According to the recent CCC report, the UK has ‘lost its clear global leadership position’ on climate change, while the US and the European Union (EU) have launched major new climate policies. The message is clear: the world is moving on to the next stage of its net zero priorities, and the UK has embarrassingly bowed out.

The government has sought to quell the negativity around the CCC’s findings by turning our attention to the fact that the UK has cut emissions faster than any other G7 country. But as the stepping down of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s own Minister for Climate and Environment, Zac Goldsmith, perhaps demonstrated, many are unconvinced that the UK is doing enough to decarbonise – myself included.

The terms agreed under the Paris Agreement were always going to be moonshot targets. And in order to meet them, the decarbonisation of existing building stock has to be a key priority across the UK.

The built environment accounted for 17% of the UK’s emissions in 2022, making it the second highest-emitting sector behind surface transport. The technology, including cutting-edge digital twin software, is here, and it has astounding capabilities to transform the energy efficiency of existing and new buildings. However, we are so heavily focused on the design of the building that its operation is often not considered, and we do not achieve the desired impacts of the well-designed building’s energy performance or the low-carbon technologies installed.  

Available solutions
For example, the latest data cited in the CCC report shows that in 2022, the UK installed 72,000 new heat pumps, just over half of what was required in the CCC’s advice. Heat pumps are an excellent example of a low-carbon technology which uses electricity as a power source. When this electricity is generated from renewable sources, these heat pumps contribute to the decarbonisation of the built environment.

However, of those 72,000 heat pumps, it is highly likely that many are not operating at the efficiency they should be due to poor education among end users on how to operate them. Heat pumps are often accompanied by thick manuals that are all too often ignored, and no training is provided.

It may seem obvious, but heat pumps that are left running 24/7 are not always optimising energy efficiency, yet many are not aware of this. When this occurs, pumps are using more electricity than they need, and if this is not coming from renewable sources, they are not contributing to decarbonisation.

Operation and design
The performance gap is halting the UK’s net zero efforts. Here we plan our buildings really well, with thought-out energy envelopes and systems, but once these buildings are occupied, energy measures become a distant memory. To be better energy performers, we have made our buildings very complex, so much so that people struggle to understand or are too short on time to operate them properly.

While it is important that all clients operating in the property sphere invest in good quality design, too much focus is put on the design of a building, which is such a small stage of a building’s lifecycle, rather than its operation.

Better communication between project stakeholders is hugely important if the UK wants to meet its net zero targets, and this must start with architects and designers in the early stages through to those who end up managing and living in buildings once they are in operation.

To get back on track for meeting the UK’s 2030 net zero targets, the UK government must embrace the available technology and innovation that can accurately ensure buildings are not only designed for net zero but remain there throughout their operational lifecycles. 

Top-down approach
This shift needs to be made on a legislative level too. The current regulations all surround design, but energy is consumed during operation – and operation is exactly where we are failing. To get back on track for meeting the UK’s 2030 net zero targets, the UK government must embrace the available technology and innovation that can accurately ensure buildings are not only designed for net zero but remain there throughout their operational lifecycles.

There is an opportunity to bring the UK back to a leadership position by focusing efforts on technologies that foster collaboration and deliver insights at every level from design through to construction, commissioning and operation, to guide better decisions for the building at every step. There is also an opportunity to focus on technologies that optimise a building’s energy use and plan measures to improve energy efficiency and performance.  

More funding for both commercial and academic organisations is needed, along with education for end users on how to operate their energy efficient buildings, and legislation to ensure buildings perform as they are designed. This would enable the decarbonisation of the built environment and in turn lead the UK out of the current climate emergency.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are strictly those of the author only and are not necessarily given or endorsed by or on behalf of the Energy Institute.