ACAN is campaigning to introduce embodied carbon regulation in the UK to reduce the emissions generated over a building's entire lifespan.
Climate change group Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN) is calling on UK policymakers to introduce tougher building standards that go beyond regulating the energy efficiency of buildings in use.
In its campaign, ACAN demands restrictions to reduce the emissions that result from the manufacturing, construction, maintenance and demolition of buildings ? otherwise known as embodied carbon ? which is currently unregulated in the UK.
Lack of regulation "astounding"
At the campaign's virtual launch event on Wednesday, ACAN warned that embodied carbon can account for as much as 75 per cent of a building's carbon footprint over its lifespan. Therefore, it believes, that if the construction industry is to truly play its part in tackling the climate and ecological crises, limits on these emissions must be put in place.
"We all work with the Building Regulations and planning policy on a daily basis to deliver buildings around the UK," explained Joe Giddings, ACAN's campaigns coordinator.
"We can see first hand that there is a huge blind spot in our current building standards framework ? in the UK the carbon emissions caused by the construction, maintenance and demolition of new buildings and infrastructure are unregulated," he told Dezeen.
"This is astounding when you consider the size of its impact,"...