugural lifetime achievement award at our recent ceremony in London.

That Diana’s award was presented in part due to her work in the area of sustainability is also very much worth mentioning.

Diana Fitzsimons.
Diana Fitzsimons. Diana Fitzsimons.

But whilst Northern Ireland is clearly pioneering and doing really positive things in helping address climate change, there remains a significant challenge and opportunity for all chartered surveyors to do more.

Some 40 per cent of emissions globally come from the built environment. There is now a strong consensus that the world must move towards net zero by 2050. What remains less clear is the step-by-step path we need to take to get there.

If we are to reduce this and meet ambitious net zero targets, every sector will need to play its part. In the built environment, we must recognise that a holistic approach is needed. Every building must be treated individually, and chartered surveyors are in a strong position to advise on the best course of action.

Equally, we know that change will take time, and in many cases will be an iterative process. Reliable, authoritative and consistent measurement standards will be critical to this: we can only make meaningful improvements with a solid baseline.

The chartered surveying profession has been a trusted authority for over 150 years when it comes to measurement. Carbon has become a new currency, and just as we measure the financial value of land and buildings, in the next few years we can expect carbon measurement to become more common.

As owners and investors look to demonstrate the carbon credentials of their portfolios, we can expect a stronger appetite for robust measurements to emerge and drive change in the market – and likewise, we can expect regulators and policymakers to want assurance about the validity of those measurements.

More projects with the commitment to sustainability evident in Erne Campus are clearly needed to help the profession mitigate climate related risk and move towards a net-zero future.

This is a great example of what can be achieved when we prioritise sustainability the way it needs to be. I believe we can all learn from Erne Campus’ leadership and ambition as we work to deliver a just and sustainable future for all in the built environment.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors promotes and enforces the highest professional qualifications and standards in the development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure.

Clement Lau is president of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors