Modern Building Services

32 MODERN BUILDING SERVICES OCTOBER 2022 FEATURE SMART BUILDINGS The architect’s journey to zero energy buildings T he 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) which took place in October-November 2021 under the UK presidency, delivered the Glasgow climate pact and saw almost 200 countries commit to accelerating their actions on climate during this decade. However, as mentioned it will be impossible for the UK to meet its 2050 net zero target without fundamental changes to the ways we build and heat our buildings. Buildings - their construction, operation, and heating - account for nearly 40% of global carbon emissions. (COP26 conference day on construction, cities, and the built environment). The facts place the majority of responsibility for minimising the impacts of climate change in the hands of all construction industry stakeholders. The good news is that we already have the methods and the tools to design more sustainable buildings that will not only help to reduce CO2 emissions, but will also minimise reliance on fossil fuels with all the associated energy costs. Indeed, energy usage in existing homes accounts for 48% of emissions from buildings, mostly through the use of fossil fuel boilers. The heating of buildings, in general, produces 62% of energy usage emissions. (UKGBC). Since buildings consume 40% of all global energy, one goalpost to a greener future is reducing this percentage to zero – net zero or near zero, depending on local legislative goals. Enter insulation. Long- lasting, effective insulation can significantly lower a building’s emissions, reduce heat loss, and prevent undesirable health effects of overheating, such as condensation, dampness, and house mold. The difference between net-ze- ro and nearly-zero and what can we achieve here and now The term net zero refers to a state of equilibrium in which one thing is balanced out by another. The UK is committed to achieving a net-zero emissions target by 2050. For carbon dioxide emissions, that means a stop to global warming. In construction, net zero is often applied to both a building’s emissions and its energy use which, whilst interlinked, describe two different approaches. Net zero emissions mean that the greenhouse gases (GHG) and pollutants that are going into the atmosphere are balanced by their removal from the atmosphere. This would mean that a building can only have zero effect on climate change if it balances its polluting emissions. Furthermore, applying net zero energy to buildings means that their total annual energy use should equal to the amount of renewable energy generated onsite or sustainably procured. The creation of Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) has been driven by the European Union’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). It requires all new buildings from 2021 (public buildings from 2019) to be nearly (or net) zero-energy buildings. The legislative drive is similar in Ireland, where the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) mandates that all new buildings from 2021 onward should be NZEB. NZEB there stands for Nearly Zero Energy Buildings, but other than that, the government is equally committed to it via the revised building regulations Part L. Elitsa Yakimov , Marketing Manager at Armacell UK, discusses the latest IPCC report amongst others, and comes to the sobering conclusion that it will be impossible for the UK to meet its 2050 Net Zero target without fundamental changes to the ways we build and heat our buildings.