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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cost, so that there is likely to be a net social ga<strong>in</strong> due to the reduction <strong>in</strong> energy<br />
use over the lifetime <strong>of</strong> a build<strong>in</strong>g. We are not assum<strong>in</strong>g an overall <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong><br />
carbon abatement, but rather that the carbon abatement cont<strong>in</strong>ues happen<strong>in</strong>g<br />
at the same rate as the BAU scenario.<br />
None <strong>of</strong> the learn<strong>in</strong>g effects or the knock-on effects <strong>in</strong> academia, such as the<br />
benefits <strong>of</strong> an <strong>in</strong>creased research base, are be<strong>in</strong>g quantified here. We model a<br />
fixed quantity <strong>of</strong> graduates leav<strong>in</strong>g a fixed number <strong>of</strong> universities. We also model<br />
a fixed abatement ability <strong>of</strong> each graduate.<br />
Education costs<br />
We assume that the project consists <strong>of</strong> four <strong>Centres</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Excellence</strong>, each with a<br />
graduat<strong>in</strong>g cohort <strong>of</strong> 60 eng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g students and 150 architects. This analysis<br />
considers only the contribution to society <strong>of</strong> the eng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g graduates who have<br />
benefited from an enhanced education <strong>in</strong> build<strong>in</strong>g physics and <strong>in</strong>tegrated <strong>design</strong>.<br />
Thus we are apportion<strong>in</strong>g the full start-up cost <strong>of</strong> the centres over the numbers <strong>of</strong><br />
eng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g graduates.<br />
Over a five-year duration, the cost <strong>of</strong> runn<strong>in</strong>g the four centres is £30 million. It<br />
is assumed that £10 million <strong>of</strong> this will fund research at the centres that would<br />
otherwise be funded and carried out elsewhere. This leaves an extra over cost <strong>of</strong><br />
£20 million <strong>for</strong> teach<strong>in</strong>g undergraduates at the four centres over five years or £4<br />
million per year as the marg<strong>in</strong>al cost <strong>of</strong> educat<strong>in</strong>g the graduates. Although the<br />
<strong>Centres</strong> are <strong>in</strong>itially only funded <strong>for</strong> five years, they will cont<strong>in</strong>ue to require the<br />
same operat<strong>in</strong>g costs throughout the analysis period and this is still a cost to the<br />
UK even though these future costs are likely to be met from <strong>in</strong>dustry and the<br />
undergraduates themselves as demand rises.<br />
We assume there are no marg<strong>in</strong>al ongo<strong>in</strong>g tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g costs after graduation as all<br />
eng<strong>in</strong>eers are expected to undertake cont<strong>in</strong>u<strong>in</strong>g pr<strong>of</strong>essional development.<br />
Employment costs<br />
We assume that the start<strong>in</strong>g salary <strong>for</strong> a typical eng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g graduate <strong>in</strong> the<br />
construction <strong>in</strong>dustry is £25,000 (BAU scenario) and there is a 10% premium<br />
on this <strong>for</strong> a graduate from a Centre <strong>of</strong> <strong>Excellence</strong> (project scenario), mak<strong>in</strong>g<br />
the marg<strong>in</strong>al cost £2,500 <strong>in</strong> the first full year <strong>of</strong> employment. We assume this<br />
difference decreases by 2% a year <strong>for</strong> five years until there is no premium and the<br />
marg<strong>in</strong>al employment costs reach zero. We also assume that the base salary rises<br />
by 3% each year. This is shown <strong>in</strong> Table 1 below.<br />
Table 1: Employment costs per employee <strong>for</strong> the first 6 years.<br />
Year <strong>of</strong> employment BAU salary Project salary Marg<strong>in</strong>al<br />
employment cost<br />
1 £25,000 £27,500 £2,500<br />
2 £25,750 £27,810 £2,060<br />
3 £26,523 £28,114 £1,591<br />
4 £27,318 £28,411 £1,093<br />
5 £28,138 £28,700 £563<br />
6 £28,982 £28,982 £0<br />
After the fifth full year <strong>of</strong> employment, there are no additional employment costs.<br />
<strong>The</strong> graduate works six months <strong>of</strong> the year <strong>of</strong> graduation so received half the<br />
salary and pay rises do not come <strong>in</strong>to play.<br />
52 <strong>The</strong> Royal Academy <strong>of</strong> Eng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g