Isramart : In UK, demolition equals carbon reduction

Isramart news:
Meeting the UK’s tough new carbon emissions standards may necessitate demolishing buildings from the 1960s and ‘70s according to Chief Construction Adviser Paul Morrell. He said due to the poor construction practices of the era, it is not possible to refurbish the buildings to a high enough standard.

Morrell, appointed to the position in November 2009, is currently engaged in a study of how the UK construction industry can reduce its carbon output to help meet the Government nds.coi.gov.uk target of cutting national emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

“In the sixties, everything was built cheaper, faster and nastier. If you are going to try to fix buildings, then really you won’t have too many problems with anything built earlier than the fifties or after the eighties,” Morrell said.

“Although you can do some things to buildings from the sixties and seventies, like replacing the roofs, there are probably some places that need to come down entirely. The buildings that pose the most difficulties are semi-industrialized, highly inefficient, badly insulated and so ugly that they are not worth refurbishing,” he added.

The chief construction adviser singled out places such as Newcastle upon Tyne as a problem area due to a lot of poorly-constructed buildings being put up in the city centre.