Building for a greener future

In a few weeks' time, world leaders will meet in Copenhagen to negotiate a new treaty to cut greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming.

With climate change taking place more quickly than initially expected, there is more and more pressure on each one of us to reduce our carbon footprint.

Last year, homes accounted for some 27 per cent of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions. The offices, factories, distribution depots, schools and stores in which we work, learn and shop were responsible for a further 18 per cent. All in, almost half the 532 million tonnes of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from the UK came from buildings.

Promoting sustainable building has been a key priority for the South West RDA since it was established a decade ago and it has recently been nominated for a sustainability award by the UK Green Building Council.

Across the South West there is now a group of cutting-edge sustainable buildings and projects that we hope will inspire greater community and industry interest in low carbon construction. They range from housing developments, retail centres and office buildings to community spaces and innovation centres, and extend to both new build and regeneration of historical buildings and sites.

One of the early green buildings in which the agency was involved was Somerset's Genesis Centre. A revolutionary building in itself, made from recycled materials and including solar and biomass power generation, it houses a sustainable construction learning centre for the South West.

Since then several projects, led or supported by the RDA, have won the "excellent" rating from Breeam, the leading international environmental assessor of buildings.

Features that help achieve a Breeam "excellent" standard include solar or wind power generation, biomass boilers, rainwater harvesting, natural ventilation, use of recycled materials and access to public transport.

In Bristol, the Environment Agency's new headquarters, due to open in late 2010, is the UK's greenest office building – having achieved the highest ever Breeam rating. Elsewhere in the city, Knowle West Media Centre, part funded by the RDA, is the largest straw bale building in Europe. It's as hardwearing and strong as a traditional brick building, with greatly improved insulation and therefore lower carbon emissions.

Other ecological features include a woodchip boiler and a system that collects rainwater which is used for flushing toilets.

In an era of high energy prices, companies and individuals are increasingly discovering that low carbon can also mean lower cost, with the most efficient new buildings capable of more than halving the usual running costs.