The UK is already seeing more frequent and intense weather extremes because of climate change.
Researchers have suggested that the likelihood of extreme rainfall in the UK has increased significantly. Likewise, the heatwave of 2019 was reportedly made 10 times more likely – and 1.5 to 3 Celsius warmer – by climate change.
Our built environment is not prepared to cope with these conditions.
Around 1.8 million people in the UK already live in areas of significant flood risk, and roughly a fifth of homes in England already experience overheating issues, even during cooler summers.
Furthermore, the proportion of green space, which can provide a local cooling effect, has dropped from 63 to 55 per cent between 2011 and 2016.
If global emissions continue at their current rate, extreme heat events like the summer of 2018 will occur on average every other year by 2050.
So, what can be done?
As a first step, we must avoid adding to the problem, and that means looking at new build standards and planning.
At a local level, as demonstrated in the UK Green Building Council’s ‘New homes playbook’, many local authorities have already begun to implement policies to address overheating in relation to planning.
At a national level, the UK Government’s now closed consultation on tackling overheating in building regulations is welcome, if long overdue.
Where there are still significant policy gaps, however, is on water. The think tank Policy Connect has made several excellent recommendations for national government in this area, for both water conservation and tackling flood risk, in its ‘Bricks & water’ series (see www.policyconnect.org.uk).
“A focus on new buildings alone is not enough”
In terms of translating these into practice, both the Government’s planning reforms and interest in reforming energy performance certificates (EPCs) would be possible avenues to pursue.
However, issues with adaptation cannot be solved in terms of the technical specifications of a new property alone. For example, studies have consistently shown the benefits of urban greening in addressing the urban ‘heat island’ effect and creating sustainable urban drainage.
As a result, many local authorities have been developing urban greening or green infrastructure strategies, aimed not only at considering ways to reverse biodiversity decline, but also at harnessing the benefits of greenery in the face of extreme heat and flooding. Again, this is something government planning reforms must encourage.
However, with around 80 per cent of homes likely to be standing in 2050 already built, a focus on new buildings alone is not enough.
The need to retrofit our existing homes to reduce emissions also offers an opportunity to address overheating and resilience concerns.
One option is to take a ‘whole house’ approach, involving a retrofit coordinator who can produce a dedicated ‘whole house plan’.
In the absence of central government policy, local authorities have led on the delivery of retrofit initiatives and programmes. But there is still much to do to ensure retrofit is tackled holistically, in a way that addresses adaptation as well as emissions reductions.
Adapting our built environment to cope with the impacts of climate change will require a fundamental shift in the way we approach development and integrated government policy, both locally and nationally.
With so many potential opportunities this year for these issues to start to be addressed, it is critical we do not delay any further in preparing for these changes.