SPONSOR CPD PROGRAMME Seeking net zero in the built environment Continuing professional development (CPD) is the regular maintenance, improvement and broadening of your knowledge and skills, to maintain professional competence. It is a requirement of CIBSE and other professional bodies. This Journal CPD programme can be used to meet your CPD requirements. Study the module and answer the questions on the final page. Each successfully completed module is equivalent to 1.5 hours of CPD. Modules are also available at www.cibsejournal.com/cpd This module considers recent and forthcoming guidance aimed at helping the UK to achieve net zero in the built environment The recent, unprecedented, high outdoor temperatures and widespread flooding around the world have provided a stark reminder that climate change and global heating is not pausing as the world looks towards a 2050 deadline for carbon neutrality. The built environment in the UK and around the world is increasingly committing to achieve net zero buildings. This CPD will consider recent and forthcoming guidance from a collection of concerned professionals and institutions in the UK that is aimed at improving understanding of metrics, methods and validation, in order to move from good intentions towards realistic, effective action. Most countries and many corporations are already grappling with mitigation measures, and seeking long-term solutions to avert the climate crisis, while also maintaining a handle on pandemic control.1 The built environment is responsible for much of the worlds energy use and carbon emissions, and many nations including those of the UK have set what appear to be challenging targets on the path to limit climate change. However, it may be that the route is paved with good intentions, misunderstanding or, potentially, meaningful obfuscations, and the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) working group 3 report Mitigation of Climate Change2 did little to inspire confidence in progress so far. To keep global warming to no more than 1.5K as called for in the Paris Agreement3 emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.4 The UN puts it simply: Net zero means cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions re-absorbed from the atmosphere, by oceans and forests, for instance.5 The provision of energy including electricity transport, manufacturing, buildings, fugitive emissions and other fossil fuels is most significant, accounting for 75% of global emissions in 2018.6 The building and construction sector, an inveterate user of energy, accounted for 36% of global final energy consumption and 37% of energy-related CO2 emissions in 2020.7 Although the UN encapsulates the task ahead in those few words, a quick Google search will uncover hundreds, if not thousands, of interpretations of how this translates in terms of the built environment, and what is needed to move towards a net zero existence for our buildings in a timely manner. The publication of five short briefing documents8 by LETI (see panel, LETI), in conjunction with the UK Green Building Council, Better Buildings Partnership, Good Homes Alliance, the Royal Institute of British Architects and CIBSE, sets out the foundation of contemporary UK knowledge and thinking. The documents described in the boxout provide a base on which to develop a better understanding of the issues and mechanisms involved in the development of net zero built environments. The reformational proposals in these documents and the ensuing industry consultation, reviews and questions raised on the facts, assertions, developments and interpretations have stimulated the publication of answers to a set of 27 frequently asked questions (FAQs). These have been evolved from a survey undertaken by CIBSE and LETI in late 2021, specifically www.cibsejournal.com September 2022 89 CIBSE Sept 22 pp89-92 CPD 201.indd 89 26/08/2022 14:57