At COP26, the UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) recognised the UK’s Sustainable Development Foundation as an International Centre of Excellence (ICE) for High Performance Buildings.
One of just ten such centres in the world, the SDF is tackling the climate and ecological emergency (CEE) by transforming how we design, build, operate and maintain buildings to make them fit for the future, now.
Buildings are key to tackling the CEE because they contribute 40% to global greenhouse gas emissions, 40% to material use and 40% to waste (ILFI).
“The time for talking is over. Goals are good, but they’re just wishes. We haven’t delivered on the promises made in the Paris Climate Accord, agreed back in 2015 at COP21”
Jon Bootland, Director, SDF
Jon Bootland continues, “This is a big problem for the UK because our building stock is the oldest in Europe, and 80% of the homes we’ll live in by 2050, are already built. Our homes and buildings need an urgent rethink to meet the climate and ecological emergencies.
“At the SDF, our mission is to bring a sense of urgency to the adoption of exemplary sustainability practices for buildings, leading to lower carbon emissions, improved occupant comfort and more resilient communities. Our work demonstrates that this is possible NOW.
“What’s different about COP 26 is that today’s leaders have the evidence showing how to do this. Pioneers of building exemplars are sharing their evidence. Not only is this good news for the environment, it’s also great news for the people who live and work in these buildings because they promote health and wellbeing.
“Knowledge is one thing, but we need to act now. Actions bring about change and we must change how we tackle the climate and ecological emergency and meet our goals. The UNECE Centre of Excellence status will help us to achieve the transformation needed,” says Jon.
High-Performance Buildings
The SDF Alliance – comprising several leading-edge, not-for-profit organisations – brings together a wealth of knowledge and evidence of innovations in sustainable building practice. We want all buildings to adopt exemplary sustainability practices across whole-life net-zero, health and wellbeing and sustainable communities, as defined by our ten indicators of high performance sustainable buildings.
Collectively, the SDF Alliance helps to build confidence in the construction industry (architects, builders, local authorities, social housing providers, suppliers and homeowners) as to how sustainable building products and practices work. The evidence – expertise, success stories etc – is clear in the case studies in our exemplars library. This is a collection of real-world exemplar projects, to inspire the transformation needed to create a new era of buildings that are fit for the future. These are pioneering projects which demonstrate cross-cutting sustainability performance, designed and built to:
- Deliver whole-life net zero
- Promote occupant health and wellbeing
- Enable sustainable communities.
Through collaboration, sharing knowledge and best practice, the SDF plays a crucial role to make all our buildings – new and old – high performance. Participation in the UNECE initiative will help accelerate progress towards this objective.