Retrofit is the key to achieving net zero, according to industry experts at a recent Birmingham Hub event.
Speaking on retrofit and climate change, Professor John Edwards, CIOB head of sustainability Amanda Williams and Sarah Daly, associate director, Turner & Townsend, highlighted the urgent need to adopt sustainable building practices.
Professor Edwards reinforced the message from the CIOB Technical Information Sheet Retrofit of Buildings that “retrofit will become the largest construction activity if we are to achieve net zero by 2050”.
He said: “Everybody is going to have to do an awful lot better if we are going to achieve this target.”
Williams agreed: “Failure to deliver a large-scale programme of retrofit for existing buildings, to a high standard and at pace, will put our net zero targets at risk.”
The session was sponsored by Turner & Townsend and hosted at 103 Colmore Row, Birmingham’s tallest office building.
