Why it pays to adapt older buildings to net zero status: Sarah Chipchase

Here in Yorkshire, a pioneering example is 11 & 12 Wellington Place which is one of the first buildings outside London to achieve a NABERS Design for Performance Rating of Five Stars or above, an exemplar system for rating the energy efficiency of buildings both during the construction phase and when in use.

However, focus on the region’s older non-residential buildings has not followed at the same pace. In 30 years’ time, it is expected that 70% of the UK building stock in use today will still be here. If we want to continue to use them, they will have to meet net zero targets.

One way of achieving this is through the retrofitting of existing buildings – adapting their systems or structure following its initial construction and occupation.

Our own research has found that 86% of organisations underestimate the need to retrofit non-domestic buildings to make them more energy efficient.

Separate research from Carter Jones has revealed that just 8.3% of UK office space will satisfy new minimum energy efficiency standards set to be enforced from 2030.

Although sustainability is becoming a key priority for our clients across all sectors, from governance and reporting requirements through to programme and project delivery, there is clearly a job to do to educate property owners on the need to integrate retrofitting into their net zero strategies.

But why is this agenda so important? Well, clearly replacing all old buildings with entirely new stock is impractical and unrealistic for a range of reasons, the clearest being cost.

Environmental factors are a key consideration when considering retrofitting. Embodied carbon is the emissions emitted during the construction of a building rather than when it is in use – the carbon footprint of a material. Operational carbon is the amount of carbon emitted once a building is in use. Retrofitting existing structures, including monitoring and lowering the emissions from heating, cooling, and the management and regular building maintenance, can save up a large percentage of embodied and operational carbon emissions compared to constructing a new building.

Alongside this, businesses have ever-increasing strong social and governance requirements.

Workplace strategies are evolving following the pandemic. This is reflective of the changing requirements of employees. Organisations are not only looking to reduce operational energy usage and carbon emissions from an environmental perspective; they know providing healthy workspaces is key for employees too – active travel (cycling and walking) provisions and break out spaces have shot up the priorities list. Sustainability accountability is increasing – it’s no longer just a tick box exercise.

Sarah Chipchase is a Leeds-based partner at multi-expertise property and construction consultancy Ridge and Partners.

Sarah Chipchase is a Leeds-based partner at multi-expertise property and construction consultancy Ridge and Partners.