Treading lightly

Non-domestic buildings are responsible for 18 percent of the UK’s energy consumption and carbon emissions. That statistic must be some of the most frequently repeated facts in commercial property, but its worth emphasising. These emissions need to reduce by at least 80 percent by 2050 if the UK is to stand any chance of achieving the ambitious carbon reduction targets that have been set by the Labour government. In fact, they have stated that emissions from all buildings should be ‘close to zero’ by 2050. The interim target is a 35 percent reduction by 2020 and it is estimated that the net benefit of this to the UK economy, as well as a cleaner environment, would be savings in the region of £4.5bn.

Therefore, taking a proactive stance to reducing carbon dioxide emissions in your commercial buildings can seem an unnecessary expense right now, but with targets to reduce emissions racking up and a gradual inclusion of all business premises to schemes such as Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC), a coherent medium to long term strategy is critical.

It is expected that the 2020 target can be achieved through the implementation of ‘low-cost’ measures to non-domestic buildings, such as low energy lighting, improved heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) controls and better insulation.

However there are still market barriers in place that combine to create a ‘circle of inertia’, as described in the Carbon Trust report, Building the Future, Today, where inaction from one part of the property sector, leads to inaction elsewhere. These barriers include; landlord-tenant divide, a lack of knowledge about improvement measures, inability to operate buildings in an efficient manner and capability issues in the supply chain.

It is proposed that the roll out of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and Display Energy Certificates (DECs) to all non-domestic buildings over the next 10 years will go some way to addressing this and will help to communicate target emission levels to building owners and operators, who are currently unaware of what the target for their particular building really is. If every non-domestic building in the UK was upgraded to achieve an ‘F’ EPC rating the 2020 emissions reduction target would be reached.

The tightening of existing legislation will go some way to improving the current situation and the next stage in this process is the drastic energy efficiency improvements that have been incorporated in to Part L of the Building Regulations 2010, which come in to force from October. These will require an aggregate improvement across all non-domestic buildings of 25 percent over the current regulations. In many cases this will not be achievable without the specialised knowledge of an energy efficiency professional, as a ‘whole building’ approach will need to be adopted to incorporate efficient building design with effective lighting, HVAC and renewable energy systems.

It is easier to design energy efficient features into new buildings; however existing buildings comprise approximately 99 percent of the building stock. So, it is this sector which provides the greater challenge for implementation of energy efficiency as well as the greater opportunity for overall energy efficiency gains. Although energy efficiency initiatives for existing buildings can be demonstrated to be cost effective, there has been limited success in convincing large organisations and building owners to undertake energy efficiency projects.

Most businesses would agree that their energy bills are becoming a greater proportion of running costs and reducing these costs is always on the agenda. Now, however, the additional pressures of new government energy and carbon dioxide emissions legislation, public perception and customer requirements, mean businesses need to take a different stance when considering their energy consumption. Efficiencies in heating and cooling systems as well as finding alternative low carbon dioxide technologies go hand in hand.

There are four key areas commercial businesses must focus on to achieve carbon dioxide reductions and reduce energy costs.

Conducting an HVAC Audit
The potential for energy saving varies widely depending on the design of the heating and cooling systems, the methods of operation, operating standards, maintenance and control systems, monitoring and operator competence. General opportunities for energy conservation can be simple, low or no cost and can be conducted in house. However, a number of efficiencies will require specialist advice.

In assessing the existing conditions, an HVAC audit is critical. To conduct an audit you will first need the basic HVAC information such as type and number of units, hours of use and so on to help you understand current energy use.

There are several online tools which can offer guidance in conducting an audit.

Investing in Power Security
All businesses will ask the same question around any investment: ‘What is the cost and what and when will the investment pay back?’ In the past there were few opportunities to show businesses that investing in reducing their carbon dioxide emissions was worthwhile.
 
Today, the picture has changed. Government policies such as the CRC, the new Feed In Tariff and controls under The Energy Performance in Buildings directive, as well as growing market pressure to demonstrate ‘green credentials’, are all forcing businesses to reassess a number of their policies and procedures. Couple this with the worry of the UK’s strong reliance on overseas sources of gas and oil, then businesses looking for security of power supply are doing their homework on low or zero carbon energy sources. Until recently for the majority of businesses, the opportunity to develop a renewable energy strategy was limited. Incentives didn’t exist.

Today, new government measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and make the use of renewables more attractive, coupled with capital costs and costs of installation coming down steadily, offer more scope for most businesses to instigate a renewable strategy which could demonstrate a rational investment decision based on realistic projections of future events. (fuel prices, supply and so on)

The new Feed in Tariff for generating low or zero carbon energy through renewables now offers attractive payments for not only generating “green energy” but additional payments for feeding this electricity back to the national grid. This has meant pay back times for investing in this sort of technology have come down from around 20 to around nine years, with returns on such green investments now at around five to six percent – better than most bank rates. To many businesses, this is now being seen as a serious investment alternative.

Lighting design
Lighting is a major part of the energy costs for any building, accounting for between 30 to 40 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions for a typical commercial installation. Due to the amount of energy that is consumed through lighting, the potential for savings in this area is massive and the financial benefits are significant.

Lamps, ballasts, the fixtures themselves and the introduction of controls can all greatly improve the efficiency of your lighting installation.  

The simplest and most effective approach is to replace old T12 or T8 lamps to more energy efficient T5 lamps. This can reduce the energy consumption by up to 15 percent. Of course, the ballast would need replacing at the same time, so upgrading from the traditional wire wound copper ballast to a more energy efficient electronic ballast could offer a further 10 percent energy saving.

Lamp technology is forever moving forward with the ever changing world of LEDs, very soon whole buildings will be lit using LEDs. With current technology moving as fast as it is, LEDs are already out performing the standard CFL lamps and will soon be competing in the T5 market.

A further step to reduce the efficiency of an existing installation is to introduce simple controls, such as Passive Infrared and time controls, taking away the human element of on and off switching.  

Tackling legislation
Currently around 20,000 large public and private sector organisations are involved in the CRC which was introduced in April this year. It’s a mandatory scheme that aims to improve energy efficiency and help to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the UK as we move towards our target of the 1990 baseline by 2050.

Those organisations which meet the entry criteria, based on the amount of electricity they use, will be obliged to participate in the scheme. Participating organisations purchase allowances, at this stage sold by the government, for each tonne of carbon dioxide they emit. The more they emit, the more allowances they need to purchase.

Thus, the CRC incentivises organisations to reduce their emissions and increase energy efficiency. Don’t be surprised if the entry criteria are broadened to include smaller companies in the next few years. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions now may well put businesses at a competitive advantage earlier than the rest.