The case for Centres of Excellence in sustainable building design
The case for Centres of Excellence in sustainable building design
The case for Centres of Excellence in sustainable building design
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Government has recently estimated that, as a result <strong>of</strong> <strong>The</strong> Green Deal, jobs <strong>in</strong><br />
domestic eco-refurbishment will rise from 27,000 at present to around 250,000<br />
by 2030 [DECC 2010]. Given the similarity <strong>of</strong> expenditure rates <strong>for</strong> domestic and<br />
commercial low carbon retr<strong>of</strong>it and refurbishment, then it is likely that a similar<br />
<strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> the work<strong>for</strong>ce will be required to address carbon abatement <strong>in</strong> the<br />
commercial sector. Clearly all these new workers will need to be skilled <strong>in</strong> low<br />
carbon retr<strong>of</strong>it techniques and technologies. Not only will the <strong>in</strong>dividual workers<br />
need to be skilled <strong>in</strong> low carbon, but their management will also require new<br />
skills to <strong>design</strong> and lead low carbon <strong>in</strong>stallation and retr<strong>of</strong>it projects. Beyond the<br />
construction <strong>in</strong>dustry the regulators, such as build<strong>in</strong>g control <strong>of</strong>ficers, will also<br />
need to be fully conversant with the full range <strong>of</strong> low carbon techniques and<br />
technologies.<br />
However, the construction <strong>in</strong>dustry is not yet equipped to tra<strong>in</strong> these workers<br />
while the necessary skills are not sufficiently widespread to consistently deliver<br />
low carbon build<strong>in</strong>gs. Thus build<strong>in</strong>g <strong>design</strong>ers, public and private sector clients,<br />
developers and contractors <strong>of</strong>ten resort to micro-generation technologies<br />
to reduce emissions from conventional build<strong>in</strong>g <strong>design</strong>s and meet current<br />
regulatory requirements rather than reduc<strong>in</strong>g the fundamental demands <strong>for</strong><br />
energy. Build<strong>in</strong>g energy conservation is among the most cost-effective means <strong>of</strong><br />
abat<strong>in</strong>g greenhouse gas emissions, while micro-generation <strong>in</strong>stalled on build<strong>in</strong>gs<br />
is amongst the least cost-effective.<br />
<strong>The</strong> comb<strong>in</strong>ed challenge <strong>in</strong> reduc<strong>in</strong>g fossil fuel dependency <strong>in</strong> both new and<br />
refurbished build<strong>in</strong>gs is vast and the construction <strong>in</strong>dustry presently lacks<br />
sufficient resource with the knowledge and skills necessary to properly address it.<br />
Without the appropriate skills <strong>in</strong> place, the cost to the UK economy <strong>of</strong> achiev<strong>in</strong>g<br />
carbon reductions from the built environment could be significantly higher than<br />
it need be, whilst possibly not achiev<strong>in</strong>g all <strong>of</strong> the required reductions.<br />
Clearly it is vital to the health <strong>of</strong> the national economy to address the reduction <strong>of</strong><br />
greenhouse gas emissions from the built environment <strong>in</strong> the most cost-effective<br />
way and not to simply adopt the path <strong>of</strong> least resistance. It has been demonstrated<br />
through contemporary projects that reduc<strong>in</strong>g demand through energy efficient<br />
<strong>design</strong> costs little more than conventional, <strong>in</strong>efficient <strong>design</strong> and the scale <strong>of</strong><br />
emissions reduction that can be achieved substantially exceeds that which could<br />
be generated by expensive on-site renewable or micro-generation [K<strong>in</strong>g, 2008].<br />
14 <strong>The</strong> Royal Academy <strong>of</strong> Eng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g