By Elaine Toogood, Senior Director, The Concrete Centre
Housing continues to dominate the government agenda with questions about the feasibility of its 1.5 million new homes target. Delivery aside, if we don’t take early consideration of climate resilience in housing design, we’re at risk of sleepwalking into a generation of homes that are not fit for purpose.
We therefore must step beyond ‘business as usual’ if we want to deliver truly resilient, healthy homes. This was one of my main takeaways from attending and speaking at this year’s Good Homes Alliance Conference.
Data from Aviva published in The Guardian finds that one in nine homes that are built in the UK are located in areas classified as a flooding risk. As instances of extreme weather continue to be felt across the country, the impacts of climate change on our homes and infrastructure will only increase.
Delivering quality means building with people in mind
In delivering the key note speech for the event, author and journalist Peter Apps suggested that what makes a good home, ultimately should be decided by those who live in them. Instead of the industry making decisions in isolation, residents should be able to define what makes a home truly work for them.
Last year, UK Concrete sought to answer what people prioritise from their homes by conducting a survey with 5,000 homeowners, private and social renters in the UK.
We found that in our changing climate, nine in ten residents rate the construction of their homes from materials that protect against water ingress as important, while 87% rate construction using fire-resistant materials as important. This demonstrates the significance people place on the impact of extreme weather, safety and environmental concerns on their home.
Looking beyond the ‘carbon tunnel’
The theme of occupant focused delivery was further developed by David Smith of the South East Consortium who were co-hosts of the conference. He highlighted the important concept of ‘carbon tunnel’ vision that we’ve recently been experiencing in the delivery of new homes.
It’s undeniable that reducing carbon emissions remains fundamental when building new homes but to date the priority has remained focused on carbon emission associated with energy use. In order to fully understand the carbon impact of any new homes, it’s important to look at the carbon emissions over the whole lifecycle of a home, including embodied carbon associated with manufacturing and construction.
Whilst minimising emissions is essential, it should not come at the expense of other critical considerations such as health and wellbeing and long-term performance. Ultimately, the more durable and resilient a home is, the less need there is for extensive repairs which carry their own carbon costs.
Designing for a resilient climate tomorrow
Building homes that are healthy, comfortable, appropriate and above all safe for many years to come requires early consideration to longevity and climate resilience from the design stage.
Designing climate-resilient buildings will require a shift in our approach to protecting people and properties against growing climate issues. This was a theme in the ‘Mainstreaming Climate Resilience – New Innovations, Disruptive Thinking and Future Policy’ panel that I took part in.
As we discussed on the panel, shading, ventilation, water efficiency, retrofitting as well as embedding all the climate resilience considerations are essential now if we want to futureproof our new and existing housing stock. My fellow panellist Catherine Moncrieff at the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) agreed that flood resilience should be a baseline requirement for every new home. It must be consideration designed into the structure, fabric and systems of our homes from day one.
During the panel and in the subsequent discussion I highlighted that improving flood resilience and meeting other resilience criteria is easily achieved if considered at the very start of a project. Good strategic decisions regarding development are key but so is appropriate material selection. We need to get the bones of a building right from the start.
If we want the next generation of housing to be truly fit for the future, we need to bring carbon, quality and climate resilience together – not as competing priorities, but at the heart of good homes that people can rely on for decades to come.