Nottingham Trent University (NTU) have opened a £1.5m Centre for Sustainable Construction and Retrofit to help the sector reach net zero
The university has created the Centre for Sustainable Construction and Retrofit to help develop new solutions and skills to transition to net zero within the built environment. This will allow NTU to deliver skills training, socio-technical research, and business consultancy opportunities.
“Net-zero by 2050 presents a huge challenge to the construction sector, which accounts for up to 50 per cent of carbon emissions,” said Professor Richard Bull, deputy dean of the School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, who is leading the project.
“An absence of skills, knowledge and expertise threatens to derail plans for the UK’s important net-zero targets. But this ground-breaking centre will enhance how existing buildings and new construction can meet those all-important climate change objectives,” he continued.
NTU is a leader in sustainability research
NTU has a strong track record of sustainability projects such as the ‘Scale-up Retrofit 2050’ whitepaper report, which argued for introducing a nationwide programme to improve the energy efficiency of existing homes using deep retrofit.
The university’s REMOURBAN project outlined the benefits of deep retrofit and was featured in the UK Built Environment Virtual Pavilion at COP26.
NTU followed this up with the ‘scaling-up deep retrofit for social landlords’ pilot project, which was backed by the Energy Saving Trust and featured collaboration with the ARC Partnership and Nottingham City Council.
The Centre for Sustainable Construction and Retrofit will not only research how the built environment sector can reach net zero. Still, it will also seek to address the retrofit skills shortage by creating new courses and offering consultancy to businesses.
When is the Centre for Sustainable Construction and Retrofit opening?
The Centre for Sustainable Construction and Retrofit will open on November 14 at the University’s Newton Building, City Campus. The event is open to policymakers, business leaders, academics, and students.
A panel will discuss the challenges the built environment must overcome to achieve net zero by 2050. Speakers from NTU, Nottinghamshire County Council, Green Growth, Investment and Assets, Arup, Focus Consultants, Spenbeck, and Morgan Sindall will be at the event.
The event will be opened by Professor Richard Emes, NTU Pro-Vice-Chancellor – Research and Innovation, and closed by Dr Andrew Knight, Executive Dean of the School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment.
“NTU has a well-earned reputation for sustainability in the built environment, and our research in housing retrofit, in particular, has a strong track record,” commented Professor Bull.
“We plan to develop new ways to support industry, to help them learn the new skills needed to retrofit existing properties en masse, and create new buildings sustainably,” he concluded.
