August 15, 2017

London Mayor launches strategy to make the city “one of the greenest on the planet”

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, Environment, News

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has launched a new environmental strategy which he claims will help make the capital the world’s first ‘National Park City and one of the greenest cities on Earth’. The strategy includes plans for a new £9million Greener City Fund to boost trees and green infrastructure; improved planning policy proposals to encourage more green roofs, green walls and rain gardens; the creation of a ‘Challenge Map’ to prioritise areas in need of green infrastructure; and a series of measures to tackle pollution, promote cleaner energy & make more than 50 per cent of London green by 2050. As part of the strategy, the Mayor will use planning regulations to protect the Green Belt and incorporate into new developments more ‘green roofs’ (roofs covered with grass and plants which are excellent for soaking up rainwater), green walls (which can be added to the outside walls of buildings by busy polluted roads and are covered in plants to help boost air quality), ‘rain gardens’ (small green spaces which help prevent flooding), and habitats for wildlife.

August 2, 2017

Air quality in cities would benefit more from electric heating in buildings than from electric vehicles

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, Facilities management, News

There would be more immediate benefits to the air quality in UK cities by converting all their buildings to electric heating than from the much talked about government plan to halt the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040, according to consultancy WSP. A switch to electric heating would provide around a 40 reduction in emissions, a similar level to what would be achieved if all vehicles were to become electric by 2040, according to the report. It highlighted the figures following yesterday’s government announcement that petrol or diesel cars would no longer be sold from 2040. In Central London alone 38 percent of NOx emissions come from buildings using gas power, claims WSP. In 2014 WSP published a report that showed that if all transport and buildings were to become electric by 2030 in London, air pollution could be reduced by over a third, carbon emissions cut by 80 percent and noise pollution reduced significantly. Its figures come from the expected London emissions in 2020 from London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory.

July 6, 2017

Twenty-first century construction is increasingly environmentally friendly ⁰

by Richard Walker • Environment, Facilities management

One thing is clear — within the next 20 years, we will reach our peak capacity in terms of oil consumption as a planet. Although, as demand for oil appears to increase year upon year, the global production of oil appears to decrease. As a result of this growing problem, the construction industry still derives most of its energy sources from oil-based fuels. Throughout the Western world, it is evident that the construction sector is heavily reliant upon crude oils. The reason for this is that without them, the construction process would not be able to function in its current form. This is however, having a detrimental impact on greenhouse gas emissions. Within the UK, 50 percent of carbon emissions are accounted for by the construction industry and machinery within the production process.

July 6, 2017

“World first” biophilic design research project to explore impact of nature on buildings and people ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, Facilities management, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

BRE have launched The Biophilic Office project, a ‘groundbreaking’ office refurbishment in test conditions that will seek to provide quantified evidence on the benefits of biophilic design on health, wellbeing and productivity of office occupants. The project centres on a 650 sq. m. 1980s office building on the BRE campus in Watford, which will be refurbished according to biophilic design principles. BRE are partnering with architect and interior designer Oliver Heath, who will lead on the design element of the refurbished building.

June 30, 2017

Why using recyclable materials is no longer enough to protect the environment ⁰

by Michael Tyerman • Comment, Environment, Workplace design

A few years ago, the most commonly recognised symbol of humankind’s impact on the environment was the image of a solitary polar bear, adrift on a rapidly shrinking ice floe. Google a term like ‘melting ice caps’ even now, and you’ll still derive a host of variations of the same meme. More recently a new and even more unpleasant series of symbols has emerged for a similarly environmentally catastrophic phenomenon, carried worldwide on the tide of social media. This time, they are not about the way we pollute the atmosphere but also the land and seas, particularly with plastic. Social media feeds are packed with images of the corpses of seabirds, their flesh rotted away to expose the amount of plastic they have consumed. This is the new face of environmental disaster. This is not just an issue that affects birds, however. Barely a day passes when we cannot see a new image of turtles malformed after getting caught up in plastic netting or six pack rings, whales beached after choking on dozens of discarded plastic bags they’ve mistaken for food, clogged waterways and oceans, piles of rubbish and beaches that consist in large part of plastic eroded to the size of sand grains. Most recently Sky ran a heartbreaking documentary about a whale that had died with a stomach full of plastic rubbish.

June 14, 2017

Climate change demands a rethink for our economic models ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News

Swift and effective action is needed to create new, sustainable economic models to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on the world’s working population, claims a report published by the International Bar Association Global Employment Institute (IBA GEI). The Climate Change and Human Resources Policies Report focuses on the relationship between climate change and employment, and aims to contribute to nascent discussions anticipating structural changes to business and the training needs of workforces transitioning to low-carbon economies. The report also highlights potential issues in relation to employment policies, labour law, ‘weak’ jobs, ‘expanding’ jobs and new jobs. Further, it draws attention to what some countries are doing to help their nations’ employees adjust to industrial change, and how trade unions, employers and educators are working together to deliver green skills training.

June 13, 2017

Will battery storage be the next big energy trend for commercial buildings? ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property, Technology

Building managers and FMs are under growing pressure to reduce costs and convince senior management about the need to take control of their energy needs according to a survey carried out a recent energy event; which also revealed that the majority (56 percent) believe that battery storage will be the biggest energy trend in the next decade. This was according to delegates at the recent Energy Live Future conference at Leicester’s National Space Centre where more than a third (38 percent) of delegates at the event, sponsored by British Gas Business, agreed that reducing energy costs remained the central energy issue for large organisations and those who manage commercial buildings. This was closely followed by the challenge of convincing business leaders to allow investment in new technology (35 percent). Nearly half (48 percent) of delegates suggested that political uncertainty, caused by the General Election, Brexit and changing regulation, could make it even more difficult for them to make significant energy changes.

June 5, 2017

Taking action on climate change will boost economic growth, claims report ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, News

Integrating measures to tackle climate change into regular economic policy will have a positive impact on economic growth over the medium and long term, according to a new OECD report prepared in the context of the German Presidency of the G20. Investing in Climate, Investing in Growth claims that bringing together the growth and climate agendas, rather than treating climate as a separate issue, could add 1 percent to average economic output in G20 countries by 2021 and lift 2050 output by up to 2.8 percent. If the economic benefits of avoiding climate change impacts such as coastal flooding or storm damage are factored in, the net increase to 2050 GDP would be nearly 5 percent.

May 31, 2017

Every building on the planet must be net zero carbon by 2050 claims World Green Building Council ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

The building sector, which is responsible for global emissions roughly equivalent to those of the whole of China, must operate at “net zero carbon” by 2050 if global warming is to remain under two degrees Celsius, the limit enshrined in the Paris Agreement. According to a new report from the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), there are currently 500 net zero commercial buildings and 2,000 net zero homes around the globe (well under 1 per cent of all buildings worldwide), requiring a monumental and coordinated effort by businesses, governments and nongovernmental organisations to bring the building sector within striking distance of Paris Agreement targets. The report defines ‘net zero buildings’ as highly energy-efficient buildings which generate or supply the energy they need to operate from renewable sources to achieve net zero carbon emissions, and lays out specific actions that the private sector, governments and NGOs can take to ensure all new buildings operate at net zero carbon by 2030 and that all existing buildings are renovated to operate at net zero carbon by 2050.

April 27, 2017

Europe needs national renovation strategies for buildings, coalition claims ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

Europe must lead the world in cutting greenhouse gas emissions from existing buildings if it is to meet the ambitions of the Paris Agreement, claims BUILD UPON, a coalition of over 300 businesses and organisations from across the continent. The coalition – which includes cities, public authorities, property developers, manufacturers and energy utilities, as well as trade associations, NGOs and universities – is backing the need for ambitious ‘national renovation strategies’ that set out clear targets, milestones and measures on transforming existing buildings. The intervention comes as EU member states near the deadline to publish updated strategies to renovate their buildings, which account for around 36 percent of Europe’s total greenhouse gas emissions, and as political decision-makers grapple over the future of EU energy laws for the construction sector.

April 24, 2017

Commercial property lenders should drive sustainability through financial innovation ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, News, Property

The commercial real estate finance sector is witnessing a dramatic shift in attitudes towards the issue of sustainability, according to a new report from the Better Buildings Partnership. It claims that major commercial property lenders are already exploring new opportunities that go well beyond traditional risk management through sustainability initiatives that ‘drive new business, strengthen customer relationships and improve the data they hold on the buildings in which they have underwritten’. The report, Beyond Risk Management: How sustainability is driving innovation in commercial real estate finance, is sponsored by CREFC Europe, GeoPhy, ING Bank and Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, and claims to reveal pioneering examples of how lenders are incorporating sustainability into their core business activities.

April 20, 2017

US telecommuting cuts greenhouse gas emissions by 3.6 million tons a year ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Environment, Flexible working, News

Ahead of Earth Day this Saturday, FlexJobs and Global Workplace Analytics have released new data on the environmental impact of the existing flexible workforce of ‘telecommuters’ in the US. Assuming they work from home around half of the time (2.5 days out of a 5 day working week), these flexible workers cut the distance travelled in cars by around 7.8 billion miles a year and the amount of greenhouse gas emitted by 3.6 million tons per year, according to the report. The study claims that the environmental impact of telecommuting is seen in a number of ways because commuting contributes greatly to driving, the second largest source of US greenhouse gas emissions, while company offices are a part of the third largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the US.