Consultation on the Low Carbon Roadmap for the Built Environment Sector

An Taisce has called on Government to widen the scope of its ‘roadmap’ for the built environment sector. An Taisce’s submission noted the the narrow definition of the “Built Environment“ which is unfairly limited to considering energy use in particular categories of buildings only. The proposed roadmap, under its current scope, will omit land-use and transportation related emissions as a consideration under the built environment.

Spatial planning for land-use and transport plays a key role in helping shape our built environment and securing a transition to a low-carbon environment. It would be remiss of the Department to exclude such a key tenant in any roadmap for the built environment sector. While acknowledging several other roadmaps are currently being prepared by various other government departments, An Taisce stresses that attention must shift to creating holistic roadmaps which encompass all tenants of that sector instead of the current selective approach. Furthermore, the built environment sector needs to be galvinised with other sectors such as transport and energy generation sectors in order to meaningfully minimise vulnerability and provide resilience to the impacts of climate change.

It is not too late for the Department to widen the scope of this roadmap and set out a clear future for de-carbonising the built environment, with clear objectives from initials plans and policies in relation to spatial and strategic planning to the sourcing of materials and delivery and construction of a low carbon future.