Torridon’s Director David Shaw joins UKGBC task group to accelerate commercial retrofit

We are excited to announce that Torridon’s Director, David Shaw, has joined a task group assembled by the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) to support their mission of accelerating commercial retrofit initiatives. This multidisciplinary group of industry experts will work together to reduce the carbon footprint of commercial buildings, which currently accounts for nearly a quarter of the UK’s built environment emissions.

The increasing demand for sustainable office spaces and the growing evidence that real estate assets with strong sustainability credentials attract higher capital values and rents make it more critical than ever for the UK property sector to speed up commercial retrofit programmes. In fact, according to UKGBC member JLL, sustainable office buildings are likely to generate more interest from occupiers due to lower operating and energy costs.

The UKGBC has initiated a new project to deepen the understanding of the carbon and cost-effectiveness of various retrofit measures for commercial assets. This project will explore how to overcome common industry challenges and expand on the UKGBC’s recent guide, ‘Delivering Net Zero: Key considerations for Commercial Retrofit’. It will also provide more detailed guidance on retrofit strategies for different asset types and tangible measures.

David Shaw and the other 30+ experts in the Task Group will support UKGBC in evaluating common retrofit measures for different types of office properties, aiming to provide a roadmap to achieving net-zero carbon. The group will assess real-world case studies in the UK to understand the effectiveness of retrofit measures and identify valuable lessons learned. The findings of this study are expected to be published in late summer 2023.

Torridon are committed to fostering a more sustainable built environment and eagerly anticipate the insights and recommendations that will emerge from this collaborative effort.