We support the Fridays for Future movement and the global climate strike which is raising awareness of climate justice and the Most Affected Peoples and Areas (MAPA) who are experiencing the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

Not all of us will be taking to the streets this year, as we have instead organised AECB-accredited Passivhaus training to equip our staff with the appropriate tools to shift our work towards net zero operational carbon.

As a Practice, we have shifted to designing all our housing projects to Passivhaus standard as the default. Rather than a client having to ask us to pursue this, they would need to instruct us not to do so. This includes many exciting schemes that are on the drawing board, such as Melfield Gardens in Lewisham, Plashet Road in Newham and Carlton Dene in Westminster.

The construction and operation of the built environment currently contributes to over 40% of all UK CO2 emissions. It is clear that reducing the energy consumed by buildings, by designing them to be efficient in the first place through Passivhaus design, will play a huge role in addressing our sector’s contribution to the climate crisis.

As many of you will have read in the news, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published a report demonstrating that climate change is already happening and that some of these effects are now ‘irreversible’.

It expressed the urgency to rapidly decarbonise and move towards zero carbon. It has been described as ‘code red for humanity’ and as individuals and professionals we play a huge role in making this possible.