NEWS net zero than building safety “Practitioners have a heightened level of
responsibility around building safety which will have an impact on the level of engagement generally and the timescale of projects,” said Hill. “This might eventually lead to new disciplines being created to meet the needs of the Act but initially the focus will be on additional responsibilities for existing practitioners.” The new planning process detailed under the Act puts much more emphasis on having proper design certainty at Gateway 2 before work can start on site and this was reported to be putting pressure on the skillsets of consultants to get these projects across the line.
“Competence is a major thread in the Act,”
explained Hill. “It will hit the industry hard and fast, but this might stall clients from starting projects because the timescales are very short, and they are going to have to appoint the right people before being able to get started – so there could be a major market shift to defer new build projects.” The sector’s serious skills shortages also made delivery of next zero “more challenging”, he added.
“We need another 250,000 construction workers by 2027. Where are they going to come from?” The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has published research revealing that carbon emissions from buildings are falling by less than 1% per annum, which is putting the 2050 goals in doubt. The BESA forum called for a “major and urgent” programme of building refurbishments to tackle this issue. However, Hill said the current low rate of building retrofi ts was often due to the disruption they caused to clients’ business activities. “Fewer than 1% of buildings measure whole life carbon impact, so we must do better there,” said Hill. “Local authorities also want us to properly stress test the opportunities to repurpose existing buildings rather than building new. “There is a strong focus around energy use [with clients], but we are trying to get them to look at sustainability in a much wider context with a bigger focus on biodiversity etc. but that is being constrained by some of the market pressures.” He said the UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standard which is due to be published in 2025
would be important to create consistency of approach across the market. “Clients must think diff erently about how they
procure projects because of the shifting cost issues and be more fl exible about how they approach projects,” Hill told the BESA members. “Are we making the best use of modern methods of construction (MMC) and how quickly are we shifting to a higher level of digitisation and use of data analytics? “We also need more off -site manufacture and
there needs to be far better collaboration between clients and supply chains.”
The BESA members called for clients to insist that the companies they appointed were making suffi cient investment in skills because the shortage of apprenticeships, in particular, was a major contributor to the industry’s workforce problems.
Hill said his company was advising clients to include this and the need for fair payment terms in their tender documents and to make them part of procurement decisions.
Accreditation helps demonstrate net zero credentials for Temperature Control
A
ir conditioning specialist, Temperature Control has been announced as Mitsubishi Electric’s fi rst Commercial Installer to
achieve Accreditation as an offi cial Committed Carbon Reduction Partner (CCRP). Managing director, Wayne Buckley, was already considering ways of reducing his company’s carbon footprint, so he was delighted when Mitsubishi Electric developed its new CCRP Accreditation.
“Many of our customers are already planning
their own net zero journey and I am being asked more and more to demonstrate our own plans to decarbonise,” explains Wayne. “That’s not surprising as we install energy-consuming equipment and as an industry we know we have the tools to help reduce carbon, but in the past, it hasn’t always been the focus.” Temperature Control will reach its
anniversary in a few years’ time and the company has always tried to lead by example. It was one of Mitsubishi Electric’s fi rst Diamond Quality Partners, one of the fi rst to use R32 products, and the Hybrid VRF system, as well as
100th “Big business is already driving carbon reduction
across the globe, and everyone is now looking at energy use, equipment effi ciency and carbon reduction,” he adds, “our industry is in a unique position of being able to make a real diff erence to customers, which gives us a real opportunity to grow.” “We’ve now got a clear route to 2030 when we want to become carbon neutral and my advice to anyone wanting to start is to measure everything so you can start to see where you can make improvements,” he adds. Throughout the accreditation process,
Temperature Control has been supported by Mitsubishi Electric with a tool kit to guide them on calculating their carbon footprint, setting targets, and training. “It’s all about developing the skills, knowledge
one of the fi rst partners to embrace Mitsubishi Electric’s apprenticeship scheme. The business has also been using solar panels for over 10 years, along with heat recovery air conditioning. Wayne is keen to continue to lead and believes that by showing the way, others will follow.
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and experience needed to devise eff ective carbon reduction strategies, and this is enabling Temperature Control to stand out in an increasingly sustainability-conscious marketplace,” comments Oliver Collins, Channel Marketing Manager for Contractors at Mitsubishi Electric.
www.acr-news.com • November 2023 5
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