Climate Change
News
Technology Strategy Board - Design for a Future Climate, £2.5m Competition. Building designers are being invited to bid for a total of £2.5m to devise ways to adapt buildings to be resilient to a changing climate. The funding comes from the Technology Strategy Board, which will invest a further 2.4m in 2011. The programme aims to build the capacity of the building community to respond to demands for climate adaptation services. The competition opens on 14 June, with a deadline of 22 July. Further information here
Climate Change Compendium (RTPI 2010)
The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) seven commitments on climate change promotes the unique and influential role that planning plays in adapting to and mitigating against climate change. This compendium supports these commitments by providing signposting to key web sites, guidance, research and case studies giving practice advice and supporting information on climate change. http://www.rtpi.org.uk/item/2993&ap=1
Adapting to Climate Change – ensuring resilience in the built environment
Our changing climate is bringing warmer, drier summers; milder, wetter winters and more extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heatwaves. These changes have a number of implications that the construction industry need to consider. For example:
- More frequent and intense periods of heavy rainfall will increase flood risk
- Longer dry spells and droughts will increase the risk of subsidence and cracking of render
- Water demand is likely to increase in summer, but water supply will be reduced
- Demand for cooling systems in summer will increase but winter heating demand will reduce
- There are potential commercial opportunities for new technologies and expertise
- Sea level rise will exacerbate flood risk in some areas
- There will be a higher risk of damage to buildings from storms
- Increased coastal erosion due to sea level rise and storms will threaten some locations and building foundations.
Given that the built environment is intended to have a very long lifespan, it is essential that new developments are built to withstand these climatic changes and their impacts. Adaptation to climate change is increasingly likely to be required by legislation and to become a criteria for securing adequate building insurance cover. It is a vital element of wider sustainable construction, yet in the past it has often been overlooked.
Careful planning and design can significantly increase the resilience of buildings without necessarily incurring extra costs. Some adaptive measures have multiple benefits, simultaneously contributing towards climate change mitigation or resource efficiency objectives. For instance, natural ventilation systems will both help to reduce energy usage and help to keep a building cool in the higher temperatures that are anticipated. Similarly, water efficiency measures will become all the more important in the future as higher temperatures increase demand but decreased summer rainfall place water supplies under greater pressure.
It is also important that the existing building stock is retrofitted with adaptation measures, in order to increase its resilience. Older buildings may be inherently more vulnerable to some impacts such as the infiltration of water causing damp and mould. Ensuring that adaptation is incorporated into all new buildings, as well as actively pursuing retrofit opportunities, will help to promote the awareness, knowledge and expertise needed to also address the issue within existing stock.
Climate SouthWest
Becca Eastman and Alex Webb from Climate SouthWest
For more information about adapting to the impacts of climate change in the South West, visit the Climate SouthWest website at www.oursouthwest.com/climate. Climate SouthWest is a regional partnership which works with stakeholders across key sectors, including housing and construction, to enhance the region's resilience to the impacts of climate change.
Case Studies
Other Resources
Building Design
CIBSE "Design Compass" (2009) - an online tool developed by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) to assist professionals involved in building design to incorporate weather/climate related information into a clearly defined framework. Click on link: www.cibsedesigncompass.org.uk (external site).
Climate Adaptation: guidance on insurance issues for new developments(2009). Guidance from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) for developers, planning authorities and people buying new properties, on building and buying new developments that are resilient to the impacts of climate change: www.abi.org.uk/BookShop/ResearchReports/Climate%20Adaptation%20Guide%20Final (pdf on external site).
Adapting to Climate Change: a checklist for development (Nov 2005) - The South East Climate Change Partnership (SECCP) have developed a useful checklist to help new developments adapt to climate change. Download the checklist from here: Adapting to Climate Change: a checklist for development (Three regions, SWCCIP 2005) (pdf 519kb). Article by Becca Eastman of SWCCIP, with further links and contacts here
Beating the Heat – Keeping UK buildings cool in a warming climate (2005) – The UKCIP / Arup / DTI publication "Beating the Heat - keeping UK buildings cool in a warming climate" can be downloaded from the UKCIP website from this link: Beating the Heat - keeping UK buildings cool in a warmer climate (UKCIP & others 2005) (pdf on external site) or from: www.ukcip.org.uk.
Planning
Suburban Neighbourhood Adaptation for a Changing Climate (SNACC) Part of the Adaptation and Resilience in a Changing Climate (ARCC) programme, this research project is led by the University of the West of England and focuses on adaptations to the built environment, through changes to individual homes and larger neighbourhood scale adaptations (urban re-design). Project information will also be posted at tthe Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments (SPE) at UWE. For more information about SNACC click here to access the link from our Sustainable Communities page.
The Essential Role of Green Infrastructure: eco-towns green infrastructure worksheet (2008) - A Town & Country Planning Association (TCPA) publication which provides guidance on multifunctional green networks including allotments, community gardens, sustainable drainage systems (SUDs) and flood storage areas. Explains the role that green infrastructure has to play in adapting to climate change (see chapter 1.1): www.tcpa.org.uk/data/files/etws_green_infrastructure (pdf).
Climate Change Adaptation by Design – a guide for sustainable communities (2007) Adaptation by design - a guide for sustainable communities (pdf on external site) - from the Town and Country Planning Association.
Development and Flood Risk - Practice Guide (June 2008) - This practice guide is complementary to Planning Policy Statement 25: Development and Flood Risk (PPS25) and provides guidelines on how to implement development and flood risk policies by the land use planning system. The guide also includes working examples through case studies. Click here for guide on the Communities and Local Government website: Development and Flood Risk - Practice Guide (June 2008) (external website).
Sustainable Cities: Preparing towns and cities for a changing climate - a Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) website providing expert advice for local authorities on planning, designing and managing a sustainable place. Visit the website here
Retrofitting
Climate Change & Your Home - interactive web portal from English Heritage designed specifically to help those who own or manage houses built of traditional construction understand more about the potential impacts of climate change and ways to save energy.
National Existing Adaptation Tool (NEAT): Adapting our homes to a sustainable climate is a free tool from Sustainable Homes that helps housing managers assess how well prepared they are for the risks of current or future weather. NEAT includes an interactive tool, case studies of improvements to homes and an update on why adaptation is important. Available here
Retrofitting Existing Homes for Climate Change Impacts - The Three Regions Climate Change Group launched its forth report - Your Home in a Changing Climate: Retrofitting Existing Homes for Climate Change Impacts: Report for Policy Makers - in February 2008 at London's City Hall. Copies of the report are available on the web site www.london.gov.uk/trccg.
