In FMJ's regular monthly column, our team of FM experts answer your
questions about the world of facilities management
THE SUSTAINABLITY EXPERT’S VIEW
SUNIL SHAH, DIRECTOR AT ACCLARO ADVISORY
AND CBXCHANGE
The UK is the first
major economy to put
into legislation a net
zero emissions target
for 2050, balancing
the requests from the
Extinction Rebellion to
pull it forward and the
Global Warming Policy
Forum to remove it
altogether. The target
was set based upon
the work from the
Committee on Climate
Change (CCC), who have mapped out the necessary
milestones to achieve this target (www.theccc.org.
uk/).
For the built environment, which contributes
about 40 per cent of the UK’s total carbon
footprint (www.ukgbc.org/climate-change/),
there is a significant challenge to optimise
and upgrade the existing building stock
by 2050 – one property every 30 seconds.
For much of the past 15 years, I have been
commenting on the lack of a coherent
Government policy, focussed too much on new
build rather than on energy e iciency, building
optimisation and learning lessons from operations to
feed into new design.
Progress over the past decade have been patchy and
limited. The Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) study
20 AUGUST 2019
(www.gov.uk/government/
publications/low-carbonbuildings
best-practices-andwhat
to-avoid) highlighted
significant gaps in optimising
energy from simple things such as
meters, commissioning equipment
and e ective use of technology. In
general there is a poor take up of these
practices. Our own studies (www.acclaroadvisory.
com/sfmi/) has shown limited
progress by FM to develop beyond regulatory
requirements for a variety of reasons.
There are five key areas FM teams should be looking at to help
meet these targets. These are aligned with the CCC and BPE
outputs, each of which are interconnected:
Set longer term targets – strategic buy-in from the business to
significantly reduce emissions, with FM being part of the overall
programme. Robust data to understand how and why energy
is used is critical here to develop a strategy aligned with the
business culture;
Heat – heat demand has reduced and there is a desire to move
towards district or electric heating systems, rather than gas.
Reduced consumption can occur from modulating for current
systems and resizing for any replacement;
Optimising buildings – ensuring the correct skills are in place and
the contracts allow for optimising to be maintained are critical
points. Too often, significant improvements are lost due to
incorrect structures being in place;
Supply chain emissions – wider impacts
from suppliers including food and
equipment are not factored into the wider
For the built environment,
which contributes about 40 per
cent of the UK’s total carbon
footprint, there is a significant
challenge to optimise and upgrade the
existing building stock by 2050.”
The agreement by Government to move towards a zero
carbon trajectory will mean the built environment will need
FM CLINIC
The heatwave that
has gripped Europe
this summer has been
linked to the impact
of global warming and
brings the role of the built
environment in helping to
slash emissions into focus.
With the UK bringing in a law to
introduce a legally-binding net zero
emission target for 2050, what should FMs
now be doing to help achieve these targets?
Sunil Shah
ADVICE & OPINION
Climate risk – review the portfolio for their ability
to cope with higher temperatures and changing
weather. This will influence lease lengths, but
also business continuity practices to cope
with the risks and input into the capital
investment plans;
impact that organisations make (https://
ghgprotocol.org/). FM has a broader supply
chain emissions potential to support the net
zero targets.
– Sunil Shah
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