What's new?

All sections are reviewed biannually by expert authors. The major section updates are below.

BREEAM

Minor updates have been made throughout this section to reflect NC version 6.1, published in June 2023, with the most extensive changes to the page on BREEAM schemes.

Brownfield developments

This section has been comprehensively updated throughout to bring it into line with current UK policy, and out-of-date material has been removed.

Building climate resilience

Developments at COP27 are covered in updates to pages on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and The future of climate resilience.

Climate change: adaptation and mitigation

A brief update to The global context reflects the publication of the IPCC AR6 synthesis report.

Ecological considerations

Natural capital and ecosystem services and Legislation, planning and advice have been slightly amended to reflect recent legislation and regulation, while two older case studies have been replaced with more recent examples.

Environmental management and policy

Minor revisions have been made throughout the section to bring it up to date.

Sustainable management of the UK government estate

Material in Government requirements for sustainability and Sustainability and the government's estate has been revised to reflect the publication of the State of the Estate 2021–2022 report and the Government Property Strategy 2022–2030, while the section on Sustainability now includes coverage of COP27.

Social value

This section has been updated to cover changes since Brexit and new UK government policy and guidance.

Waste management

UK landfill tax rates have been updated.

Whole life carbon

A comprehensive review and update of this section concentrates on the background to Global warming and Climate change and the built environment.

RICS initiatives

iConsult

See iConsult to review the latest RICS consultation drafts.

This page was last updated November 2023.