Association for Environment Conscious Building

The Association for Environment Conscious Building (AECB) is a network for sustainable building professionals in the United Kingdom. Some of whom are also members of the Club of Rome and the United Nations. Membership of the AECB includes local authorities, housing associations, builders, architects, designers, consultants and manufacturers. The association was founded in 1989 to increase awareness within the construction industry of the need to respect, protect, preserve and enhance the environment and to develop, share and promote best practice in environmentally sustainable building.

Low-carbon building

While the AECB recognises that all aspects of sustainability are important, it believes that climate change threatens to overwhelm its members' achievements in other areas. It is therefore currently focusing on trying to help reduce carbon emissions related to domestic and non-domestic buildings in the UK (around 50% of UK CO2 emissions – excluding flying – relate to buildings). The association believes that the Government's target of a 60% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 is too little, too late, and that a reduction of at least 85% is required to meet the challenges of climate change.

Low-carbon standards

To promote low-carbon building, the association has developed three advanced energy standards, in order to provide three steps to low energy and low carbon buildings achievable by the UK over the next 40 years. These standards are largely based on the methodology and principles underlying the German Passivhaus movement, developed by the Passivhaus Institut, and are also informed by American, Canadian, Scandinavian and European energy standards and various successful energy efficient building programmes. The standards themselves lie at the centre of a developing education and training programme which the AECB has called the 'Carbon Literate Design and Construction Programme' (CLP).