Key challenges to delivering a low carbon future

Ian Short and Ed MetcalfeInstitute for Sustainability

16 Sept 2010

Institute for Sustainability An independent charity, led by a world class board representing UK industry,

academia and public sector

Our aim is to significantly accelerate delivery of sustainable cities and communities by: Establishing practical demonstration projects Monitoring, measuring and evaluating sustainable solutions Sharing learning locally, nationally and internationally to inform future projects

and development

Working with a broad range of public, private and academic (primarily in built environment) including: Arup, Canary Wharf Group, CIRIA, BSRIA, GE, Hyder, IBM, Imperial College, M&S, NPL, Siemens, TWI, University College London, Veolia

Sister institute based in Shanghai

Approx 20 staff and turnover of circa £4m pa

Institute Core Activity

Total Community Retrofit

a) Resource efficient buildings

c) Transport/logistics/ supply chain

b) Sustainable infrastructure

Knowledge Hub

Industry SME support Education/skills Policy/regulation

1. Research and Demonstration Projects

2. Knowledge Hub

3. Dissemination

Challenges to Mainstreaming Sustainability

1.Step change in aspiration and delivery

2.Holistic approach – collaboration

3.Monitoring, measurement, evaluation

4.Design Performance Gap

5.Sharing learning

6.Skills

Total Community Retrofit

The project:

Community scale retrofit demonstrator projects (30,000+) Deliver energy savings measures in the built environment, sustainable and smart

infrastructure, improved public spaces and socio-economic benefits

The challenge:

Nearly eight out of ten people in UK live in an urban area

Adapting existing towns and cities – 80% of homes in 2050 already built

Step change in aspiration and delivery

Leveraging institutional investment

Total Community Retrofit - Demonstrating 2050 in 2015

Original image courtesy of AECOM

What is different about this approach?What is happening now?• Disparate, one-off schemes• No joined up approach• Not optimised, not cost-effective• Limited scale and scope• Incentives misaligned• Limited private sector investment• Focus on easy wins• "Hard" projects not done

What is proposed?• A comprehensive programme approach• Integrated, holistic solutions that generate

economic benefits and competitiveness through reducing resource consumption

• Creation of an enabling authority (public/ private/community)

• Large scale private finance • Replication across a large number of

communities

Scattered initiatives of limited scale Clustered, phased initiatives with scale to attract private finance

Monitoring, Measurement and EvaluationIdentified challenges;

Gap between performance and design Occupants do not use buildings in the way intended Lack of accountability for performanceLack of independent advice

Progress is slow;Innovation coordination failure Failure in the confidence to invest Consumer doubts

Many potential solutions; But a scarcity of clear independent data to indicate which works best and in what circumstances

Monitoring, Measurement and Evaluation

“Studies repeatedly show that buildings do not achieve their design criteria in energy terms ....it is extraordinary that so little priority is attached to seeing how buildings perform in practice.”

The Low Carbon Construction IGT Emerging Findings (March 2010)

Building Energy Performance – Identified Gaps

Life-cycle assessment of building performance; carbon as a design parameter

2. Testing and verification service for; ComponentsAssemblies Whole systems

Process improvement - accountability along whole of supply chainDemonstration - user understanding of energy consumption and losses

1. Design – Data to close the design-performance gap to up-skill independent authoritative advisors on building energy solutions.

3. Skills - Highly skilled construction and operation workforce

4. Standard testing on real, occupied buildings

Improving Building Energy Performance

1. National Centre for the Measurement of Building Efficiency Accelerate energy performance improvement Testing and verification to significantly improve availability and accuracy of energyperformance and embodied carbon information for new and existing buildings, components and services in practice Developing economic and business case with core partners NPL, UCL and ZCH Identify funding and delivery models

2. Monitoring, Measurement and Evaluation Network Provide objective, open data and extensive information to improve understanding on; How real buildings performHow people use energy in, and interact with, buildings Develop responsive, coherent, critical mass for knowledge base Disseminate learning and inform skills needs

Improving Building Energy Performance

“To convey the seriousness of what we are doing and its credibility, it is really important where possible we do pilot, evaluate, publish evidence, have it tested. We must also have sufficient confidence that when evidence starts coming in that something is not working, to be willing to change.”

David Willetts, The Times, 9/6/2010.

Retrofit and FLASH

Challenges Retrofit 650,00 dwellings pa to 80% carbon reduction Need to increase capability and up-skill the UK supply chain SMEs have imperfect information and risk aversion to new products Need more integrated systems approach for homes and communities Need innovative business and employment opportunities

Solutions - The FLASH (Facilitated Learning and Sharing) projectCapture independently verified learning from demonstrator projects:

TSB Retrofit for the Future and Post-Occupancy EvaluationMME NetworkRushenden Community Retrofit

Identify best practice and share learning nationally and internationally Disseminate through partner networks to simulate supply and value chains

Our Experience – Summary of the Challenges

1. Encouraging long-term commitment from Government to encourage confidence to invest and ability to work at scale

2. Putting in place better systems to allow more holistic approach3. Working collaboratively; nationally and internationally and cross

sector4. Creating more accountability to address the gap between

performance and design through MME5. Capturing and assessing outcomes and providing independent

results6. Increasing capability of and up skilling the supply chain through

sharing what we learn

Thank You