ENERGY MANAGEMENT & SUSTAINABILITY BUILDING THE FUTURE FROM THE PAST
Pradyumna Pandit, Managing Director of Energy and Decarbonisation at Mitie, looks at the difficulties involved in decarbonising listed buildings and how to overcome them.
With the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) stating that almost a quarter of the UK’s total emissions come from heating public and commercial buildings, making sure all buildings are fit for optimum energy efficiency is critical to the UK reaching its net zero targets. However, with around 500,000 buildings in England currently on the National Heritage list, protecting them from modification, finding solutions for these sites is a challenge the sector must overcome.
As net zero rises up the business agenda, over the past couple of years we’ve increasingly witnessed the complexities that arise when energy efficiency and heritage butt heads. The recent news of Marks & Spencer’s request to demolish its flagship Oxford Street store to build a new energy efficient alternative being rejected in the name of protection of a heritage Art Deco building is just one such example of this challenge.
As experts spanning both the structural design and operation of buildings, the facilities management sector is ideally placed to help businesses find the balance between historical constraints and achieving net zero buildings.
Optimising energy efficiency With limitations around the structural changes that can be made to listed buildings, the first step when dealing with listed buildings is always to limit the need for external modification by reducing the amount of energy used in the first place.
Often quite simple solutions can go a big way to improving energy efficiency, such as building management system energy optimisations. For instance, installing motion sensors for lighting systems and upgrading bulbs to energy efficient LEDs can guarantee up to a 70% reduction in lighting energy costs. Introducing these small changes can therefore avoid the need for any structural works that may be a challenge for buildings with listed status.
Taking this a step further, FMs can consider cutting energy used in historical buildings by thinking about the tools they are using, like robotic cleaning technology, which works more efficiently than conventional equipment. Whilst staff must be sensitive to buildings’ requirements when using this equipment, small changes like this can all help contribute to our customers sustainability goals.
Diversifying energy sources Whilst improving energy efficiency is a first step, switching to cleaner or renewable energy sources is a key to reducing a building’s carbon emissions. But unique installation and design measures need to be considered to limit the structural and visual impact on buildings with historical significance.
24 | TOMORROW’S FM
Taking a whole-building approach is important to identify how the original building structure can be used to accommodate its modernisation. For example, we were recently tasked with helping Lloyds Banking Group decarbonise the heating of its flagship Halifax office. The Grade II listed building sits on the site of an old brewery, which indicated the existence of an underground water source. New 300m boreholes were drilled next to the old ones used by the brewery, to create an open-source heating loop to supply a newly installed high-efficiency heat pump system.
Through this innovative design solution, Lloyd’s Banking Group can make strides towards its net zero targets without any impact on the appearance of its culturally significant building. By using structural and hydrogeological surveys to inform a careful installation process, the building could also remain completely operational for colleagues working at the site whilst the heat pumps were installed.
Whilst it’s true that retrofitting buildings that weren’t built with sustainability in mind is a challenge, the best way to keep heritage alive is to make sure it is still useable and relevant. With the CCC warning of a risk that the UK might miss its net zero goals, we must accelerate the decarbonisation of the built environment. By continuing to use innovative, tailored solutions and make sure that our people are trained to work around historical constraints, the facilities management sector can be central to this work in preserving and maintaining Britain’s treasured buildings.
www.mitie.com
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