Net Zero Carbon Building Standard Set for Launch by Late 2025
Starting January 2026, completed buildings will be eligible for verification under the upcoming Net Zero Carbon Building Standard. Endorsed by several leading professional bodies, including the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the standard is poised to become the benchmark for determining whether a building truly meets net zero carbon criteria.
A preliminary version of the standard was released in September, outlining 10 key aspects that will be assessed to verify a project’s net zero carbon status (detailed below).
To put the standard through its paces, it will now be piloted across 228 diverse projects throughout the UK. These projects span RIBA Stages 2 through 7 and include a wide range of building types—from residential housing and schools to offices, data centres, healthcare facilities, and laboratories.
Each participating project has contributed approximately £2,500 and will engage in a comprehensive testing process. This includes completing surveys, collecting performance data, participating in technical forums, and engaging in peer-to-peer learning activities—all aimed at rigorously evaluating the effectiveness and practicality of the new standard.
The pilot projects are anonymous, but the AJ understands that they include Benedetti Architects’ revamp of the RIBA headquarters is among them, as is a Studio Hive scheme to retrofit the Grade II-listed ‘erecting sheds’ at Silverthorne Lane in Bristol.
None of the pilots will obtain the standard as a result of their involvement.
UKNZCBS governance board chair David Partridge, who is also chair of developer Related Argent, told the AJ: ‘We are hoping that within six months we will capture enough data and feedback from all the projects, regardless of where they are and the different sorts of evidence [they offer].
‘That’s what we are trying to get out of this: enough data from real projects to ensure that when we publish version one … we have given it a real good tyre-kicking at every single stage and in every single sector.’
The UKNZCBS team are also preparing a tender for a verification administrator, so when the first version of the standard is published, there is already a system in place for finished buildings that have been occupied for a year to apply to get accreditation.
Partridge said the point of the UKNZCBS was ‘to avoid confusion, to avoid duplication [of work] and to avoid greenwash’. He added that a single industry-recognized standard would also help the financial sector to incentivize and invest in net zero carbon buildings.
He said he hoped the government would embrace the standard if it ever implements a Part Z of the Building Regulations or creates a law to ensure new buildings are net zero carbon.
https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/
#NetZero#CarbonNeutral#SustainableBuilding#GreenConstruction
