Insights How Isabelle and the Building Design team are achieving Net Zero

Who are you and what do you do?

I am an associate director for our Building Design team and I lead our Net Zero Buildings and Cities team. I have been with Atkins for 8 years, starting as a graduate in our Dubai office before moving to the UK a few years ago.

What inspired you to take an active interest in energy?

Studying as both an architect and a sustainability engineer, I have always focussed my work around delivering sustainable building design across various markets. Buildings account for more than one-third of global carbon emissions and it’s vital we prioritise net zero buildings today to protect our planet and future generations. I believe it’s our role as engineers and designers to decarbonise our built environment and ensure that as an industry, we innovate and futureproof to meet the rapidly changing climate.

What kind of energy projects have you been involved in professionally?

In the UK and abroad, I have worked to reduce the energy consumption of buildings in a variety of markets and typologies. More recently this has been focussed on operational and embodied carbon, designing new build, and retrofit interventions to meet net zero. I have also worked on several net zero roadmaps for both the public and private sectors, helping our clients decarbonise their existing portfolios and creating an action plan for them to achieve their carbon reduction targets.

I work with cross-industry partners to upskill and futureproof the construction industry to meet net zero commitments, contributing to multiple policy and best practice guides across a number of typologies to advise clients and designers on how to achieve Net Zero.

What do you think the biggest change to the energy sector will be in our lifetime?

We know that every building on the planet must be net zero by 2050 to keep global warming below 2oC. Currently less than 0.1% of our buildings are net zero, and those that are, tend to be new build where achieving net zero is significantly easier. In the UK, 70% of the buildings standing in 2050 are already in existence today. Therefore, we must find a way to decarbonise our existing building stock. Whilst we’re beginning to see major shifts, this is a huge ask and one that the industry and governments are still grappling with along with changing our global society’s behaviour to energy use and consumerism.

 Everyone has their favourite form of energy production, what’s yours?

Solar is my favourite, as the sun provides more energy than we will ever need. The only limitation is our ability to turn it into electricity in an efficient and cost-effective way. Last year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) confirmed that solar is now the cheapest electricity in history. Pairing these low prices with the scalability and ease of installation of solar technology, we have an established and growing market which could provide a solution to energy production and fuel poverty around the world.

 Just for fun… You get to design your own spaceship. What fuel source do you use?

I would use discarded single-use plastics.