An unusual conservation battle is brewing on Oxford Street, London’s busy shopping avenue as Marks and Spencer wants to knock down its flagship store while group of architects and local activists are mobilised to save the store… because of the climate.
image:Gary Rogers / Marks and Spencer. Commons Wikimedia https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Marks_and_Spencer_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1466040.jpg
…‘embodied carbon’ from the construction industry makes up a staggering 11% of global carbon emissions…
Time writes:
…To build a new building, you need materials like steel and concrete, the production of which releases vast amounts of carbon dioxide. And you also need lots of fossil-fueled energy to transport and assemble them. Critics say M&S—as the retailer is affectionately known in the U.K.—is about to throw away a perfectly good set of buildings (three make up the site, built in the 1930s, ‘60s and ‘80s), which could be refurbished instead. Unnecessary demolitions and re-builds, they argue, aren’t compatible with the U.K.’s target to rapidly cut greenhouse gas emissions by 78% by 2035, and reach net-zero by 2050.
“We can’t continue to develop in a 20th century fashion,’ says Simon Sturgis, an architect and environmental consultant. ‘Buildings are resources that we need to value: whether it’s a nice art deco structure or a pretty grim 1970s block, is not the point.”
In an unprecedented move, in April, the U.K.’s housing minister ordered a halt to M&S’ demolition while the government considers evidence over their redevelopment’s carbon footprint….
… in the last few years, as the urgency of cutting emissions has grown, attention has shifted to all the carbon emitted during construction, before a tenant even gets the keys to a building: this so-called “embodied carbon” from the construction industry makes up a staggering 11% of global carbon emissions according to the World Green Building Council (WGBC), a nonprofit.
