The first construction sector climate guide is to be produced, allowing for guided management of climate change risks in land development
The Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) and RSK Geosciences will produce a first-of-its-kind construction sector climate guide.
The guide will help to manage climate change geo-related impacts and liabilities for land development.
CIRIA appointed RSK Geosciences to prepare the guide
The RSK group will draw expertise from their companies, including Nature Positive, ADAS Climate and Sustainability, and the Water Research Centre.
The result will be a comprehensive good-practice guide on climate change, adaptation, resilience, and mitigation.
CIRIA senior research manager and sustainable land reuse programme lead, Joanne Kwan, said: “There is no doubt that our climate is changing at a speed that is affecting our built environment. Extreme weather events, in particular, may necessitate modifications to design to mitigate impact on the long-term suitability and function of the development of both brownfield and greenfield sites. Getting it wrong could be costly.
“CIRIA’s new project 3266, ‘A good practice guide for managing climate change geo impacts and liabilities for land developments’, will produce the first UK comprehensive guide to manage climate change risk in land development projects in a balanced and sustainable manner. The guidance also aims to reduce delays in the programme and additional costs in land development projects caused by changing climate and extreme weather events.”
The guide is being backed by Heathrow Airport
The development of the guide has several funding supporters, including GB Card and Partners, John F Hunt, Mott Macdonald, Natural Resources Wales, Tesco, Wales & West Utilities, and Heathrow Airport.
Heathrow Airport master planning manager, Michael Murphy, said: “Climate change is impacting everyone. That’s why we chose to support this upcoming guidance. It equips the construction sector with the tools to balance sustainability and project efficiency. The need for the assessment and management of risk from climate change and extreme weather events are becoming increasingly clear. We must protect our newly constructed and legacy infrastructure from the potentially damaging effects of the increasingly visible changing climate effects.
Addressing geo-related risks will ensure harm mitigation
“This is clearly needed and this document with help drive good practice guidance to the land development sector driven by government policy including the National Planning Policy Framework, Environment Agency guidance, and Law Society guidance covering the entirety of land development and transactional processes. The projected adverse effects of climate change and extreme weather events on geo-environmental and geotechnical hazards and the potential for harm to human health, our environment, and buildings and infrastructure needs to be understood.
“We are therefore supporting the development of this good practice guidance to provide a framework by which stakeholders across the land development sector can understand the geo-related risks from climate change and extreme weather events, ensure that harm is mitigated where possible, and that development adaptation remains risk-based and proportionate.”
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