Featured Insights

Why whole life carbon impact is critical for the National Planning Policy Framework
Only by understanding the full carbon impact of all planned developments, including embodied and operational carbon emissions, can the planning system begin to incentivise carbon neutral or – even better

BRE responds to the Net Zero Review
The UK Government has published the review of net zero targets and policy by former minister Chris Skidmore MP, which BRE fed into. The review is comprehensive, with sensible and

As energy bills rise, how can we tackle fuel poverty in the UK?
As energy bills continue to rise, the latest fuel poverty data, which we produced for the UK Government, reveals the household groups who are most at risk.

What does the Chancellor’s Spring statement mean for the built environment and net zero?
On Wednesday 23 March, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak MP issued his 2022 Spring Statement, setting out the state of the UK’s economy amidst rising inflation and a cost

How decarbonising the built environment is the key to meeting net zero
Gillian Charlesworth, CEO at BRE The climate change crisis is not just about power plants and car engines: our homes and buildings play a huge role in warming our planet.

What does the Levelling Up White Paper mean for the built environment and net zero?
Tuesday 2 February 2022 saw the publication of the UK Government’s long-awaited Levelling Up White Paper, setting out its plans to “spread opportunity and prosperity

Our response to the Levelling Up White Paper
The UK government published its Levelling Up White Paper. Our CEO, Gillian Charlesworth commented: "We welcome the White Paper’s intention to improve people’s wellbeing and standards of living by enhancing

In 2022 we must set our sights beyond compliance
Gillian Charlesworth, CEO at BRE As we come to the end of 2021 – a year of serious challenges probably few of us envisaged – where does sentiment currently lie

Fuel poverty and its impact on domestic energy consumption in England
Helen Garrett, Principal Consultant, BRE The Department for Business and Energy and Industrial Strategy has published a series of reports as part of the Energy Follow Up Survey (EFUS), a

The UK Heat and Buildings strategy. Does it go far enough?
After over a year of waiting, the UK government published the Heat and Buildings Strategy (HBS) alongside the Net Zero Strategy this week, which shows that the built environment is

Why we must act now on net zero
says Breana Wheeler, BRE's Director of US Operations The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) climate report has not only highlighted that global temperatures are likely to rise above

BRE celebrates 100 years of world class innovation in the built environment
Today sees BRE begin the celebrations of its centenary as a pioneer in the built environment. First formed in 1921 to carry out research into building materials and suitable methods

Challenges for the built environment: an ageing population
Following a trend across much of the developed world, the population of the UK is growing, and ageing. The UK population is projected to continue growing, reaching over 74 million

Sustainable finance and net zero: Why investors cannot afford to be left behind
Now is the time for businesses of all shapes and sizes to step up and take action to decarbonise their real estate assets, writes BRE Group's James Fisher. The value

Predicting service life of timber structures
Timber structures and commodities are exposed to several mechanisms that limit their service life. The term service life refers to the duration until a limit state is reached, i.e. when the performance is no longer deemed acceptable.

Aesthetics in architecture – how beauty and design are inspiring each other
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy concerning studies on the nature and expression of beauty or taste. The aesthetics of a building is one of the principal aspects considered in architecture. Changes in the appearance of materials can differ due to kinetics of the responses related to the material resistance as well as due to intensity of the degrading factors.