Poynton Bradbury Architects become RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge Signatories

Poynton Bradbury Architects recognise that we have a major role to play in fighting climate change as commercial buildings and homes make up 44% of Cornwall’s total carbon emissions. Embodied carbon associated with the extraction, manufacture, transportation, maintenance and disposal of materials account for a third of emissions in the built environment whilst operational energy accounts for two thirds of emissions. Whilst we aim to minimise our carbon footprint through the way our practice operates, there is no doubt that our building projects present the greatest opportunity for addressing the global climate crisis.

With this in mind, Poynton Bradbury Architects has now signed up to the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge alongside a growing body of other environmentally minded practices. The challenge provides a stepped approach towards reaching net zero carbon for both new and retrofitted buildings by 2030, a trajectory which provides a realistic prospect of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 under the Climate Change Act.

It enables us to integrate sustainability into the heart of our design process by assessing our projects against performance targets which aim to reduce operational energy, embodied carbon and potable water use and improve health and wellbeing. The practice has a Sustainability Working Group dedicated to carrying out these assessments, who then advise our clients on suitable strategies to improve building performance. These will not only present environmental benefits but offer clients social and economic benefits such as reduced lifetime running costs and improved occupant health and well-being.

We have produced a Client Sustainability Guide which we hope will help our clients to further understand the aims of the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge and what it means for their projects.