Legislative uncertainty and lack of measurement are holding UK real estate back on net zero, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) global sustainability report for 2023.
The report found that despite growing occupier demand for sustainable buildings, the lack of clarity around energy performance certificates (EPC) for commercial real estate and the lack of measurement of embodied carbon on projects were having a detrimental impact on progress.
Around 43% of construction sector professionals globally said they did not measure embodied carbon on projects and a third of respondents said the lack of common standards and definitions of green buildings were obstacles to further investment.
In the UK, around three fifths of contributors to the report said investor demand for green buildings had risen to some extent in the past year. The headline Sustainable Building Index (SBI) measure reported a +60% net balance of respondents believing that demand for green and sustainable buildings rose over the past year.
Tina Paillet, president elect at RICS, said: “The latest RICS global sustainability report reveals that the UK is among the leading nations for positive sentiment in sustainable real estate. However, the research indicates that several bottlenecks, such as ongoing uncertainty surrounding EPC reform, are slowing down investment, while the UK should take greater steps to catch up with the European average.
“The built environment contributes 40% of the world’s carbon emissions. We cannot tackle global emissions without substantially reducing embodied and operational emissions from buildings and infrastructure. Because of this, RICS continues to develop its green standards for the sector, such as the recently developed Whole Life Carbon Assessment to guide the industry in a direction that supports greater sustainability and decarbonisation.
“What we can measure, we can then manage – understanding the scale and scope of emissions is a key first step. Sustainability is much wider than carbon emissions, and RICS will continue to support professionals through our range of standards, existing and in development.”
