Mace Report Requests UK to Retrofit Existing Buildings

The report states that the current lack of focus on retrofit is a grave oversight

Construction and consultancy firm Mace has released a report titled ‘Transform & Renew - Making Non-domestic Buildings Fit for a Low Carbon Future’ which aims to promote the reuse and repurposing of existing non-domestic buildings. As part of the report, the UK construction industry and government need to “ramp up efforts to retrofit non-domestic buildings through a series of recommendations”. The firm also highlights that the government and construction industry should be “adopting the principle of ‘retrofit first’ – a presumption in favour of redevelopment in UK planning policy”. Existing non-domestic buildings represent 13 per cent of UK building stock but account for 23 per cent of carbon emissions from buildings, with more than 3.5million non-residential buildings requiring retrofit over the next 10 years.

The report also states that the lack of focus on non-domestic retrofit is a “grave oversight”, and outlines 12 recommendations to the UK government and the wider built environment industry to “turbocharge commercial and public sector building retrofitting”. It notes that introducing a ‘consideration of retrofit’ for every major planning application that involves demolition, would result in fewer schemes being suddenly halted in future – providing more certainty for developers and the wider industry. Demolition may be the best decision for a building, such as when the existing building was poorly designed or if it did not meet modern building safety standards. However, by explaining the need to demolish there would be greater assurance for stakeholders that sustainability has been considered, as per the report.

“Focus on retrofit in the UK by policymakers, quite rightly, has often been on the UK’s housing stock – but this has meant public and commercial buildings have often been overlooked. With over 1.75 million non-domestic buildings in the UK, the vast majority of which were built before 1970, it is critical that this imbalance is addressed to pursue positive, sustainable change,” says Jason Millett, CEO of Mace Consult. “From our work delivering decarbonisation and retrofit services around the world, we know that both public and private sector organisations face significant hurdles in delivering retrofit projects. Through the recommendations put forward in our paper, we want to support the government to take the steps required to empower the built environment to decarbonise existing estates with confidence and at pace.”

Gareth Lewis, CEO, Mace Construct, says, “If construction is to reduce its impact on the environment, we must aim to reuse and repurpose as much of our existing building stock as possible. Many buildings may not require demolition and can be transformed and renewed through retrofit into fantastic new assets, saving tonnes of embodied carbon in the process. We are therefore urging the government to mandate consideration of retrofit at the planning stage to avoid unnecessary demolition.”

“However, demolition can sometimes be necessary because of poor design or critical safety reasons, and it’s therefore important we avoid binary debates on new-build versus retrofit. If demolition is required, then the reasons for this should be made clear from the onset. Developers should also consider how elements of the building can be retained, reused or recycled – adopting a circular mindset to construction.”