IN DETAIL: ENERGY RENEWAL
Three Levels of ‘How’ to Decarbonise Decarbonisation is one of the most pressing issues of our time. Yet it doesn’t need to be such a complicated and expensive process for organisations. – By Don McLean
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he decarbonisation of the built environment could be a much more expensive exercise and less effective than it needs to be. To prevent this, we need to consider the three levels of ‘How’ to decarbonise.
Level 1 Ask, at the first and broadest level: how do we decarbonise by 2045?; and a constructive answer would be: by drastically reducing the carbon emissions from buildings, cities, transport, electricity and heating. This answer is not wrong. However, it is not a solution. Take a second to consider what it actually means to undertake decarbonisation and you’ll soon be overwhelmed by the enormity of what is entailed and the various routes you might take. Without practical solutions that consider a holistic approach to decarbonising the built environment, errors are highly likely, resulting in more capital and operational costs and a high probability of failing to decarbonise by 2045.
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Level 2 So, we delve deeper and land at the second ‘How’ of decarbonisation. National governments and international organisations, such as UNEP, have already provided excellent information on ‘how’ to drastically cut emissions across the sectors outlined at Level 1. From a built environment perspective, this includes: • Using EUIs to establish a baseline for building energy consumption and propose a number of % savings for improving the building envelope; or improving energy equipment efficiency. • Integrating buildings using community-wide solutions, such as district heating or cooling solutions. • Deploying renewable energy solutions. • Developing a good building energy efficiency compliance code rating system. • Improving occupant use of the building e.g. not leaving lights on, etc. • And much more. This is all well and good, until you consider the potential adverse effects and barriers to making
