On Wednesday 5th June, Gillian Charlesworth, BRE’s new CEO, will bring together 20 senior decision makers, including politicians, civil servants, expert commentators and the SME built environment community, to discuss the specific factors facing Wales’ built environment. The discussion theme of the roundtable is “Delivering on the Decarbonisation agenda in the built environment in Wales”.

The specific factors that will be debated include geography, the state of the existing housing stock, available skills, regulation and policy pressures, with particular reference to the Well-being of Future Generations Act. The Act requires public bodies in Wales to think about the long-term impact of their decisions, in areas including poverty, ill health, poor air quality and job quality jobs, in a non-party political way.

Gillian Charlesworth, CEO, BRE, says: “The Act will have a huge impact on the built environment but equally, the sector has the ability to play a critical and positive role in the future of Wales – this includes the reduction in raw material consumption, lower levels of waste production, moving towards decarbonisation, providing secure and well-paid jobs, and building well-connected environments. I look forward to meeting with Wales’ key stakeholders and to hearing their thoughts on how we can work together productively to improve lives and enhance the nation’s well-being.” The built environment context to the roundtable includes:

• around 20% of houses in Wales are built by SMEs, who typically have fewer “Head-office” resources
• there is a shortfall in the number of houses being built compared to what is required^[1]
• any organisation receiving public funding for projects in Wales must demonstrate understanding as to how their projects will support the intentions of the Act.

Invited by Gillian Charlesworth, who took on the CEO role at the world’s leading building science centre on 21 May, she will be joined by her colleagues, Colin King, Director of BRE Wales and John O’Brien, Associate Director of Construction Innovation. Guests will include:

1. Aaron Hill, Public Affairs Manager, Community Housing Cymru
2. Ceri Doyle, CEO, Newport City Homes
3. Clare Sain-ley-Berry, Cynnal Cymru
4. Darrin Davies, Director of Development & Asset Investment, v2c
5. Gareth Nutt, Director of Environment, Neath Port Talbot Council
6. Joanna Rees, Blake Morgan
7. Martin Nicholls, Director of Place, Swansea Council
8. Matthew Kennedy, Policy & public affairs manager, Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru
9. Milica Kitson, Chief Executive, Constructing Excellence Wales
10. Phillip Jones, Project Manager, Low Carbon Built Environment
11. Ryan Stuckey, Programme Director Architectural Technology, School of Architecture, Built and Natural Environments
12. Simon McWhirter, Head of Engagement, Active Building Centre
13. Sioned Hughes, Principal Consultant, Altair

BRE’s mission is to improve the built environment through research, standards and knowledge generation. The company is hosting a series of invitation-only influencer roundtables around the UK, entitled “What Kind of Britain are we Building?”. Swansea is the sixth in the series and will draw on ideas from previous conversations, engage and build on the inter-sectional mix of insight and delve deep into the key issues facing Wales’ and the UK’s current and future built environment.

• London was the first in the series of roundtables, a podcast and summary can be found here
• Edinburgh was the second in the series, participant video interviews are available to view here
• Manchester was the third in the series, participant video interviews are available to view here
• Coventry was the fourth in the series and outputs will be available soon
• Belfast was the fifth in the series and outputs will be available soon

- Ends -

For press information, to arrange interviews with the BRE roundtable participants or for additional comment please contact:

BRE’s press office on pressoffice@bregroup.com or +44 (0)1923 664455.

Notes to Editors

About BRE

BRE is the world’s leading building science centre. Our sustainability, safety and security services, the BRE Academy and our Innovation Centres, are used by our customers to deliver on their social, environmental and economic goals.

We are committed to developing knowledge on every aspect of the built environment and we set the standards for the way buildings, homes and communities are made to keep people safe, protect the environment, make buildings affordable and to create places where people want to live, work and play www.bregroup.com @BRE_Group

[1] It is estimated that on average, between 6,700 and 9,700 additional housing units will be required annually in Wales between 2018/19 to 2022/23 (with a central estimate of 8,300). During the 12 months to the end of December 2018, a total of 5,819 new dwellings were completed. This is down by 15% on the 12 months to December 2017 https://gweddill.gov.wales/statistics-and-research/housing-need-and-demand/?lang=en