Sustainable Office Design - Unlocking Performance & Productivity

GOVERNMENT RESPONSES

WHAT WILL THEY HIT ME WITH (NEXT)?

In the last 10-15 years there has been a proliferation of policies, conventions, frameworks, directives and regulations governing sustainable development, with an emphasis on the environment, energy, carbon and climate change issues.

The latest development is the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (previously known as the Carbon Reduction Commitment), a cap and trade mechanism that kicked into operation in April 2010. It aims to deal with CO₂ emissions not already covered by Climate Change Agreements and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, and it is estimated that it will affect around 20,000 organisations, both public and private sector.

The Climate Change Act 2008 introduced the world's first long-term legally binding framework to tackle climate change, with a view to helping the UK transition to a low carbon economy. It provides a legally binding target of an 80% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 with a reduction of at least 34% by 2020 from a 1990 baseline.

Since buildings are responsible for about 40% of EU final energy consumption, improving their energy efficiency could reduce their carbon emissions by 22%. This has led to the EU Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings which became national law in January 2006. The Directive creates a common methodology for calculating the integrated energy performance of buildings and requires minimum standards for energy performance in new (and some existing) buildings, as well as energy certification for all buildings and inspections of boilers and heating and cooling systems.

Part L (Conservation of Fuel and Power) of the UK building regulations implements part of this Directive. It includes a requirement that if a building with a floor area of more than 1000 square metres has a major renovation, its energy efficiency should be upgraded as far as possible.

Another EU Directive, on end use energy efficiency and energy services, sets a target for a 9% cut in energy use from 2008 to 2017.

The UK government has also mandated that all new government buildings must achieve high ratings on the Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM): Excellent for new buildings and Very Good for existing buildings. Since public buildings comprise about 40% of the construction industry's work, the impact could be significant.

Another EU Directive, on end use energy efficiency and energy services, sets a target for a 9% cut in energy use from 2008 to 2017. It will become national law in May 2008.

The UK government has mandated that all new government buildings must achieve high ratings on the Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM): Excellent for new buildings and Very Good for existing buildings. Since public buildings comprise about 40% of the construction industry's work, the impact could be significant.

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