Nine ‘myths’ about the building stock of Great Britain

The National Buildings Database (NBD) has been delivered to the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). This covers the complete population of 2.2 million non-domestic premises and 30 million dwellings in Great Britain (but not Northern Ireland). Each is modelled in detail, in three dimensions, using the 3DStock method. Actual annual meter data are attached. This paper outlines some of the myths about the building stock—its composition, representation, age, total floor area, activity classification and energy use—that the authors have encountered in their 20 years of working on stock models, consumption of energy and strategies for decarbonisation. The NBD can dispel these myths and the confusion they cause if they are unknowingly perpetuated. Nine myths are described and disproved based on arguments and data from the NBD. Light is thrown on the true nature of the British building stock, in particular non-domestic and mixed-use buildings. New perspectives and methods of analysis are possible with a database that covers all buildings.

POLICY RELEVANCE

The NBD has been designed to support better evidenced development and targeting of policies and regulation on buildings. It allows for specific segments and subsets of the stock to be analysed. The rich detail combining geometry, building attributes, and activity allows for policy options to be developed and assessed based on the actual premises and their features. The spatial nature of the data allows for localised energy planning and decarbonisation action. Some of the ‘myths’, if acted on, could lead to wasteful or misdirected policies. Examples are given, including one that directly illustrates a case of the NBD being used to correct previous policy assumptions. The NBD makes it possible to avoid these dangers. Data from the NBD have been made publicly available, so that local authorities, community groups, and consulting and industrial firms can have a firmer statistical basis on which to make policies and plans.