NEWS
UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard coalition launches call for evidence
The team developing the UK’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard (the NZCBS) has launched a call for evidence, to help inform and guide the development of the Standard. Once developed, the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard will provide a single agreed definition and methodology for the industry to determine what constitutes a Net Zero carbon building. The cross-industry group developing the Standard and championing this initiative includes representatives from the following organisations: Better Buildings Partnership (BBP), Building Research Establishment (BRE), the Carbon Trust, Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), Low Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI), Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and UK Green Building Council (UKGBC). Having established governance and delivery teams, the NZCBS coalition is now calling on UK built environment industry practitioners to supply operational energy and embodied carbon performance data for their buildings. This will support the development of their evidence base over the coming months.
Firstly, the NZCBS coalition is seeking operational energy data for buildings - specifically in-use consumption data from the best performing existing buildings, and modelled performance data for buildings in design or construction. This data will enable the NZCBS development team to understand what today’s benchmark for energy performance is, and what current and future best practice might look like. As part of this, the NZCBS is also calling for experts to assist with energy modelling - more information on this can be found in the call for evidence guide. Secondly the NZCBS team is seeking embodied carbon data from both new construction and retrofit projects. This will enable the NZCBS development team to set out benchmarks for embodied carbon emitted in the construction process of different building types across the UK.
Participants are invited to submit data via the Built
Environment Carbon Database (BECD). The deadline for submitting data is 16 December 2022. The NZCBS Call for Evidence coincides with the launch of the beta version of the BECD this week.
Those with operational energy and embodied carbon
performance data to share are encouraged to review the call for evidence guide, available on the project website with more detail on the process for supplying data. For additional guidance on relevance and suitability of data required, the team can be contacted on: energydata@
NZCbuildings.co.uk or
Embodieddata@NZCBuildings.co.uk, depending on the type of data in question. David Partridge, Chairman, Related Argent and Chair of the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard Governance Board, said: “If the real estate industry and built environment is to seriously address its impact on climate change, a universally adopted Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard is absolutely essential. We are looking for built environment professionals to contribute data from a number of different asset types to develop a single, agreed methodology and for all stakeholders in the real estate industry who will be using the Standard to get involved in order to formulate it appropriately. Please contribute to our call for evidence and join us in our update event to learn more about our plans and programme for developing and testing the Standard.” Clara Bagenal George, LETI and chair of the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard Technical Steering Group said: “Not only will this project deliver much needed clarity on how to verify Net Zero carbon buildings in the UK. But it also brings together key organisations that have been working in this space, to create a robust, industry led Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard, created through consensus and collaboration based on science.”
There has been a mixed reaction
from the industry to the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s much-anticipated Autumn statement. These are some of the comments …
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David Lloyd, general manager of Connected Energy Performance at Johnson Controls UK&I said: “Jeremy Hunt announced as part of the Autumn Budget a new national ambition to reduce energy consumption from buildings and industry by 15% by 2030, a clear sign that we need to take more action, and soon. “If we want to reduce energy consumption by 15% by 2030, businesses must consider implementing energy efficient plant/technology to drive real insights and introduce AI/ML driven control their energy efficiency. Heat pumps and lighting coupled with renewable energy and green supply will accelerate us past these commitments if we all act quickly to reduce energy intensity and secure our energy supply for the long term. Without smart tech, businesses can’t hope to start their journey to make the impactful changes they need to for themselves, the environment, and health of their teams. Legacy infrastructure, lack of interactive control and gas heating within buildings will be a huge barrier to reaching the government’s net zero goals by 2030. “It relies on the government, business leaders, and individuals to make the buildings we inhabit much more efficient. With millions of us facing fresh energy pain and climate change pressures mounting, there’s never been a better incentive to take action and today’s budget highlights this.”
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Over 50% of commercial buildings under threat from corrosion
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Construction Products Association economics director Professor Noble Francis, said: “While the additional funding for energy efficiency from 2025 is welcome news, this funding is for further years after the current £6.6 billion finishes and clearly delivery in 2030 still signifies a longer-term goal for Government rather than a quick win. The detail of delivery for energy efficiency is crucial given previous flops in Government policy, and the CPA will closely follow further details as they emerge. Retrofitting our existing housing stock is crucial both for growth in the sector and to meet our net zero targets. The commitment to infrastructure projects at both a local and national level will be welcome news to the industry, given some calls to reduce HS2 to Birmingham to help avoid tax increases. However, the announcement that funding for infrastructure would be “maintained in cash terms” in times of double-digit construction cost inflation means that we will see less activity down on the ground, particularly for financial constrained councils. Levelling Up through investment in infrastructure is a crucial way in which the construction industry can support wider economic growth, as well as its own, so it is vital that it is fully funded.
For housing, the stamp duty cut is likely to have only a marginal impact given the greater issue of interest rate rises and negative housing market sentiment. As a result, substantially more will be needed to stimulate both housebuilding over the coming years.”
Hevasure, the real-time water monitoring company, has identified that over 50% of commercial buildings have potential corrosion issues in their closed-systems.
In its new white paper, Behind the scenes of closed-system HVAC, the company draws on the data it has collected over the last eight years from Low Temperature Hot Water (LTHW) and Chilled Water (CHW) systems. Collected using its cloud-based monitoring technology in over 80 commercial buildings throughout the UK, including London icons such as The Scalpel and The Francis Crick Institute, the study has gathered a live picture of corrosive conditions, highlighting changes in condition that would have largely gone unchecked if sampling
had been the sole means of review. The most common issue that sounded the alarm was elevated dissolved oxygen (DO), a very serious problem that leads to all types of corrosion and something that sampling can’t detect. Behind the scenes of closed- system HVAC demonstrates this and other potential issues, showcasing the benefits of a preventative, real-time, 24/7 approach and explaining what each parameter tracked means in terms of causational diagnosis. For example, raised DO levels can be indicative of adverse pressurisation or fresh-water demand due to a leak or unplanned drain down. Conductivity, one of the other parameters monitored, relates directly to chemical dosing levels, providing an insight into whether
6 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER DECEMBER 2022
there is too much or too little in a system. By measuring these parameters, the root cause of problems can be identified and dealt with, compared to sampling which only represents a snap shot in time and focusses on the symptoms of corrosion.
Steve Munn, managing director for Hevasure said: “While real-time monitoring closed systems is becoming industry best-practice thanks to recent recognition in BSRIA guides BG50 and BG29, there are still tens of thousands of commercial buildings not yet benefitting from this approach. The picture we have provided should serve as a cautionary tale for all closed CHW and LTHW systems; what disasters are waiting to happen? Ignorance is far from blissful.”
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The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) chief executive, Tim Balcon said: “Construction employers are facing rising energy bills and materials costs and they need confidence in the future pipeline of work and support to train through challenging market conditions. “We will do everything we can to support the construction industry so companies can continue to have the confidence to invest in skills. “CITB has simplified the process for SMEs and sole traders to take on an apprentice and our New Entrant Employer Support team has placed 200 apprentices in the north of England alone since September. This scheme is being rolled out nationwide from January to provide employers the training support they need. “We also look forward to working with the newly appointed Adviser on Skills Reform, Sir Michael Barber in his review to improve prospects for school leavers.”
’ Read the latest at:
www.bsee.co.uk
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