Produced in Association with
SERIES 23 / Module 02 Net Zero
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inhospitable land
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suggests that we are putting around 160 times the pressure on the planet than the human population was in preindustrial times. It is also telling that the primary driver of this appears to be the consumption per head, borne out by the ready reckoner from the chart above, and also in research. This aligns with the first priority of the energy / climate hierarchy, which is to start by avoiding demand, before then looking to efficiency, renewables and offsetting in decreasing levels of priority. If you take any system that
has developed under one set of circumstances and then increase the demand on it by 160 times, this is likely to prove highly challenging.
Implications for sustainability as a whole and net zero ambitions in particular The numbers explored above hopefully help you gain an intuitive sense of the scale of change required, as well as to feel comfortable that the levels of GHG emission reduction required for a 1.5 degree future seem reasonable, if challenging. It is this recognition of the
significant level of impact of humans on the planet that is leading to the proposed naming of a new epoch, that of the ‘Anthropocene’, whereby “Humans have become the single most influential species on the planet, causing significant global warming and other changes to land, environment, water, organisms and the atmosphere.” Once you view sustainability in
these terms, it becomes easier to understand why mainstream debate is increasingly acknowledging that society’s, and by extension businesses’, future success depends
upon protection of the natural systems of the planet. For example, Mark Carney gave
a stark message as the Governor of the Bank of England, claiming that “companies lagging on climate change action will go bankrupt”. He also quoted James Gorman, the CEO of Morgan Stanley at the time, as saying: “If we don’t have a planet, we’re not going to have a very good financial system”. Mr Carney closed his message by tempering these assertions with the statement that there are “great fortunes [to] be made by those working to end greenhouse gas emissions” .
Where to go from here? Faced with the numbers and insights in the previous section, it is understandable that it takes a bit of time to gather your thoughts and to decide how to proceed. One useful reference point here
is that most changes in society are initiated by a small portion of the population, so the potential to make a difference as an individual or a small group is still significant. For example, in the standard business
model of technology adoption, the new trend starts with fewer than 3% of the population acting as ‘Innovators’ to prove what is possible. Next around 14% of the population act as ‘Early Adopters’, and shortly after this there is the possibility that around 70% of the rest of the population will follow as the ‘Early Majority’ and then the ‘Late majority’. The ‘Laggards’ then often eventually follow the change via a mix of peer pressure and / or regulation; or some simply get left behind and go out of business. This outsized impact of a committed
few is borne out in many contexts and I personally find it rewarding to spend my time trying to bring about change. I’m not saying that change is inevitable, however I do believe that it is possible and that leadership can have a significant impact.
An example of leadership building momentum: Energy use in buildings & the Passivhaus standard There is a historically recognised performance gap, whereby “buildings typically consume 2 to 5 times more energy than predicted at design stage”. This performance gap has bugged the construction sector for decades and came to the attention of a German physicist, Dr Wolfgang Feist, who couldn’t understand the basis for this gap. His logic was that buildings are systems and if you follow a rigorous approach, then you should be able to clear the three hurdles of: ● Designing them right ● Building them right, and ● Commissioning them right The Passivhaus standard was
developed as a methodology to address these hurdles, and the first Passivhaus building was constructed in 1991. The standard has grown globally and there are now an estimated 50,000 buildings certified to the standard that have been shown to consistently close the performance gap. As the push to deliver genuinely net
zero buildings grows, the standard has further gained momentum, for example: ● Passivhaus been adopted by Scotland as their reference point for building regulations.
● Passivhaus projects now represent
1% of all new UK housing projects
● Mainstream housebuilders, such as Barratt Homes, are now working to the standard.
● You can now order offsite manufactured Passivhaus buildings from Portakabin.
● There are new build and retrofit projects as reference case studies for almost any kind of building, including: schools, hospitals, single homes, tower blocks, offices, laboratories, leisure centres, archive buildings, hotels and so on. If the Scottish adoption of the
Passivhaus Standard is successful, then it could well forge a path for the rest of the UK to follow suit. Likewise, once Barrat Homes delivers their first Passivhaus projects, this should give their competitors significant pause for thought. As an example of leadership bringing about positive change, the Passivhaus standard looks to have made it through the ‘Innovation’ stage and be somewhere in the ‘Early Adopter’ phase of progress, hopefully with a large group of Early and Late Majority followers soon to come.
In closing My hope is that this article will help you to connect intuitively with the pace and depth of change required to meet our net zero ambitions, as well as to provide some inspiration that leadership by individuals and small groups can play a big part in bringing about change. Do get in touch if you would like to
explore these themes in more detail, or to discuss the best way you might use your work projects or your career to have a positive impact. I would be happy to compare notes and to share my thoughts.
Produced in Association with
EIBI | JULY � AUGUST 2025
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