OPINION
Tina Paillet, RICS President, addresses attendees at the RICS NI Conference, held recently in La Mon Hotel & Country Club, Belfast.
Tina Paillet, RICS President, is pictured third from left with RICS Northern Ireland board members.
Retrofit will be key to making Northern Ireland’s buildings less carbon intensive and less costly to run, and our residential retrofit standard, released earlier this year and effective from the end of October, is key to supporting professionals to deliver this. The retrofit standard comes as a response to a demand for high-quality, residential retrofit advice, spurred on by increasingly high energy prices and net- zero targets. It will provide a framework
process, only 1% of materials are reused, so there is huge potential to drive this forward and reuse valuable resources and materials in new developments and regeneration projects. Waste and resource depletion are environmentally destructive but, by reusing and recovering construction materials and products via deconstruction, we can not only preserve our natural resources, and divert more waste from landfill, we can also boost economic growth.
As RICS president, I continue to use my knowledge and experience to advocate for our industry. I will continue to encourage members and industry professionals to employ carbon measurement as part of day-to-day practice, and to also embrace a circular economy. Northern Ireland has a rich heritage, and a community of surveyors that are ready to face our climate crisis head on. RICS is committed to equipping these professionals with the tools and resources to adapt, upskill and respond to the challenges and opportunities that sustainability poses. By addressing the industry challenges that play a part in climate change, we can build a more sustainable future for local communities in Northern Ireland and beyond. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors promotes and enforces the highest professional qualifications and standards in the development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure. Tina Paillet FRICS is president of RICS and CEO and co-founder of Circotrade.
within which RICS members can provide guidance and advice on retrofit options in homes across the UK, in turn supporting the nationwide effort to decarbonise the residential property sector. Retrofitting and decarbonisation come hand in hand. Decarbonising buildings
RICS is also addressing the challenges that come
“In Northern Ireland, heating buildings alone is 38% of emissions.”
with the limited skilled workforce that the UK is currently facing. Across the board, we are stepping up our university and school engagement and we’ve seen enquiries about surveying careers increase ten-fold as a result. We must attract people into construction by sustained programmes of engagement with primary schools and secondary schools. The local government and industry need to join forces to tackle this ongoing issue. With a strong and growing workforce, we can do even more.
requires retrofitting measures. So, with these two guides working together, industry professionals have the tools to provide advice and guidance to influence on sustainability in the built environment. Contributing towards a circular economy is also a key driver in promoting sustainability. The circular economy is paramount in preserving our natural resources. In a standard demolition
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