Definitions of business as usual
The Green Book, Central Government Guidance On Appraisal And Evaluation, Published by HM Treasury in 2018, suggests that Business As Usual (BAU): ‘…is the continuation of current arrangements as if the intervention under consideration were not to happen. This serves as a benchmark to compare alternative interventions.’
Guide for Effective Benefits Management in Major Projects, published by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority in October 2017, defines Business As Usual as: ‘The on-going operational environment.’
AR5 Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, Glossary, published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggests that: ‘Business as usual projections are based on the assumption that operating practices and policies remain as they are at present. Although baseline scenarios could incorporate some specific features of BAU scenarios (e.g., a ban on a specific technology), BAU scenarios imply that no practices or policies other than the current ones are in place. See also Baseline/reference, Climate scenario, Emission scenario, Representative Concentration Pathways, Scenario, Socioeconomic scenario, and SRES scenarios.’
[edit] Related articles
Featured articles and news
Plumbing and heating for sustainability in new properties
Technical Engineer runs through changes in regulations, innovations in materials, and product systems.
Awareness of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
What CBAM is and what to do about it.
The new towns and strategic environmental assessments
12 locations of the New Towns Taskforce reduced to 7 within the new towns draft programme and open consultation.
Buildings that changed the future of architecture. Book review.
The Sustainability Pathfinder© Handbook
Built environment agency launches free Pathfinder© tool to help businesses progress sustainability strategies.
Government outcome to the late payment consultation, ECA reacts.
IHBC 2025 Gus Astley Student Award winners
Work on the role of hewing in UK historic conservation a win for Jack Parker of Oxford Brookes University.
Future Homes Building Standards and plug-in solar
Parts F and L amendments, the availability of solar panels and industry responses.
How later living housing can help solve the housing crisis
Unlocking homes, unlocking lives.
Preparing safety case reports for HRBs under the BSA
A new practical guide to preparing structural inputs for safety cases and safety case reports published by IStructE.
Male construction workers and prostate cancer
CIOB and Prostate Cancer UK encourage awareness of prostate cancer risks, and what to do about it.
The changed R&D tax landscape for Architects
Specialist gives a recap on tax changes for Research and Development, via the ACA newsletter.
Structured product data as a competitive advantage
NBS explain why accessible product data that works across digital systems is key.
Welsh retrofit workforce assessment
Welsh Government report confirms Wales faces major electrical skills shortage, warns ECA.
A now architectural practice looks back at its concept project for a sustainable oceanic settlement 25 years on.
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence
Government report and back track on copyright opt out for AI training but no clear preferred alternative as yet.
Embedding AI tools into architectural education
Beyond the render: LMU share how student led research is shaping the future of visualisation workflows.
Why document control still fails UK construction projects
A Chartered Quantity Surveyor explains what needs to change and how.
Inspiration for a new 2026 wave of Irish construction professionals.
New planning reforms and Warm Homes Bill
Take centre stage at UK Construction Week London.