ENERGY ENGINEERING KNOWLEDGECITY SUPPLIEMENT ENERGY


tune Change of


Regulators in Europe and the UK have shifted the emphasis subtly, but signifi cantly, from cutting carbon to saving energy. This is a profound change that gives CIBSE an opportunity to infl uence policy in the UK, says Ewen Rose


With the Eurozone in crisis and the rest of the world struggling to recover from the worst recession since the 1930s, it is hard to justify simply throwing money at low carbon solutions


politicians. They still want to save the world, but possibly a little more slowly, and they don’t want to pay for it. Cutting carbon is relatively easy if you can


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afford to deploy renewable technologies with little thought for energy effi ciency. It is nice and carbon friendly, but it is also fi endishly expensive and, with the Eurozone in crisis and the rest of the world struggling to recover from the worst recession since the 1930s, it is hard to justify simply throwing money at low carbon solutions. The Chancellor George Osborne has made


no secret of the fact that carbon savings must be achieved without creating a fi nancial burden on UK citizens and businesses. Feed-in Tariffs have already been cut and the Renewable Heat Incentive scaled back. All other new measures have to be self-fi nancing – the Green Deal, in particular. The revised


Part L of the Building Regulations, due to come into force next year, also focuses heavily on cutting energy use in a ‘cost optimal’ way, without burdening industry. The government’s latest ‘zero carbon’ target is more pragmatic than pre-crash aspirations. This might


be less ambitious, but it is still a signifi cant engineering challenge. The European perspective has


also shifted. The recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive


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ince the start of the European fi nancial crisis, the word ‘carbon’ has been heard less and the word ‘energy’ far more in speeches by British and European


(EPBD), which came into force on February 1 this year, states that all new buildings should be ‘nearly zero energy’ by December 2020, with all public buildings two years ahead of this deadline. Targets are no longer expressed in terms of


tonnes of carbon, but in kWh/m2 per year – this is the new language of fi nancial pragmatism. And the Energy Effi ciency Directive, which is to be published in the near future, introduces further targets to improve the energy effi ciency of our buildings, rather than just cutting carbon. The recast EPBD Directive is couched in


a language understood by engineers. This is an advantage for CIBSE members as they are well placed to provide clients with the properly engineered solutions that encompass the whole building envelope. Renewables will continue to play an important


role, but the key to success will be developing strategies that focus on sound, basic engineering principles starting with improving energy effi ciency and reducing energy demand.


Renewables no longer a bolt-on option The European Commission acknowledged this new pragmatism last year when it adopted the ‘Energy Roadmap 2050’, which sets out how greenhouse gas emissions will be cut by 80-95% from 1990 levels by 2050. European policy is now couched in terms of nearly


November 2012 CIBSE Journal 17


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