UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard: Pilot Version - Overview

From September 2022 until June 2024 Duncan Baker-Brown was a member of the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard Governance Board. Duncan's role was to represent the interests of the 48,000 members of the Royal Institute of British Architects. The RIBA was one of the rounding partners for this ground-breaking initiative - it is one of the only occasions where the mayor construction industry institutions partnered with carbon-literate research and campaigning organisations to develop a set of rules by which the huge construction industry can apply its meagre whole life carbon budget to ensure the UK meets its net zero carbon targets.

Since the Standard’s inception in early 2022, this initiative has united our industry behind the vision of creating a net zero carbon standard that the built environment could rally behind. The Standard’s aim is to create clarity, provide technical rigour, and drive the decarbonisation our planet needs. The Standard is science led. It is based on enabling the UK built environment to stay true to its share of the national carbon and energy budgets, which align with limiting global average temperature increases to 1.5॰C. It covers all of the UK’s major building sectors, providing a clear set of requirements for buildings to be classified as Net
Zero Carbon Aligned, along with information on how to evidence and report this.

It is both “Top-Down” and “Bottom-Up”. The Standard’s limits have been created by balancing apportioned national carbon and energy budgets with real, measured data on what is achievable, and expert insights on decarbonisation potential across the building stock. It’s an in-use Standard, meaning that buildings can only claim to be Net Zero Carbon Aligned once they’ve been occupied and in use for at least a year, with measured in-use building performance data. The creation of the Standard Pilot Version wouldn’t have been possible without incredible efforts from our Founding Organisations, support team, and volunteers. Their collaboration, dedication and technical brilliance has been hugely appreciated.