Fully decarbonising the electricity system by 2035 is central to delivering Net Zero in the UK. With buildings responsible for over 60% of the UK’s national electricity demand, the built environment industry has a critical role to play in achieving this target, and the way electricity is procured for our buildings can accelerate our transition to a reliable, resilient, and zero carbon grid.  

This guidance from UKGBC on Renewable Energy Procurement seeks to empower stakeholders tasked with procuring energy in the built environment to do so in a way that enables them to realise their climate ambition, while supporting the continued decarbonisation of the electricity supply sector. Across a suite of guidance documents, UKGBC’s series of reports gives industry the tools to make more informed procurement decisions.

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All Reports

Summary Report

The summary report brings together the key conclusions, guidance, and recommendations from the other reports. It gives an overview of the information to help users identify which documents will be most useful and relevant for them.

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Report 1 – What stakeholders need to do

Report 1 outlines what stakeholders need to do, providing both general recommendations to secure procurement that aligns with the principles for quality renewable electricity procurement. It also identifies actions different consumer types can take today and in future to help support the market evolution needed to enable the electricity system’s decarbonisation.

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Report 2 – Options available in market

There are many routes through which built environment stakeholders can procure their electricity. The accessibility of these routes to different consumers varies substantially, and each contributes differently to decarbonising the grid. Report 2 summarises the various procurement routes available in the market and the factors that may affect a built environment stakeholder’s ability to engage in them. It also describes the range of Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) variants available and introduces relevant guidance when considering a direct contract with a renewable generator.

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Report 3 – Determining the performance of your electricity strategy

Report 3 introduces tools for engaging energy suppliers to enable better assessment of the options available in the market. It also defines a methodology for scoring the performance of a building’s electricity strategy, including procurement as well as onsite generation and demand management. This enables all stakeholders to benchmark their current strategy, assess prospective strategies, and understand the incremental changes they can make to secure procurement and manage their buildings in a way that accelerates our transition to a resilient, decarbonised electricity system.

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Report 4 – Rationale behind the guidance

Report 4 outlines why decarbonising the electricity system is critical in delivering against our national Net Zero target, and explores the challenges in doing so as we move to electrify heat and transport and transition from fossil fuels to intermittent renewable power. It summarises the energy markets, the principles of good quality procurement that can help drive this transition, and the evolution in approaches to energy management and the energy products being offered that are required to enable a resilient, decarbonised electricity grid. It describes the sources of emissions that result from the consumption of electricity and covers approaches to account for these emissions.

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Advancing Net Zero Partners

Our climate change mitigation work is made possible thanks to the generous support of our Advancing Net Zero Programme Partners

Project partners

With thanks to our Embodied Carbon Project Partners who make this work possible.

The post Renewable Energy Procurement Part 2 appeared first on UKGBC.

Fully decarbonising the electricity system by 2035 is central to delivering Net Zero in the UK.[1] With buildings responsible for over 60% of the UK’s national electricity demand[2], the built environment industry has a critical role to play in achieving this target, and the way electricity is procured for our buildings can accelerate our transition to a reliable, resilient, and zero carbon grid.

Launched today, new guidance from UKGBC on Renewable Energy Procurement seeks to empower stakeholders tasked with procuring energy in the built environment to do so in a way that enables them to realise their climate ambition, while supporting the continued decarbonisation of the electricity supply sector. Across a suite of guidance documents, UKGBC’s new series of reports gives industry the tools to make more informed procurement decisions. Key aspects within the guidance include:

• Three principles for good quality renewable electricity procurement – Renewable, Additionality and Time-matched – along with actions to meet these principles. The best electricity procurement approaches will seek to maximise the extent to which they respond to these three principles.
• A toolkit to better engage with your energy supplier and source the information needed to compare the procurement routes available to you in the market.
• A rating system for assessing the performance of a building or organisation’s overall electricity strategy, including electricity procured from off site, as well as any onsite generation, demand management, and storage.
• A summary of procurement routes available in the market, with more detailed information on many of the Power Purchase Agreement variants, as well as some of the factors that may affect an organisation’s ability to engage with certain procurement options.

The guidance highlights the urgent need for greater collaboration between customers and their energy suppliers, as well as for more transparency and better-quality information from suppliers about their products, to enable customers to make informed decisions about how and where they source their electricity. UKGBC also outlines why market evolution is needed to incentivise building owners to operate their assets with greater flexibility, to minimise operational emissions whilst supporting a grid increasingly powered by intermittent wind and solar.

Ultimately, the guidance provides the tools stakeholders need to effectively navigate the electricity procurement landscape and ensure the way they buy their power meaningfully supports the essential decarbonisation needed from our energy supply sector.

UKGBC’s Head of Climate Action, Yetunde Abdul said:

Decarbonising the electricity system is a top priority for achieving Net Zero. Critical to enabling this, is understanding the active role our buildings and the way we procure energy must play. However, distinguishing the high-quality products that are supporting the energy system’s transition from the other ‘green’ offerings in the market is currently challenging.

Our guidance provides industry with the much-needed tools to better understand their procurement options, benchmark the performance of their building’s electricity strategy, and effectively engage with energy suppliers to make more informed decisions. We strongly believe the collective voice of built environment stakeholders demanding more from their energy suppliers will be a powerful mechanism for driving change in the energy procurement sector and improve the product offering for the entire industry.

CBRE’s Associate Director – Renewable Energy, Rebekah Needham said:

This fantastic new guidance brings long-needed clarity and transparency to the electricity market and CBRE is pleased to have supported this important work. Moving towards a decarbonised electricity system and the procurement of renewable energy is a collective responsibility, since the procurement decisions made by one party – such as a landlord or occupier – can directly impact the decarbonisation progress made by the other. All those within real estate must be aligned and working towards the same net zero goal if we are to guarantee a successful transition.”

This guidance is primarily intended to support those procuring energy on behalf of businesses or commercial buildings, rather than domestic customers (i.e., corporate procurement). It can also be applicable to anyone involved in the design, delivery, or operation of a building and will be useful for energy systems designers, renewable energy generators, and energy brokers/suppliers.

This project forms part of UKGBC’s Advancing Net Zero Programme, which has been made possible this year thanks to the generous support of our Programme Partners: BAM Construct UK, Berkeley Group, Buro Happold, CBRE, Grosvenor Property UK, Hoare Lea, ISG, JLL, Lloyds Bank, ROCKWOOL UK, Turner & Townsend, and Project Partners: Ampersand, Landsec, Low Carbon Alliance, Macfarlanes and Stanhope.

[1] Climate Change Committee (2023), Delivering a reliable decarbonised power system. Available here: https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/delivering-a-reliable-decarbonised-power-system/

[2] National Grid ESO’s Future Energy Scenarios 2022

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As the Net Zero Solutions Forum takes continues to take shape throughout 2023, it will have four topics as its focus: Organisational Commitments (Race to Zero, World GBC etc), Retrofit, Finance + Value, and Whole Life Carbon implementation.

Forum meetings take place roughly every six weeks, alternating between in-person and online events. In line with our ambition to create a national UKGBC network, our in-person meetings will rotate around several locations:

• • 13th September, Manchester

• • 18th October, Online

• • 6th December, London

 

2024 dates coming soon

Each event, both online and in-person, will follow the same base structure:

1. Opening presentation and group discussion

• A UKGBC member has the opportunity to bring forward either a successful implemented solution or a challenge that they’d like to work on with the forum.
• 30 minutes to present, go into depth, and have a group wide discussion.

2. Breakout groups for the four main topics

• The forum then splits into five groups, one for the four main topics (Commitments, Retrofit, Finance, and WLC implementation), and a “free-for-all” space where members can bring items that don’t fit into the other four.
• Each group will have a UKGBC member as Chair, who can facilitate and support the consistency of conversation across multiple forum meetings.

3. Reconvene as an overall group to overview and discuss any topics to work on before the next forum meeting.

The forum is founded on the following broad principles:

• Solutions focused: the forum should actively create, promote, and share solutions to delivering net zero carbon buildings at scale.
• Peer-to-peer learning: the forum should encourage the sharing of strategies to help deliver net zero, including organisational net zero commitments.
• Advocate: the forum should use its collective strength to demonstrate leadership on net zero in the construction and property sector

For more information please email alex.benstead@ukgbc.org or emily.dodkin@ukgbc.org

Advancing Net Zero Partners

Our climate change mitigation work is made possible thanks to the generous support of our Advancing Net Zero Programme Partners

The post Net Zero Solutions Forum – London appeared first on UKGBC.

As the Net Zero Solutions Forum takes continues to take shape throughout 2023, it will have four topics as its focus: Organisational Commitments (Race to Zero, World GBC etc), Retrofit, Finance + Value, and Whole Life Carbon implementation.

Forum meetings take place roughly every six weeks, alternating between in-person and online events. In line with our ambition to create a national UKGBC network, our in-person meetings will rotate around several locations:

• • 13th September, Manchester

• • 18th October, Online

• • 6th December, London

 

2024 dates coming soon

Each event, both online and in-person, will follow the same base structure:

1. Opening presentation and group discussion

• A UKGBC member has the opportunity to bring forward either a successful implemented solution or a challenge that they’d like to work on with the forum.
• 30 minutes to present, go into depth, and have a group wide discussion.

2. Breakout groups for the four main topics

• The forum then splits into five groups, one for the four main topics (Commitments, Retrofit, Finance, and WLC implementation), and a “free-for-all” space where members can bring items that don’t fit into the other four.
• Each group will have a UKGBC member as Chair, who can facilitate and support the consistency of conversation across multiple forum meetings.

3. Reconvene as an overall group to overview and discuss any topics to work on before the next forum meeting.

The forum is founded on the following broad principles:

• Solutions focused: the forum should actively create, promote, and share solutions to delivering net zero carbon buildings at scale.
• Peer-to-peer learning: the forum should encourage the sharing of strategies to help deliver net zero, including organisational net zero commitments.
• Advocate: the forum should use its collective strength to demonstrate leadership on net zero in the construction and property sector

For more information please email alex.benstead@ukgbc.org or emily.dodkin@ukgbc.org

Advancing Net Zero Partners

Our climate change mitigation work is made possible thanks to the generous support of our Advancing Net Zero Programme Partners

The post Net Zero Solutions Forum – Online appeared first on UKGBC.

As the Net Zero Solutions Forum takes continues to take shape throughout 2023, it will have four topics as its focus: Organisational Commitments (Race to Zero, World GBC etc), Retrofit, Finance + Value, and Whole Life Carbon implementation.

Forum meetings take place roughly every six weeks, alternating between in-person and online events. In line with our ambition to create a national UKGBC network, our in-person meetings will rotate around several locations:

• • 13th September, Manchester

• • 18th October, Online

• • 6th December, London

 

2024 dates coming soon

Each event, both online and in-person, will follow the same base structure:

1. Opening presentation and group discussion

• A UKGBC member has the opportunity to bring forward either a successful implemented solution or a challenge that they’d like to work on with the forum.
• 30 minutes to present, go into depth, and have a group wide discussion.

2. Breakout groups for the four main topics

• The forum then splits into five groups, one for the four main topics (Commitments, Retrofit, Finance, and WLC implementation), and a “free-for-all” space where members can bring items that don’t fit into the other four.
• Each group will have a UKGBC member as Chair, who can facilitate and support the consistency of conversation across multiple forum meetings.

3. Reconvene as an overall group to overview and discuss any topics to work on before the next forum meeting.

The forum is founded on the following broad principles:

• Solutions focused: the forum should actively create, promote, and share solutions to delivering net zero carbon buildings at scale.
• Peer-to-peer learning: the forum should encourage the sharing of strategies to help deliver net zero, including organisational net zero commitments.
• Advocate: the forum should use its collective strength to demonstrate leadership on net zero in the construction and property sector

For more information please email alex.benstead@ukgbc.org or emily.dodkin@ukgbc.org

Advancing Net Zero Partners

Our climate change mitigation work is made possible thanks to the generous support of our Advancing Net Zero Programme Partners

The post Net Zero Solutions Forum – Online appeared first on UKGBC.

UKGBC’s Advancing Net Zero (ANZ) programme has a mission to lead the UK’s transition to a net zero built environment. Now in its sixth year, and with many achievements behind it including the Net Zero Carbon Framework Definition, the precursor to and catalyst for developing the forthcoming UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings standard.

 

UKGBC is hosting a showcase event for built environment professionals to learn more about our latest work. With a focus on how far we have come in meeting the challenge, we will also be diving into what comes next for our industry and how we continue to collaborate and innovate together to ensure the UK meets our 2050 net zero target.

This event will showcase this year’s projects and activities including:

Retrofit (Domestic)

Retrofit (Non-domestic)

Embodied Carbon Measurement and Reporting

Renewable Energy Procurement

Carbon Offsetting

System Enablers for a Circular Economy

The latest innovations in the Net Zero space

Spaces are limited, so please sign up as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. We look forward to seeing you there. As a member benefit, we are offering UKGBC members a chance to book first and will release non-member tickets closer to the date. Please note, there will be a fee for registered participants that do not attend.

Advancing Net Zero Partners

Our climate change mitigation work is made possible thanks to the generous support of our Advancing Net Zero Programme Partners

The post Advancing Net Zero Showcase – London appeared first on UKGBC.

UKGBC’s Advancing Net Zero (ANZ) programme has a mission to lead the UK’s transition to a net zero built environment. Now in its sixth year, and with many achievements behind it including the Net Zero Carbon Framework Definition, the precursor to and catalyst for developing the forthcoming UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings standard.

 

UKGBC is hosting a showcase event for built environment professionals to learn more about our latest work. With a focus on how far we have come in meeting the challenge, we will also be diving into what comes next for our industry and how we continue to collaborate and innovate together to ensure the UK meets our 2050 net zero target.

This event will showcase this year’s projects and activities including:

Retrofit (Domestic)

Retrofit (Non-domestic)

Embodied Carbon Measurement and Reporting

Renewable Energy Procurement

Carbon Offsetting

System Enablers for a Circular Economy

The latest innovations in the Net Zero space

Spaces are limited, so please sign up as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. We look forward to seeing you there. As a member benefit, we are offering UKGBC members a chance to book first and will release non-member tickets closer to the date. Please note, there will be a fee for registered participants that do not attend.

Advancing Net Zero Partners

Our climate change mitigation work is made possible thanks to the generous support of our Advancing Net Zero Programme Partners

The post Advancing Net Zero Showcase – Leeds appeared first on UKGBC.

The transition to clean energy is urgently needed and inevitable. At consecutive COP meetings, we are yet to see the necessary leap forwards that will keep global temperature rises within the science-based 1.5°C target. At COP27, the conference concluded with talk of phasing down rather than phasing out coal, and little mention of oil and gas.

The transition to green energy and a green economy can be accelerated through action in our towns and cities. The time has come to focus on solutions and action rather than problems and potential. Energy efficiency has clear and tangible benefits and there is one area in which the built environment can take quick action to reduce both emissions and costs – lighting. Whether it be lighting up the homes, city streets, offices, factories or other commercial and municipal buildings, lighting has potential to lower a city’s carbon footprint – quickly.

Why the path to energy efficiency starts with lighting and what can be done

Europe and the UK lag behind much of Asia in the switch to greener lighting.  This demonstrates huge potential for energy savings to be delivered in the immediate future.

Smart LED lighting has the highest relative cost saving of any replacement technology, which is made possible both quickly and unobtrusively because it doesn’t require the altering of existing infrastructure to any great degree.

Subsidies can be very effective but only when rolled out in the right way.

Signify data* suggests that in Europe, this would amount to a saving of 65 billion euros, depending on energy rates, if all traditional lights were replaced with low energy alternatives. This also brings the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by 51 million tonnes. Meanwhile, switching all light points in the UK alone could reduce CO2 emissions by 3.9 million tonnes, the amount of emissions that 175 million trees could sequester in a year. Making the switch would also generate electricity savings of 16.1 TWh, which is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of more than 4.3 million households. In both cases, those savings bring the potential to bolster capacity in energy networks for other purposes including EV charging, capacity for heat pumps etc., and the benefits can be seen in monetary terms. Signify’s data suggests that for an average British household, switching to LED lighting can help save up to £250 per year (i.e., £15-£18 per light bulb).

In terms of encouraging the switch more broadly in the built environment, subsidies can be very effective but only when rolled out in the right way. For example, the UK government recently rolled out subsidies in response to the current energy crisis by subsidising energy bills for consumers and businesses continuously – for a limited period. These measures are little more than a sticking plaster and, as a business model, are completely unsustainable for the long term. For example, households in the UK received a subsidy of £400 for a period of 6 months. For business too, the government introduced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme which supported businesses and organisations with support in the winter. Now, the Energy Bills Discount Scheme is running for 12 months. While these may have lessened the worst impacts of energy bill increases, it will have done little to reduce energy consumption or carbon emissions and also doesn’t bring about energy savings long-term. At some point, subsidies will need to be paid back and the lighting will need to be replaced so municipalities, building owners and families effectively must deal with the problem twice. Instead, what if the subsidy were switched out for a retrofitting measure, like LED lamps. It provides immediate energy- and cost-savings and means you only must deal with the problem once.

The window for action to avert a climate catastrophe will close before our eyes if we don’t treat this with the seriousness it deserves.

The bigger picture

The transition to a sufficiently energy efficient built environment takes an integrated approach at all levels of government and society, and cannot be achieved without a clear, cohesive, and long-term plan. National governments must agree targets on carbon reduction and energy saving, but the action and the work to achieve those targets ultimately takes place in cities, towns and even homes. We are still in the early stages of a transition that truly accounts for renewables energy together, and the potential demonstrates the value it can offer in improving not just the environment, but the economy and our society.

Recent weather events have brought the impact of climate change to the doorstep of cities around the world. The window for action to avert a climate catastrophe will close before our eyes if we don’t treat this with the seriousness it deserves. It is a complex challenge but making the switch to greener, energy efficient lighting represents one of the most immediate, achievable, and cost-efficient actions that can be taken. And whether it be to provide more education, awareness, or practical demonstrations of what is possible, the lighting industry stands ready to support cities and organisations around the world.

To find out more about how Signify’s technology can help make the switch to a more energy-efficient and greener future, go to Flipping the Green Switch* for Europe and UK.

Signify are UKGBC Members and you can learn more about UKGBC’s work on energy efficiency in cities in our Climate Change Mitigation Programme.

The post How energy efficiency is creating environmental and economic value in cities appeared first on UKGBC.

Similarly, the operation of existing non-domestic buildings is responsible for 23% of built environment emissions. Retrofitting our existing buildings without adversely increasing embodied carbon emissions is a key challenge we need to address in our transition to net zero. Our How Circular Economy Principles can impact carbon and value report explored the opportunities circular economy design principles can offer to reduce whole life carbon, and how this can be valued in built assets.

To bring to life the opportunities and lessons learned from a recent pilot project that explored this challenge, UKGBC is hosting a site tour of CISL’s Entopia building – a case study featured in our report last year, targeting WELL Gold rating, BREEAM Outstanding, and EnerPHit Classic. 

Being joined by ISG and Architype the tour will include presentations from the design and delivery teams outlining the range of sustainability interventions introduced and key lessons learned, followed by post-tour refreshments and networking. 

Why attend? 

• Deepen understanding of how to retrofit non-residential buildings and minimise embodied carbon impacts
• Raise awareness of the value of circular design principles and whole life carbon reductions
• Explore solutions, challenges and lessons learned first-hand from the design and delivery teams
• Network with fellow built environment professionals

Who should attend? 

Built environment professionals focused on the retrofit and/or the fit-out of commercial buildings who are looking to include circular design principles in their work and reduce whole life carbon emissions. 

The post Commercial Retrofit and the Circular Economy – Site Tour of the Entopia Building, Cambridge appeared first on UKGBC.

A circular economy is a pivotal part of the puzzle to solve the climate and nature crises. The built environment can play a major role in creating a thriving circular economy.  In the UK, construction, demolition and excavation account for 60% of material use and waste generation. To support the built environment to transition away from a linear economy and towards circularity, UKGBC has published several guidance reports from its Circular Economy programme.

Eight months post launch of our most recent Resource Use publication System Enablers for a Circular Economy report, UKGBC is hosting a webinar to explore these findings further and bring to life the eight enablers identified, showcasing case studies and learnings from our members’ experiences.

Expert speakers from the UKGBC membership will will showcase their circular economy projects, relating the success of these to the system enablers in our latest publication.

This webinar series is split in two parts, each touching on a selection of different enablers.

Part 1: 5th September 2023 will cover

• Circular design principles  
• Secondary Materials Markets  
• Tax and Legislation  
• Green contracts and leases 

Part 2: 28th September 2023 will cover

• Collaboration  
• Education  
• Metrics, benchmarks, and indicators  
• Green finance 

Who should attend?

Built environment professionals with an interest in circularity.

Registration is free for all UKGBC members. Find out more on the many benefits of UKGBC membership here.

The post System Enablers for a Circular Economy Part 2 appeared first on UKGBC.