The green-house challenge

WITH the built environment currently generating about 40% of the UK’s carbon footprint, making housing more sustainable is an urgent issue, but one that’s proving tricky to tackle. ‘I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that decarbonising the UK housing stock is one of the largest challenges the country faces,’ Sophie Chick of Savills noted at an April webinar on property and carbon.

Although efforts to reduce the environmental impact of new-builds are progressing apace, existing stock is harder to improve. Emissions could be halved through renovations that accelerate the move away from fossil fuels towards renewable sources, as well as boosting energy efficiency