Coventry University is to launch a new Low Impact Buildings
Centre (LIBC) as part of its radical vision for how sustainable
construction will help industry deliver the UK's carbon reduction
targets.
The LIBC will be launched on Wednesday 12th October at the
University's Technology Park on Puma Way, and will become the base
for the University's Low Impact Buildings Grand Challenge - an
industry-led research programme dedicated to fostering
energy-efficiency in the built environment.
The event will be hosted by Sir John Egan, chancellor of
Coventry University and chair of the construction industry task
force which produced Re-thinking Construction, a report on the
scope for improving the quality and efficiency of UK
construction.
Speakers will include Paul King, chief executive of the UK Green
Building Council; Mark Gaterell, professor of sustainable
construction and director of the LIBC; Neil Jefferson, chief
executive of the Zero Carbon Hub; Malcolm Bell, professor of
surveying and sustainable housing at Leeds Metropolitan University;
and George Martin, head of sustainable development and director of
Willmott Dixon.
The overarching aim of the LIBC is to address the key challenges
identified by the government's Low Carbon Construction Action Plan
published in June 2011, with a focus on:
· developing an affordable
and robust plan to facilitate a step change in the UK's journey to
a low carbon built environment;
· reducing the construction
industry's cost base through innovative procurement and
construction practice;
· identifying the
'performance gap' between building design and operational
performance;
· encouraging the integration
whole-life financial and carbon costing into the decision-making
processes for both new and refurbished buildings;
· addressing the low carbon
skills agenda through continuous professional development,
specialised trade training and taught undergraduate and
postgraduate degree programmes.
Coventry University's Low Impact Buildings Grand Challenge is
already engaged in a broad applied research programme into
sustainable construction, including exploring behavioural attitudes
towards energy efficiency, developing and testing novel building
materials and using technology to monitor and control building
environments.
The University is leading by example, with its recent
£150m campus redevelopment featuring two state-of-the-art
buildings each set to achieve BREEAM Excellent status, the highest
'green' credential from the world's foremost environmental
assessment and rating system for buildings.
Mark Gaterell, professor of sustainable construction at Coventry
University and director of the Low Impact Buildings Centre,
said:
"The Low Impact Building Centre's focus will be to provide
knowledge and skills for efficient and effective construction
methodologies, delivering affordable solutions and innovation to
industry for both new build and also for the even greater challenge
for the low carbon retrofit of the existing stock.
"The Government knows what the gaps are in establishing a low
carbon construction sector and our Grand Challenge is being
designed specifically to address those issues, including resource
efficiency, occupant health, ethical sourcing, affordability and
the appropriate use of materials."
George Martin, head of sustainable development and director of
Willmott Dixon, said:
"The challenges posed by the climate crunch, carbon crunch and
the credit crunch are a key focus for the UK's built environment
sector. The LIBC has an enormous opportunity to address all three
of these issues by developing robust carbon reduction solutions
that address not only mitigation and adaptation, but also help with
the creation of 'green' jobs and protect us from the inevitable
future rise in the cost of fossil fuels."
The Low Impact Building Centre launch event will be held at 2pm
at the TechnoCentre on Coventry University's Technology Park,
situated on Puma Way in the centre of Coventry.
For more information and to register for the event, please visit
http://www.coventry.ac.uk/liblaunch.