Celebrating 15 Years in Sustainability

It used to be that someone from an architectural firm wanted sustainability work for planning and the minimum requirements would get pulled together in the final hour. Back when there were no significant drivers to include anything ‘sustainable’ in a building, it was difficult to convince people to understand more about the potential. But policy and planning requirements have changed a lot since then. Now sustainability is a key part of the planning application thanks to regulation such as Part L, Part F and more recently Part O.

2013 was a particularly important turning point. Thermal bridging was considered such a difficult and unnecessary thing to implement, and so making it mandatory in 2013 meant it was met with a lot of resistance. Now, we treat this as routine and an essential part of the process without any hesitation. It makes me wonder, how many sustainability policies that are currently considered painful, but will soon be treated as everyday procedure. I especially see this shift happening with decarbonisation and the likes of the GLA introducing new and fundamental changes to how we construct and maintain our buildings.

Over the years I have worked on each BREEAM version and have been at Eight Versa for at least 8 key scheme updates, with the latest more ambitious than the last. Eight Versa first started working on BREEAM assessments where we were posting paper reports and construction drawings back and forth to clients. It was then considered revolutionary to burn BREEAM assessment reports onto CD or share them via USB. I think we all can be thankful for the advancements in technology to help manage this process. 

There have been many versions, but it’s interesting to reflect on what we thought was ambitious at the time, now is business-as-usual. One key version that changed things significantly was in 2014 as it brought in essential refurb and fit out sustainability requirements that offered a new flexibility to the scheme. In addition, the introduction of LCA considerations, and themes around climate change adaptation, resilience and futureproofing enabled us to work with clients on what are now essential issues of consideration for most projects. Clients were always hesitant with any new version, but this particularly felt complicated at the time. Now we are on V6 (updated in 2022), and we don’t bat an eyelid at previous requirements. I think this is a great testament to how we can look forward and be ambitious with what we can achieve with future BREEAM versions.

When I first chose to study sustainability in 2011, I remember there only being 3 courses available in the UK. Now I believe almost every degree has some kind of sustainability element to it. And you can see that with the people you work with nowadays, everyone comes from very different backgrounds but all with the same mission. In the last 6 years especially, the level of knowledge around sustainability in buildings has increased significantly. When talking with clients we use to always have to explain what a U-Value is, but now everyone is much more knowledgeable and aware of what they are getting into.

I’ve also seen a lot of good initiatives change the game for sustainability. I remember when the SDGs, IPCC report and the Paris Agreement first got introduced and how it turned the whole thing upside down. You all of a sudden, had mainstream media’s attention and it’s been consistent ever since. I think although much of this has supported progress, we still have lots of improvements to make. The Architects Declare for example was an encouraging sign at the time, as it received over 1000 signatures from a variety of key architectural firms. Unfortunately, after the initial excitement around the pledge in 2019, not a lot has since been addressed. However, things are moving all the time and I look forward to seeing the positive shifts we are seeing towards more sustainable buildings.