Innovation, sustainability and the future of cities
Photo by Bethany Opler on Unsplash The challenge of energy-efficient retrofit In the UK, our homes account for about 30% of total energy consumption and about 20% of total carbon emissions. To have any hope of reaching the 2050 net-zero target, we must
We need to create buildings that don’t contribute to increasing climate change and can adapt to the climate change that is happening. Buildings that are energy efficient and resilient. Many people point to ‘smart buildings’ as a solution; a technological
Like many people I have watched the TV footage of the wildfires in Australia with shock. So much damage done so quickly, and over such a wide area. I also thought back to last year’s California wildfires and asked myself,
Our homes consume about 30% of the UK’s energy and produce 20% of greenhouse gas emissions. 80% of that energy is used for space and hot water heating, mostly from gas. With a net-zero target for UK carbon emissions, it is
Tackling the Housing Deep Retrofit Challenge Report of a workshop on deep retrofit organised jointly by the Future Cities Catapult, Innovate UK and the Institution of Engineering and Technology. 120 people attended an event titled “Homes fit for the future
37% of UK carbon emissions come from heating – domestic, public and commercial, and industrial. About 85% of the heating comes from gas. In its Net Zero report, the Committee on Climate Change argues that we must reduce carbon emissions
I have long thought the only way we can create cities that are economically successful, great places to live, sustainable and resilient, is to treat them as an integrated system of systems. The problem is that cities are so complicated
One of the fascinating things about innovation projects is the way that they evolve and change as the project progresses, and how they leave echoes long after the project has finished. In 2012 I was involved in setting up the
Since the IET published our report “Scaling Up Retrofit 2050” several people have asked me why the emphasis on ‘deep retrofit’? Taking today’s properties and upgrading them to 2050 energy efficiency standards in one step. Wouldn’t it be better to
The challenge of retrofitting 26 million homes In the UK we face a stiff challenge. The Climate Change Act of 2008 sets a legal target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. Every part of the UK economy
A large part of the world’s population has experienced a dramatic heatwave in the summer of 2018. We have felt the impact of high temperatures and low rainfall, and we have seen dry rivers, empty reservoirs, and wildfires from all over
There is a real challenge right at the heart of climate change policy in the UK. The Climate Change Act requires us to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050, compared to a 1990 baseline. All parts of our economy
Scaling Up Retrofit 2050 Report published by the IET and Nottingham Trent University on the need for deep retrofit of our existing housing stock. “Domestic energy consumption accounts for about 30% of the UK’s total energy budget, and 20% of
The UK has a problem; rather a large one. The Climate Change Act 2008 commits the UK to reduce carbon emissions by 80% from a 1990 baseline by 2050. In 2016 the biggest single consumer of energy was transport at
On 7th September I visited the CENEX Low Carbon Vehicles event at Millbrook to find out what was going on in the world of low carbon transport. This was the 10th year, and in that time the topic has moved
There is a lot of frustration in our inability to make our cities work more effectively for citizens. We can see the problems, and we have a large number of solutions being offered by everyone from big multinational engineering consultancies
There is a rapidly growing global market out there that you may not yet be thinking about. It is expected to be worth more than $2 trillion p.a. by 2030. It has an insatiable appetite for innovation of all types,
Future Cities Mission At the end of January 2014, a group of 14 delegates from different organisations involved in the future of cities and urban living in the UK visited the US to share experiences, and to learn from the
Future Urban Living Report from the Birmingham Policy Commission on Future Urban Living Recommendations Taking all of the evidence together, the Commissioners advocate the following six recommendations for change: Citizens should be empowered to combine with those who govern and