With renewed focus on Net Zero targets and how the public sector is set up to meet them, it’s important to understand the crucial role that carbon and energy roadmapping plays in decarbonising large estates.
As with any change programme what you need to know is the current state and what it will take to get to where you want to be. Carbon and energy efficiency roadmaps identify the interventions that may be required to achieve energy savings or net zero by a certain future date.
Moreover, the earlier a roadmap can be created, the more ‘business as usual’ decisions can be made and set against the underlying net zero context, to understand whether any action helps or hinders the journey to net zero.
Acknowledging the amount of work required to achieve Net Zero can be a daunting prospect, but only by understanding the size of the challenge ahead can pragmatic decisions be made. It may be tempting to delay starting until information is perfect but in our experience it is best to find a way to just start. Finding a way to start at least allows the process of data collection to commence and an understanding of the complexity of the journey ahead. Immediate and clear priorities are often identified at this stage, allowing early business cases for immediate action whilst the data accuracy and roadmapping matures.
What insights might this bring?
The first step for roadmapping is to understand the current energy and carbon consumption of a building portfolio. This in itself is often a very insightful process, highlighting the best and worst performing buildings. It can show how Energy Use Intensity (EUI) compares between different types of building and with industry averages or targets, such as the UK Green Building Council’s “Paris Proof” targets.
During roadmapping is where it starts to get really interesting though. By using publicly available information on grid decarbonisation the extent of decarbonisation that will occur without any direct interventions can be seen. In the UK the carbon factor of the grid is expected to reduce by 18% between 2021 and 2040.
If considered at building level a roadmap can identify what types of interventions may be feasible and the cumulative reduction on energy and carbon consumption they may bring. Attributing indicative capital costs to these interventions can identify the potential scale of the challenge ahead, but it must be remembered that at this early mapping stages the achievable accuracy of costs is still likely to be broad as delivery risks remain.
With any dynamic estate it will also be necessary to build in future portfolio movements, which could see carbon energy use increase instead of reducing. Even if this is the case, importantly future business decisions can be made with due consideration to their effect upon the underlying roadmap trajectory.
How does this fit with a wider estate strategy?
A roadmap should remain a live dynamic programme that can sit alongside a wider estate strategy. Better still integrating existing capital programmes and forward maintenance plans can demonstrate how far towards net zero can be achieved with just ‘business as usual’ operations. We often find that as much as 40% can be achieved in this manner.
From here, there are three main directions to unlock the potential of the roadmap process.
Firstly, to hone and mature the roadmap itself updating it with the latest energy use data and continuing the survey programme or digging deeper into the worst offenders or quickest wins.
Secondly to prepare for delivery of immediate ‘no / low regret’ interventions with due diligence, feasibility studies and procurement packages.
Thirdly and possibly most importantly to use the roadmap as the basis for ‘off the curve’ decisions such as estate optimisation, sale, regeneration or alternative re-use. It is often only through this that the dramatic step changes required for a specific net zero pathway can be modelled.
What information is required to Roadmap?
Carbon and energy efficiency road-mapping would traditionally require a survey team to visit site undertake a full energy audit and receive full consumption information. Typically, the need to complete data sets and a costly survey programme has meant estate owners may delay the commissioning of important roadmap services.
Our answer is DecarbonomicsTM, our end-to-end global carbon and energy efficiency service. The algorithms within the digital heart of DecarbonomicsTM call on regional benchmarks and typologies to fill data gaps and allow our clients to start when they don't think that they can. This could require as little information as building size, type, location, heating source and age. This allows full estate views to be achieved quickly whilst continuing to work on enhancing data maturity with representative surveys, desktop reviews or stakeholder workshops.
How do you balance value, cost and funding?
The beauty of a well-considered roadmap is its simplicity of purpose. Every estate decision can then be considered against it and challenged with “does this help or hinder our net zero journey?” Often it can be shocking to see the indicative cost of all the roadmap interventions but when considered with the right mindset the roadmap can really start working for asset owners. It's often not a case of balancing value, cost and funding but instead layer each of these considerations over each other.
Consider whether funding may be available through public grants or private investment. The cost of implementing interventions as part of future refurbishments may also improve rental returns and therefore overall asset value. It may also prompt questions such as “is this the best use of this money”, that could potentially influence the balance in repair versus replace decisions.
What's the first step?
Often the first step is the hardest but it need not be. DecarbonomicsTM can allow all asset owners to make a start no matter their estate data maturity. If I could make one recommendation to all asset owners it’s simply to “just start”.
Three sector specific recommendations
Higher Education
With longstanding varied estates and ambitious future capital plans, each individual investment decision will often impact a campus or university estate for many generations. Roadmap early to ensure all money spent is helping to drive forward energy efficiency and net zero as part of Operating Expenditure, Capital Expenditure and grant applications. The current Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme is particularly well suited to higher education estates where any match funding requirements are typically more easily available.
Commercial Real Estate
With net zero and energy efficiency accelerating asset obsolescence a clear and actionable plan to achieve net zero becomes critical to fund performance particularly with the risk of stranded assets through tightening regulation from the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard regulations. With clear links now being established between carbon reduction and asset appeal, savvy commercial real estate owners can use roadmaps to identify the best timing for interventions that can add value through ‘off the curve’ asset strategies, meanwhile working directly with occupiers to advance mutually beneficial interventions mid term.
Local Authorities
Local Authorities often have the largest net zero challenge and are often restricted with the smallest budget available. Pursuing government or public sector funding such as the upcoming Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme phase 3C can leverage existing spending power. Be creative with large and varied landholdings which may give rise to regeneration and placemaking opportunities or could be used for direct energy production or storage providing additional revenue streams. Ask “could this spend provide even better local value if used to support a more ambitious scheme than straight forward like for like use?”
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DecarbonomicsTM |
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Start, when you don’t think you can start |
Progress, when focussed elsewhere |
Deliver, aligned with existing plans |
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INDEPENDENT |
ENGINEERED |
COSTED |
Decarbonomics is our end to end carbon and energy efficiency service line operating across Baseline, Roadmapping and Delivery of Net Zero and energy efficiency interventions. Find out more at:
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