COMMENT Amid one crisis, it can be easy to forget about another. Now, even as Covid-19 continues to spread across the world, we cannot ignore the growing climate crisis. New research by the BCO, titled The Resilient Workplace, explores how our profession will be impacted by climate change – and what we can do about it.
The research calls for “resilience”. To be resilient, an organisation must not only look to mitigate their own impacts, they must at same time adapt to our changing climate. However, this adaptation is not taking place. Our research found that while 95% of office sector professionals are worried about climate change’s impact on their buildings, just 42% are taking any steps to adapt their buildings and none of this is based on the latest climate science. Much more needs to be done.
Finance first
Let’s start with our industry’s financing. As a first step, asset managers need to understand and disclose the level of climate risk their portfolios are exposed to. This can be done using a range of tools, such as the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) and Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), which allow investors to better assess and price those risks and opportunities. Using this data, asset managers and investors can decide how to best manage risk within their existing portfolios, and their exposure to risk in future investments.
Office buildings and infrastructure will need to be adapted for new climates. Consider flooding. New data projections from the UKCP18 show that large swathes of the UK face an increased risk from flash flooding. Ideally, high risk areas will be avoided. Meanwhile, designs in areas of risk will need to adapt. These offices should feature landscaping that mitigates flooding and retains rainwater. Meanwhile, lower value areas, such as car parks, should be designed to be sacrificial, with clear clean-up plans for when the inevitable happens. We also need to consider the surrounding infrastructure in terms of access and utilities. There is no point in having a resilient building if no one can get to it or it is without potable water or power. Beyond flooding, designs also need to consider how their structures are protected against increased wind loadings and greater ground movements.
Inside, office designs will need to be significantly adapted to protect workers and their wellbeing, which will be greatly impacted by the environment. Offices will need to keep occupants cool while ensuring that the air they breathe is clean. Without adaptation, we risk a negative cycle of ever-increasing cooling requirements, leading to greater energy usage and carbon emissions. Thankfully, a range of measures already exists. Practical adaptations include reducing heat gains from equipment and solar gains by ensuring that buildings are not ‘overly glazed’. In fact, fully glazed sealed buildings are likely to become toxic or stranded assets in the near future owing to their high operating cost and poor indoor environments. Office designs should enable good airflow to keep occupiers cool with healthy, fresh air.
Diversifying supply chains
Finally, offices must be made resilient during their construction. The construction of a building involves the laborious assembly of thousands of materials from dozens of suppliers by hundreds of people, often while exposed to the weather. Construction supply chains should be diversified so that they mitigate against climate risk.
Onsite, work should be planned so that workers avoid labouring during extreme weather, with contracts adapted to cover for any delays this may cause. And, where possible, the adoption of offsite and prefabrication methods could ensure that work is undertaken in a controlled environment, rather than at the mercy of the elements.
It is essential that we act and adapt now. There are many ways our sector and our buildings can adapt. However, we must start applying them. No longer can we rely on old data, old solutions and old offices. Instead, the 21st century requires us to be far more adaptive – and far more resilient.
Simon Wyatt is a partner at Cundall and author of the BCO’s The Resilient Workplace report
