New industry event for the built environment sector targeting net zero and carbon reduction comes to Brighton in June.
Footprint+ is a new property event focusing on sustainability and reducing carbon emissions in buildings running from the 7th to the 9th June on Hove Lawns in Brighton.
Over 300 local authorities in the UK have declared a climate emergency and are actively taking action to reduce their own carbon emissions, as well as developing city, town and area-wide plans to tackle the climate challenge. Housing associations too are making decarbonisation a priority and are working hard to make existing homes significantly more efficient and deliver low and zero carbon new homes.
The impressive speaker line up at Footprint+ includes representatives from BEIS, the DLUHC, Energy Systems Catapult, CIBSE, Savills and the Green Finance Institute, as well as Oxford City Council, L&Q and Stonewater. Council and housing association members attending the conference will be able to hear about the latest government initiatives surrounding net zero and attend case study sessions showcasing low and zero carbon projects.
Some 3,000 visitors are expected across the three days. The conference will provide an opportunity for organisations right across the built environment spectrum, from industry bodies, local authorities and developers, to architects, consultants, suppliers and investors to come together to debate the net zero challenge and share best practice.
The conference programme consists of four streams — ‘Retrofit and the Circular Economy’, ‘Efficient Buildings’, ‘Zero Carbon Energy’ and ‘Financing the Carbon Revolution’.
Retrofit and reuse
According to a Construction Products Association Briefing Paper authored by Katherine Adams from Reusefully Ltd and Jane Thornback, Sustainability Policy Advisor at the CPA, five million tonnes of construction and demolition waste ends up in landfill. The aim of the ‘Retrofit and The Circular Economy’ conference stream is to challenge perceptions on reusing existing buildings. The sessions in this stream will highlight how retrofit projects can cut carbon emissions in use and save the embodied energy in buildings. They will also explore the principles of designing out waste and keeping products in use and how the construction sector can significantly cut its consumption of raw materials and reduce waste.
Stanhope, Morris+Company and ARUP will be delivering a session entitled ‘Repurposing existing buildings to save the embodied carbon’ in this stream, whilst Brighton and Gove City Council, Socius and ARUP will be discussing ‘Circular Cities: the potential for employment and wealth’.
Optimising building performance
In the ‘Efficient Buildings’ stream the focus will be very much on building operation and optimising building performance to reduce whole life carbon emissions. Lord Callanan, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will deliver the keynote speech on Tuesday 7th June on decarbonising homes and buildings. This will be followed by a session discussing the new proposed Part Z of the Building Regulations, relating to the mandatory reporting of carbon emissions in buildings and limiting embodies carbon emissions.
A case study session covering the ‘Leeds Climate Innovation District: Creating low carbon communities’ will explore the challenges and realities of establishing thriving low carbon communities. On day two of the conference Max Fordham, SNC-Lavalin — Atkins Global, the University of Oxford, Grosvenor and the Net Zero Carbon Lead at the Ministry of Justice will deliver a session on decarbonising existing estates.
Net Zero Carbon
Energy generation, decarbonisation of the National Grid and gas networks and defining zero carbon will be the focus of the Net Zero Carbon stream, with sessions covering for example the London Borough of Haringey’s Net Zero Action Plan, hydrogen technology, what zero carbon means in practice and achieving carbon neutral development at scale in Enfield.
Funding net zero
In the ‘Financing the Carbon Revolution’ stream, Turley, Longevity Partners and the Green Finance Institute will discuss the role of ESG investment in cutting carbon emissions, whilst Thakeham Group, Stonewater and Barclays Bank PLC will look at evolved funding models for the housing market and how public and private funders are facilitating the delivery of low and zero carbon housing developments.
Find out more about the event here: www.footprintplus.com
You can register for the event here. Use the code LABM10 for a 10% booking discount.
Header image ©nickos/AdobeStock
