LOWCARBON BUILDING
Carbon emissions by end use in the UK’s non-domestic buildings, %. Source: BRE (2006), Carbon Trust analysis
WORKING TOGETHER Despite acceptedwisdom, developers (alongwith landlords), have by far the greatest degree of control over operational emissions. By implementing low carbon refurbishment principles in the development process and crucially by supporting occupiers to realise the full lowcarbon potential of the buildings they occupy, they canmake reductions in operational carbon emissions of buildings – and
emissions reductions, and hence a close working relationship as early as possible in the process is required for success. The ‘win-win’ is also clear: reducing carbon equals reducing energy consumption which equals saving money. A more energy- efficient building can also equate to improved thermal comfort, and hence a more pleasant and productive working environment for staff. Keeping focused on operational
“The property industry, and the government, needs to focus on cutting the day-to-day operational emissions fromthe buildingswe already have. This explainswhy operational carbon has been at the heart of the government’s policy,whereas embodied carbon is not yet reflected in legislation”
approximately one per cent of total stock, this will remain the case for years to come.
DAY-TO-DAY Clearly, the property industry, and the government, needs to focus on cutting the day-to-day operational emissions fromthe buildingswe already have. This explainswhy operational carbon emissions have been at the heart of the UK government’s policy to date, whereas embodied carbon is not yet reflected in the UK government’s legislative push. The UK simply cannot achieve its legally-binding national carbon reduction goalswithoutmaking real and dramatic reductions in emissions fromour existing non- domestic buildings. This is not the only risk of losing
focus on the operational carbon challenge, albeit a strong indicator of the direction of future government policy.Occupiers are increasingly aware of the primacy of carbon as an environmental issue, the financial implications of volatile energy costs and the reputational risk of not having a demonstrable sustainability strategy, leading themto value buildingswith lowenergy consumption increasingly highly. It seems that increasing numbers of companies already specify high environmental performance as a requirement in their office stock. They aremoving away froma simple BREEAM-only filter to one more specifically based on energy
performance, such as Energy PerformanceCertificates or better. For building owners and
landlords, there are severe financial implications. Energy efficiency and carbon emissions are becoming an increasingly important driver in occupiers’ choice of commercial property. Those developers that fail to equip buildings to fulfil this low energy/lowcarbon demandwill find themselves at increasing risk of competition frombetter fitted- out stock. Buildingswith high energy costs and reputation- damaging carbon performancewill take longer to fill as occupiers become increasingly likely to exercise their lease breaks. Such buildingswill, in effect, be subject to a ‘grey discount’ – orworse, become obsolete.
future-proof their assets. Low carbon buildings require a set of simple but consistent carbon management principles, applied in a stringently resolutemanner: • using proven carbon advisors and carbon budgets, insisting on proven technology and avoiding over-complexity, • mandating carbon performance in build and facilities management contracts, • helping occupiers operate and occupy their building tomanage their carbon performance, • establishing an end-to-end carbonmanagement process which also extends to include occupiers. It is clear that both developers
and landlords influence the outcomes in terms of carbon
carbonmeans that real capital value can be secured from attracting better occupiers faster as theywill benefit fromlowand stable running costs,which in turn reflectswell on the building’s developer. Developers and landlords have by far the greatest degree of control over both embodied and operational emissions.We suggest that owners,managers and advisors of property companies should not be afraid to impose a set of simple but consistent carbon management principles on all developments - to conserve value. Tackling embodied carbon
doesmatter, but reducing operational carbon emissions remains themost urgent carbon
challenge in the sector today.
Factors where developers have influence over operational energy consumption. H=High,M=Medium
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