With Northern Ireland having a devolved government back in place, one of the key things we need from policy makers and society at large is an increased focus on working towards net zero amid the climate crisis we are facing.
This includes in our residential housing stock, which is aging and largely energy inefficient, and in our sizeable public estate.
This should be led by government, but all stakeholders, including chartered surveyors, have their part to play.
As surveying professionals, we have a duty to provide clear cut, accurate advice on these matters and RICS is working hard to provide the tools and standards to enable us to do so to best effect.
In this respect, Rics has just launched a new Residential Retrofit Standard to support the nationwide effort to decarbonise the residential property sector.
This new standard comes as a response to a demand for high quality, residential retrofit advice, spurred on by increasingly high energy prices and UK government net-zero targets, and will provide a framework within which RICS members can advise their customers on retrofit options in homes.
The standard ensures that consumers receive advice from skilled, regulated professionals and ultimately protects the public interest by upholding high standards in a growing market. It is intended to be applied and understood across the residential sector and is the only one of its kind designed to support surveyors and provide assurance to both consumers and lenders.
It comes as Rics has also launched two new guides for its Whole Life Carbon Assessment (WLCA) standard. The new ‘Global harmonisation framework for whole life carbon assessment’ and ‘Whole Life Carbon Assessments – a guide for clients’ guides are designed to facilitate understanding, endorsement, and adoption of the standard in markets across the world.
Whilst it’s encouraging to see that there has been increased adoption of the Whole Life Carbon Assessment from public sector bodies, Rics hopes that it can work with the Executive to drive further understanding and implementation of the standard, as well as the new Residential Retrofit Standard, as part of its work to minimise the impact of climate change.
Sustainability is at the centre of what we will do at Rics going forward, and we are encouraging professionals to embed net-zero carbon targets as industry standard in both decision making and procurement approaches, in order to build a sustainable future for society.
As a professional body, Rics recognises we are custodians of our built and natural environment and our rich history and heritage in Northern Ireland.
We will continue to champion the importance of the built and natural environment as both a key economic driver and in the role it plays in promoting a sustainable regional economy. Working closely with the Executive is a key part of this.
- Martin Doherty is chair of the Northern Ireland regional board at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics)
