Climate Change and Energy Efficiency – The Challenge of Tackling Older Buildings

Whether you have your own political views or are sceptical about government policy and initiatives it is important to embrace them as we only have the possibility of making a difference, if we are prepared ‘to give it a go’, after all, we have to start somewhere

Source: Source: http://www.cjhole.co.uk/news.html

Are you aware of the significant impact of climate change on our planet?  Are you aware of the major influence that those working in the built environment, could have in dealing with this very serious issue? Or, like many do you really care at all?  We are already experiencing the impact of climate change as a result of the way that we have used our planet to a point where many of these changes are now irreversible. The issue now is how we slow down the process and try to protect the environment for future generations. The Environment Agency website (Link), emphasises the human impact on our climate, and portray some very stark and worrying facts:

‘There is a scientific consensus that the recent observed rise in global temperature can only be explained by the rise in greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activities.

Since the industrial revolution, human activity, mostly the burning of fossil fuels, has resulted in the release of large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This is enhancing the greenhouse effect and pushing up global temperatures.

Average global temperatures have already risen approximately one degree Celsius since pre-industrial levels, and even if we could stop emitting all greenhouse gases tomorrow, they would continue to rise by at least a further 0.6 degrees. Limiting temperature rise to below two degrees is the internationally agreed target to avert dangerous climate change.

There are clear signs that our world is warming. We’ve had markedly higher global average temperatures over the last decade, ice sheets and glaciers are melting and average river water temperatures are increasing. Globally, the hottest ten years on record have all been since 1990, and February 2010 was warmest on record for southern hemisphere’

Source: http://www.zmescience.com/ecology/environmental-issues

It is therefore clear that action is needed now and whether we like it or not, we must all play our part. Much of this action is actually imposed on us through legislation such as Building Regulations and other initiatives such Code for Sustainable Homes, BREEAM etc. which are primarily voluntary (although funding requirements may in effect make these mandatory). This is fine if we are dealing with new buildings, but how do we deal with the existing varied and largely energy inefficient building stock we have in the UK?  These are the types of buildings that waste a great deal of energy through older inefficient elements and therefore readily lose heat through the building fabric, requiring additional heating and therefore more energy to try to achieve acceptable internal temperatures.  If we make our buildings more thermally efficient, this heat energy is retained longer in the building, therefore reducing the amount of additional heating we need and subsequently reduces our reliance on fossil fuels.

According to BBC News (2006), ‘Transport consistently grabs the headlines on climate change emissions but buildings pour out about half of the UK's CO2 - 30% from homes, 20% from commercial buildings’.  The Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) completed an assessment of a variety of impacts of various sectors may need to prepare, which included the Built Environment: ‘The UK’s built environment includes: 27 million homes, commercial and industrial properties, hospitals, schools, other buildings and the wider urban environment. At the current replacement rate, around 70% of buildings that will be in use in the 2050's already exist. It is clear therefore that those working in the built environment have the opportunity of influencing the impact of climate change in all sectors including both new build and existing buildings. This has also been emphasised by the UK government’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% (from the 1990 baseline) by 2050 under the Climate Change Act 2008. In order to achieve this it is necessary to significantly reduce our reliance on depleting resources such as fossil fuels (which emit high quantities of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon) and consider the use of more energy efficient and low carbon ways of creating energy (renewable technologies), making our buildings more thermally efficient in addition to educating people to operate and use buildings more efficiently. This is fundamental to achieving a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and necessary if we are to stand any chance of meeting our targets.

The government have set a strategy with the objective of achieving the targets set within the Climate Change Act 2008 (Link). Whether you have your own political views or are sceptical about government policy and initiatives it is important to embrace these policies as we only have the possibility of making a difference, if we are prepared ‘to give it a go’, after all, we have to start somewhere.  It is ok to be sceptical, however until policies and initiatives are introduced and tested we have no way of knowing whether they will work or not. I along with many others raised issues with the now demised Green Deal, however I have also gone onto state that I think in principle Green Deal was a good idea undoubtedly needed some re-adjustment to make it more effective. The important thing here is that the UK government decided to tackle poor energy efficiency in existing buildings. However, trying to encourage people to incorporate energy efficient measures and renewable technologies into their buildings is always going to be difficult for a number of reasons.  

The Green Deal worked on the basis of a low interest loan which is added to fuel bills, for energy efficient enhancements which were recommended by a Green Deal Assessor. The ‘golden rule’ then assumed that the repayments on the loan would not exceed the savings made on the energy bills, therefore the bill payer/s should not notice any difference in the amount they were are paying each month. 

There is also constructional detailing issues in respect of retrofitting existing and occupied buildings to increase thermal efficiency and also issues in respect of introducing and installing renewable technologies. Once installation of enhancements has been completed it is also necessary to ‘educate’ occupiers to help them to understand how to use them.  It is pointless increasing thermal efficiency and installing new technologies into a building if the occupier continues to waste energy because they don’t understand how to use the system correctly.  Again, this emphasises the need for a holistic approach to dealing with energy efficiency in existing buildings rather than concentrating on the technologies alone.  This is a tough nut to crack with no easy solutions. It will be interesting to see what the government come up with next when trying to tackle energy efficiency in existing buildings.

Please feel free to share this article and other articles on this site with friends, family and colleagues who you think would be interested

Information/opinions posted on this site are the personal views of the author and should not be relied upon by any person or any third party without first seeking further professional advice. Also, please scroll down and read the copyright notice at the end of the blog

Quality Assurance - How accurate is your documentation?

Robust supervision and training of staff will help them to understand the significance of accurate documentation. Organisations should not lose sight of this, particularly in the current economic climate

Source:www.anarsolutions.com

In previous articles I have discussed the importance of drawings and the consequences that are likely to occur in a construction project if they contain inaccuracies or omissions. Drawings are one of the main components of tender documents, however, as important as they are, they are only a single component of the documentation. Drawings must reflect precisely the detail contained in the specification, and vice versa.  Any conflict between the two will lead to confusion from contractors during the tender period, (assuming that the contractors have read the documentation fully, which does not always happen!), and possibly disputes on site when the selected contractor realises any inconsistency. This can then lead to an embarrassing explanation to the Client, particularly if the contractor tries to claim that his tender price did not include for the inconsistency and ultimately in a dispute for which the Consultant may be held accountable.

Consequently, the process of preparing tender documentation and in fact any documentation that is to leave the office, should be undertaken with care and attention, with organisations having robust quality assurance processes to ensure that the documentation is checked at various stages. Junior and new members of staff need to be trained and supervised throughout the whole process so that they understand the significance of preparing tender documentation and that each component cannot and should not be prepared in isolation. Experienced and senior members of staff should not be excluded from the quality assurance process as they too are likely to make errors or omissions. The point is that through the supervision and quality assurance processes, any errors or omissions are identified before the documentation leaves the office.

Source: builtintelligence.com

In today's challenging environment where profit margins are tight and staffing levels have been squeezed, it would be very easy to allow documentation to be issued as a result of sometimes poor or non existing supervision and quality assurance procedures. One of my former organisation's quality assurance procedures was that no documentation could leave the office until it has been signed off by a senior manager. I can remember many days when members of staff would pile drawings, specifications and all sorts of other documentation onto my desk for checking. Now considering I still had my own workload, reading through and checking all of this documentation was challenging, however because I was signing the  information off I had to take the time too look at it properly, which often meant working long hours, or taking work home. I am sure many reading this article will understand, having been in similar situations themselves. Although it was sometime tempting to skim read documentation and drawings I was always aware of the implications to my organisation and to me personally, if inaccurate documentation was issued. Inevitably, errors in signed off documentation would sometimes be identified, however by adopting robust procedures we kept this to a minimum, and after all we are only human and we will sometimes miss something.

Those who prepare the documentation often do not appreciate the time that is necessary to read through and check what they have produced. In some circumstances members of staff would bring documentation to me for checking and expect me to look at it, there and then and sign it off immediately, because of an imminent deadline (mostly down to their own poor time management!). This is where mistakes can be made, and any organisation that works in this way or allows this to happen, even in isolated cases, are likely to keep their solicitors very busy! Organisations must have clear policies in place so that everyone understands and complies with quality assurance procedures and also has respect for the time of those who will be checking it.

As stated previously robust supervision and training of staff will help everyone (not just technical members of staff), to understand the significance of accurate documentation. Organisations should not lose sight of this, particularly in the current economic climate. Client's are much more likely to cultivate relationships with those who they feel confident will deliver a project effectively and in a professionally manner. Allowing inaccurate documentation to leave your office is not professional and gives a very negative impression. There is a lot of competition out there and it will not take long to sour a relationship, 'you're only as good as your last project', comes to mind, so ignore this at your peril.

Above, I have used the example of tender documentation, as from experience I know the problems that can result from in inconsistencies in documentation. Tender documentation is a topic I will cover in more detail in a future article.

Please feel free to share this article and other articles on this site with friends, family and colleagues who you think would be interested

Information/opinions posted on this site are the personal views of the author and should not be relied upon by any person or any third party without first seeking further professional advice. Also, please scroll down and read the copyright notice at the end of the blog