BUILT ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENTAL UPDATE

Transcription

1 BUILT ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENTAL UPDATE

2 CONTENTS MEES - Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard 3 Construction Industry Building Efficiency Standard 4 UK Commercial Green Building 5 ESOS 6 Business Energy Efficiency Proposals 7 Renewable Energy 7 ISO14001: COP Budget 2016 Summary 10 General Contacts 11 FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact: Nigel Mason Telephone: nigel.mason@uk.rlb.com

3 MEES MINIMUM ENERGY EFFICIENCY STANDARD Legislation From April 2018, commercial and domestic properties with an F or G EPC rating will not be able to be leased for new leases or re-leases. This will apply to all leases from Under the Energy Act 2011, from April 2018, it will be unlawful to let properties that fail to achieve a prescribed minimum energy performance standard (MEPS) until qualifying improvements have been carried out. This minimum standard will be equivalent to an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of E. Impact As a result of MEES, owners of properties with EPC ratings of F or G will, in some circumstances, no longer be able to let these properties until their energy efficiency has been addressed. The valuation of these properties will also be affected, with associated implications for secured lending. With nearly 75,000 commercial premises having EPC certificates rated F or G (~19% of certified units) and a further 65,000 with an E certificate, this policy has the potential to have a significant impact on levels of investment in the energy efficiency of existing buildings. 3 Office and retail look to be the most affected by the changes, due to the office sector having the highest proportion of F and G certified units, and retail having the highest total number of F and G certified units. How RLB can help Advise on implications of the legislation Produce up to date Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) Discuss the upgrades available to your property Find suitable contractors through tendering Oversee the works carried out Provide you with a new EPC after upgrades demonstrating compliance. For further detail, please see our MEES flyer Changes to DECs In July 2015, the threshold for DECs was lowered from 500m 2 to 250m 2 of total useful floor area for all public buildings. Where the building has a total useful floor area of more than 1,000m 2, the DEC is valid for 12 months. The accompanying advisory report is valid for seven years. Where the building has a total useful floor area of between 500m 2 and 1,000m 2, the DEC and advisory report are valid for 10 years. The Department for Communities and Local Government had a consultation early 2015 with several proposals on how to streamline and improve the current DEC regime. One of the proposals was to revisit the meaning of frequently used public space, with an option to exclude schools and town halls. There has been no result from the consultation as yet. Contact: Lee Higgs, Birmingham

4 CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY BUILDING EFFICIENCY PERSPECTIVE An open letter to George Osborne, by the leaders of 55 organisations including Barratt Developments, E.ON, BCO, British Property Federation called for measures to improve the energy efficiency of buildings to be included in the governments long term economic plan. The letter set out four long-term policies to provide clarity; Infrastructure funds should be allocated to support a national programme to bring all UK homes up to EPC band C Government must deliver on the commitment for all new homes and all new non domestic buildings to be zero carbon from 2016 and 2019 MEES for commercial and private rental from 2018 need to be effectively enforced with support available for local authorities and exemptions kept to a minimum Outline how government intends to meet 3rd and 4th carbon budgets and introduce ambitious 5th carbon budget in line with recommendations from Committee on Climate Change. 4

5 UK COMMERCIAL GREEN BUILDING A survey of more than 1,000 building professionals (worldgbc.org/infohub/global-green-building-trends) including architects, contractors, owners and engineers in 69 countries were asked about their expectations for building projects under schemes such as BREEAM, LEED and Green Star. Worldwide, construction of offices, hotels and retail outlets is booming with nearly half 46% of all respondents expecting to build commercial buildings with high environmental standards in the next three years. However, in the UK only 33% of respondents expected to be involved in new green commercial construction. The UK building sector was more positive on prospects for green public sector building such as schools and hospitals with 37% foreseeing work in the next three years. Demand for green building in the UK came mainly from client demands (69%), environmental regulations (64%) and market demands (47%). Top challenges reported by UK survey respondents were a perception of higher up-front costs (52%) and that green projects were for high-end projects only (40%) and a lack of political support and incentives (25%). Building owners report seeing a median increase of 7% in the value of the green buildings (both new build and retrofit) compared to conventional buildings. How RLB can help RLB can provide a wide range of sustainability services to help our customers take advantage of improved corporate sustainability, including SKA Ratings, BREEAM and whole life costing. 5 For more information please see our Sustainability Capability Statement

6 ESOS (ENERGY SAVINGS OPPORTUNITY SCHEME) The deadline for ESOS compliance was 29th January If compliance was to be reached via ISO5001, this was to be by 30th June At the start of December, 4,000 had complied, with 2,000 declaring their intent to notify. The Environment Agency now believes that around 70% of businesses covered by the scheme are compliant, with almost 6,000 firms having complied by the deadline. Possible sanctions for non-compliant companies include fines of up to 50,000 with an additional 500 for each working day they do not comply for a maximum of 80 days however the EA has said it would issue fines in only the most serious cases and would use enforcement notices to encourage firms to comply. How RLB can help For further information, please see our ESOS flyer 6

7 BUSINESS ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROPOSALS There was a consultation by HM Treasury in Autumn 2015 which included the following; Extending ESOS Scraping CRC EES Phase down/out of Climate Change Agreements Extending the Climate Change Levy Changing the requirement for mandatory greenhouse gas reporting The revised proposals are expected from the Treasury early this year, following the end of the consultation in November. Renewable Energy Government support for renewable technologies is lower than previous; however as installation costs are reducing quickly this doesn t prohibit renewable development too significantly. Industry advice appears to be to review schemes against new proposals, but not to abandon renewable energy schemes. Closure of Renewable Obligation scheme for new solar PV <5mw from 1 April Closure of RO to new onshore wind from 1 April 2016 Introduction of contract for difference auctions for renewable energy (more details here). Green Deal support removed replacement awaited Review of Renewable Heat Incentive Climate Change Levy exemption removed for renewables Zero carbon homes plans scrapped Lower Feed In Tariff for renewable generation 7 How RLB can help For more information please see our Sustainability Capability Statement Feed in Tariff review A review of the feed in tariff (FIT) scheme by DECC in August stated a desire to cut expenditure under the scheme to between 75m and 100m by 2018/19. One of the proposals in the consultation was a requirement of buildings to have an EPC rating of C rather than D before solar PV is installed schools and community groups would be exempt.

8 ISO14001:2015 The revised version of the ISO Environmental Management Standard was published in Autumn The new standard is designed to bring wider value chain into the scope of the EMS and to cover the impact of environmental change on the company. The main aims of the revision are to ensure the system; adopts a lifecycle perspective; considers the broader principles of sustainability; involves wider business functions; takes a strategic approach, and addresses operational issues; helps drive genuine improvements in performance; and adds value to the business. There is a three year transition period for existing operations the new standard was released in November RLB are currently working towards the new standard. COP21 8 The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference or COP21, was held in Paris in late The conference negotiated the Paris Agreement, a global agreement on the reduction of climate change - a commitment to keep climate change well below 2ºC, aiming for 1.5 ºC. The agreement will become legally binding if joined by at least 55 countries which together represent at least 55% of global greenhouse emissions. Such parties will need to sign the agreement in New York between 22 April 2016 and 21 April 2017 and also adopt it within their own legal systems. The participating 195 countries agreed to the Paris Agreement, to reduce emissions as part of the method for reducing greenhouse gas. Members agreed to reduce their carbon output as soon as possible and to do their best to keep global warming to well below 2 degrees. Each country that ratifies the agreement will be required to set a target for emission reduction but the amount will be voluntary there will be no mechanism to force a country to set a target by a specific date nor enforcement measures if a set target is not met just a name and shame system. However, the European Commission has said that the EU is set to emit 2bn tonnes more CO2 than it promised at the Paris climate talks, threatening an agreement to cap global warming at 2ºC due to a carbon accounting problem where carbon prices will rise too slowly to cut industrial emissions as much as needed. Further details can be found here. The agreement also places a legal obligation on developed countries to continue to provide climate finance to developing countries. Going forward, in 2018 the collective efforts of countries will be looked at, which should inform the efforts of future commitments. Countries which have submitted targets for 2025 are then urged to come back in 2020 with a new target, while those with 2030 targets are invited to communicate or update them. This process will essentially be repeated every five years with the first post 2020 stocktake occurring in 2023.

9 Science Based GHG Targets Many companies are now introducing Science Based greenhouse gas targets. These are a joint initiative by CDP, the UN Global Compact, the World Resources Institute and WWF. The aim is to increase corporate ambition on climate action, and demonstrate the business case for ambitious target setting enabling companies to set targets which are consistent with the level of decarbonisation required to limit global warming to less than 2 ºC. The objectives were that by 2015, 100 leading multinational companies were to commit to adopt ambitious emission reduction targets in line with climate science this was exceeded, with 114 companies signing up including Coca-Cola, Dell, General Mills, Proctor and Gamble, Sony, Thalys, Kelloggs, IKEA, National Grid. The full list can be found here. By 2020, 250 leading companies will adopt and disclose ambitious emission reduction targets in line with climate science. This will demonstrate to policy makers the scale of ambition among leading companies to reduce their emissions and act as a positive influence on international climate negotiations. 9

10 BUDGET 2016 SUMMARY The environmental aspects of the 2016 budget were limited, with some positives but little inclusion of climate change overall. The key points were as follows; Increase in the climate change levy from This is a tax on non-domestic users to encourage them to reduce energy consumption. The Carbon Reduction Commitment will be abolished from the end of 2018/19. This was a complicated reporting regime only introduced in m for offshore wind and other less established renewables to be delivered from onwards via auctions. However, no support at all for the established, cost-effective renewables such as solar power and onshore wind, and energy efficiency programmes are being cut by 80%. 700m increase in flood defence spending 10 There has been some criticism of the budget due to a perceived missed opportunity for addressing long term climate risks, as well as Osborne being accused of ignoring the Paris Agreement with fossil fuel tax breaks and clean energy tax hike. The full budget can be found here: Budget 2016

11 GENERAL CONTACTS NIGEL MASON Head of Sustainability Nigel is responsible for delivering RLB s sustainability service proposition Responsible Management. A background in legislative compliance of property has developed into wider professional building surveying and strategic property advice to clients. Nigel is a Qualified Chartered Building Surveyor and an Assessor for the Building Surveying faculty of the RICS since HEATHER EVANS Environmental Manager Heather is an environmental professional, with a masters in Sustainable Environmental Design in Architecture. Her expertise includes SKA assessments (Heather worked alongside the RICS to develop the SKA Higher Education tool) and Sustainability Reporting (GRI and CDP). Responsible for RLB s environmental management and corporate responsibility, she is skilled at implementing ISO 14001, developing improvement projects and co-ordinating business wide CR. 11

12 UK OFFICES BIRMINGHAM Contact: Matt Bromley Telephone: MANCHESTER Contact: Russell Bolton Telephone: BRISTOL Contact: Jackie Pinder Telephone: SHEFFIELD Contact: Dean Sheehy Telephone: CUMBRIA Contact: Deryck Barton Telephone: THAMES VALLEY Contact: Mike Righton Telephone: LEEDS Contact: Dean Sheehy Telephone: WARRINGTON / BIRCHWOOD Contact: Deryck Barton Telephone: deryck.barton@uk.rlb.com LONDON Contact: Andrew Reynolds Telephone: andrew.reynolds@uk.rlb.com WELWYN GARDEN CITY Contact: Andrew Reynolds Telephone: andrew.reynolds@uk.rlb.com