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Project to assess old housing stock The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has appointed Professor Ken Gibb, director of the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence, to lead a 12-month demonstration project evaluating the energy and carbon reduction secured by a high-quality Enerphit retrofit of an eight-property, pre-1919 tenement block in Glasgow. The property had previously been privately rented. The project forms a key part of the SFC’s new Climate Emergency Collaboration Challenge. Critical to this project will be assessing the scalability and replicability of the lessons learned for Glasgow’s wider pre-1919 tenement stock. According to Gibb, “The timing of the call is closely related to the climate emergency stance of the Scottish Government but also, of course, the United Nations COP26 conference which is due to take place in Glasgow in November.” The project is aiming to raise the energy efficiency of the property to an EnerPhit standard, a recognised PassivHaus refurbishment standard. The project will evaluate its replicability and feasibility for other models of older tenements. First, Gibb will undertake an assessment of the building performance, carbon and thermal efficiency changes brought on by the retrofit. Potential energy savings of 75 per cent have already been identified. This will be followed by an assessment of the project from a finance and public policy perspective, focusing on the costs and benefits of the demonstration project. Then, Gibb will consider the scalability and replicability of the project, linking this to new and emerging models of delivering and funding retrofit of older tenements. Finally will come a major programme of knowledge exchange and dissemination to different landlords, consumers, and policy makers. Professor Gibb said: “The research project is an ambitious and multi-dimensional, multidisciplinary one. It is an exciting opportunity to work on something that can make a genuine difference.”
REPORTING TOOL FOR UK BUSINESSES
Easier route to carbon reporting A new digital tool will make it easier and more convenient for businesses to comply with energy and carbon reporting rules. Businesses can now digitally report such data in the same way as financial information. The Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) taxonomy allows businesses to report their energy and carbon data when they file digital accounts with Companies House. SECR now covers almost 12,000 UK businesses. The taxonomy has been developed by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) in collaboration with Companies House and the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). It enables businesses to report information in XBRL, a format already used by many companies submitting accounts, but this is the first time it has been utilised to capture environmental data in annual reports. SECR legislation, which came into force on 1 April 2019, requires all
large UK companies and large LLPs, as well as other quoted companies, to report on their annual energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, detailing all energy efficiency actions they have taken. Other businesses can also include the disclosures on a voluntary basis. Companies House and the FRC are responsible for ensuring businesses comply with the SECR reporting requirements. Director of Digital at Companies House, Ross Maude said: “This is a fantastic example of
cross-government working to deliver a digital service that addresses an important issue. Understanding the role businesses have in reducing energy and carbon emissions is central to delivering the UK’s ambition to reach net zero carbon by 2050. Through effective collaboration, we can make it easier for businesses to play their part.” Project director for taxonomies at the FRC, Jennifer Guest, said: “Enabling companies to file their SECR reports digitally within their annual financial report is an important step in improving transparency of companies’ energy reporting.” Companies that fail to comply with the new SECR requirements may have to resubmit their annual company accounts to Companies House, or pay fines if missing filing deadlines. Failure to file confirmation statements or accounts is a criminal offence which can result in directors being fined personally in the criminal courts.
Waste heat from Underground to heat homes Waste heat from the London Underground network is now capable of providing heating and hot water to more than 1,350 homes, a school and two leisure centres in Islington thanks to a recently opened pioneering energy centre. The Bunhill 2 Energy Centre – the first of its kind in the world – provides a blueprint for decarbonising heat in potential future schemes in London and around the world, reducing heating bills and carbon emissions while improving air quality and making cities more selfsufficient in energy. The new energy centre uses state-of-the-art technology on the site of the disused City Road underground station that commuters have not seen for almost 100 years. During the winter months, a fan in the ventilation shaft extracts warm air from the tube which travels over a series of water-filled pipes, heating the water inside by a few degrees. The water temperature is then increased to about 80oC using heat pumps, which is suitable for domestic and commercial central heating systems. The fan also has the potential to operate in reverse to supply cooler air to the Tube tunnels during the summer months. The hot water is pumped around a network of insulated underground pipes, and the heat is again transferred to communal heating system loops on housing estates using heat exchangers. The heating bills for council tenants connected to the network will be cut by 10 per cent compared to other communal heating systems, which themselves cost around half as much as standalone systems heating
individual homes. The nearby Moreland Primary School is the first school to be connected to the network, which already serves the pool and facilities at Ironmonger Row Baths and Finsbury Leisure Centre. The remains of the station, once known as City Road, have been transformed to house a huge underground fan which extracts warm air from the Northern line tunnels below. The warm air is used to heat water that is then pumped to buildings in the neighbourhood through a new 1.5km network of underground pipes.
06 | ENERGY IN BUILDINGS & INDUSTRY | APRIL 2020
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