CLIMATE ACTION PAPER
“A green ethos would tick another big box for big corporations to invest in Belfast.”
RSUA’s Climate Action Paper is available at www.rsua.org.uk
NIB: How has the paper been received? AR: Reaction has been really good. We made a point to launch it at Stormont, in a kind of a symbolic gesture to say that we were at the centre of political change even though the people that should be there making the changes weren’t. Subsequently, I have been asked to present the paper on numerous different forums, such as NI Builder’s BUILDEX Belfast, but also at universities and real estate firms. People have found it interesting because the paper addresses the people who can actually make the changes and gives them the opportunity to take these calls to action on board, to include them in their own action plan. NIB: Is there a will for change in Northern Ireland? AR: The government departments certainly feel the pressure from the commercial sector. Large corporations
NIB: What does the RSUA Climate Emergency Committee anticipate for the near future? AR: The paper has been published,
have an agenda to lessen their impact on the environment, so they need to rent buildings that are green and environmentally friendly, for example. They can’t be seen to be working out of a bad building. Developers should also be able to borrow money more easily if their buildings are going to be greener. Normally legislation leads the change, but the commercial development sector is now demanding it; they want green buildings because they can rent them to the top corporations of the world. Belfast would benefit greatly from having Grade A buildings as a standard, for example. The city is interlinked with Europe and other parts of the UK and offers a great pool of knowledge and expertise. A green ethos would tick another big box for big corporations to invest here.
but we need to keep pushing these calls to action. If we don’t
start moving right now, the targets established by the Climate Change Act (NI) 2022 won’t be met. There is quite a lot to do between now and 2030. Building regulations are certainly going to change again as the sector will see our building envelopes perform better and better. By 2030, we will hopefully see a building standard that technically won’t need retrofitting in the future. However, the RSUA recognises this is a long-term strategy, and hopes this paper will assist in the development of plans to achieve the 2030 target and ultimately net zero by 2050.
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