The Prince’s Foundation, with partners Kellogg College, Oxford and the Global Centre on Healthcare and Urbanisation, launched a report in September 2022 compiling the evidence on Building Towards Net Zero Carbon Homes to make the strong case for creating Regional Building Hubs in order to scale up low-carbon legacy projects.
The report notes that the creation of Regional Building Hubs could address the current economic and environmental constraints faced when building or upgrading houses today. The report outlines how these Regional Hubs could assist the sourcing of building materials at a more local level, building local capacities and economies whilst reducing carbon footprints. They would enable small to medium-sized builders to access projects that are local to them, working with local landowners, and improving skills supply chains and the quality of the homes. Regional Building Hubs would create an entirely new system and process of housing building, which it seems the construction industry desperately needs to meet current housing targets in a sustainable and cost-effective manner.
Over six hundred research projects and analyses were examined to explore the effects of fuel poverty; household energy efficiency; indoor air quality; embodied energy, and the ‘hidden’ costs of construction in relation to Net Zero goals for buildings. Similar to the findings of the Commission on Creating Healthy Cities report, the evidence shows that the direct and indirect outcomes of sustainable construction translates to healthier people living in healthier places, increasing the benefits and lowering the costs across economic, social, and ecological contexts.
With thanks to our contributors; Dr Brenda Boardman, Research Fellow at University of Oxford, Ben Bolgar, Executive Director from The Prince’s Foundation and David Howard Co-Director of GCHU, our case studies; Elite NuGEN, The Duchy of Cornwall, Travis Perkins and SNRG, the research team at GCHU; Chloe Curtis, Eleanor Cosford, Juan Valencia, Lucy Main and Michael O’Connor, and the editorial team Yanelle Cruz Bonilla and Alice Preston-Jones.