Call for zero carbon offices

A target date of 2020 should be set for all new commercial buildings to be zero carbon, says the UK Green Building Council.

The call is made in a report, Carbon Reductions in New Non-Domestic Buildings, commissioned by the government.

Its publication follows that of the Code for Sustainable Homes, which set targets to achieve radical emissions reductions from new homes.

This latest report was commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government to ascertain whether similar targets are appropriate for the non-domestic sector.

The report acknowledges that a substantial amount needs to be done for its findings to become government policy.

It makes several recommendations for further work if zero carbon non-domestic buildings are to become a reality, including:

• implementing the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive as soon as possible and including Display Energy Certificates for all new and existing non-domestic buildings in sufficient detail to enable better understanding of their energy use;
• constructing a national database to collate this data and making it available to the whole industry;
• implementing an efficient hierarchy for carbon emissions reductions in design and the use of on-site, near site and off-site renewable energy generation solutions;
• constructing a tool to be used at planning stage of developments to assess their renewable energy potential for both on-site and decentralised energy networks;
• incorporating minimum energy efficiency measures, such as cooling load parameters; and
• beginning the countdown to zero carbon non-domestic buildings with the next revision to the Building Regulations.

Paul King, chief executive of the UK-GBC, said: “We need a policy direction that provides sufficient urgency and certainty for investment, and a trajectory that is ambitious and stretching but ultimately achievable.”

• The report is published on the DCLG website, www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/carbonreductions