The implications of climate change for commercial property

Citation

Stansall, P. (1999), "The implications of climate change for commercial property", Property Management, Vol. 17 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/pm.1999.11317baa.001

The implications of climate change for commercial property

The implications of climate change for commercial property

Climate change and its implications for commercial property were discussed recently at a conference jointly hosted by the British Council for Offices and The Architects’ Journal. Some 300 delegates including government officials, senior scientists, academics and property professionals gathered at the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre in Westminster last February to debate, ‘‘The Greening of Commercial Property adding value to the office environment’’.

In his key note address Minister for the Environment, Michael Meacher said that the Government’s Property Advisory Group estimates that commercial buildings are responsible for about 15 per cent of UK carbon emissions. With the energy bill for non-domestic buildings amounting to some £7 billion every year many existing commercial buildings are considered by the PAG to be notoriously inefficient. Making these buildings more efficient they say would help considerably towards the achievement of sustainable development goals. It was revealed at the conference that the property industry is a key player in global warming and climate change. It underscored the urgency with which global industries and governments need to address environmental issues, if we are to mitigate the worst effects of climate change.

Key among the issues presented and discussed were:

• •

  Is global warming a fact?

• •

  What physical impacts on property follow from climate change?

• •

  What type of property development will we see in the future?

• •

  How will buildings need to be designed and managed?

• •

  What renewable energy sources are being developed?

• •

  What is the UK Government doing?

Sir John Houghton of the Met Office confirmed that global warming is a fact and its continuance is predicted by scientists from the International Panel on Climate Change. With increasing build up of green-house gases and in particular CO2, a global average increase of 2.5 degrees C is predicted in the next century. Alarmingly, this is half the temperature change that was required to thaw out from the last ice age. An expansion of the oceans accompanies global warming and a rise of a half-meter in sea levels is predicted. A more intense hydrological cycle i.e. rain and evaporation, is also predicted. Apart from eroding top-soil, increased fresh water run-off may change ocean currents and could leave the UK as cold as Spitzbergen! In mitigating the worst effects of global warming says Sir John, ‘‘we know what to do but must have the will to do it’’.

Addressing the question of what physical impacts would follow from climate change Professor David Cadman noted that existing building regulations have been based on a predicted 50-year return cycle of severe storms. Taking the view that this cycle is shortening, the Building Research Establishment he said, has suggested the following effects be considered for the future design and construction of buildings:

• •

  increasing temperature variation on building interiors and exteriors;

• •

  higher winter rainfall and increasing summer drought, affecting weather penetration;

• •

  more frequent flooding;

• •

  more frequent storms and severe winds causing structural damage.

With the government exploring the taxing of business energy use and the trading of CO2 permits, it was thought that the additional costs arising would have impacts on rents and values. Some buildings due either to location or age, would be much more vulnerable than others, he predicted. The Government’s Property Advisory Group, we were informed, has acknowledged the role commercial buildings would have in reducing CO2 emissions and ‘‘making commercial buildings ‘greener’’’. Professor Cadman said he saw increasing environmental awareness impacting on values and returns through occupiers becoming more discerning about building and locational preferences.

Car commuting may be responsible for as least as much energy consumption as building occupancy we were informed. The Government’s White Paper A New Deal for Transport is aimed at restricting the growth of private transport through road pricing and parking levies. With traffic congestion becoming a disadvantage to some out of town locations, in future occupiers may prefer locating to towns where good traffic management provides a better working environment.

The issue of transport was linked by other speakers to the types of new development needed in the future. In Holland for example, we were told there has been investment in integrated public transport with coordinated bus, train, tram and taxi services. This has meant less congestion within urban centres. The development of high density inner city sites with mixed-use, above existing rail termini and transport interchanges may be a model for future, more sustainable, development. In fact high density developments within city centres, one speaker noted, was what architects wanted years ago but until now had been resisted by planning authorities.

Applying more sustainable strategies to the development of commercial buildings, was the message from George Martin of the Forum for the Future. He believed this would involve:

• •

  siting on previously developed land (brownfield sites);

• •

  using environmentally friendly materials;

• •

  designing in reduction, re-use and recycling of materials;

• •

  promoting greater environmental efficiency;

• •

  economy of resources during construction;

• •

  life cycle costing.

On the theme of how commercial buildings need to be designed and managed, to minimise environmental impact, there were presentations from architects, developers and engineers. These revealed that a ‘‘sustainable’’ building is considered to be one which is energy efficient, healthy, comfortable and flexible in use and most crucially, designed for long-life. In the case studies used, emphasis was placed on the use of natural lighting and ventilation, on building orientation, on the use of exposed thermal mass for free night time cooling, on photovoltaic generation of electricity and on designing for long-term adaptability. Such ‘‘sustainable’’ design strategies echoed the architect Alex Gordon’s ‘‘long-life, low-energy, loose-fit’’ dicta from around the time of the oil-price rise of 1973. One speaker asked how far we had come since then.

Several building design case studies explored the application of materials with low embodied energy such as timber, and the use of renewable energy sources i.e. which in theory have a net effect on atmospheric carbon. Amongst these were the refurbishment of the Reichstag building in Berlin which may use rape seed oil as a source of energy and the refurbishment of the EC headquarters building in Brussels. From the examples presented it was clear that continental Europe has a high proportion of owner occupiers who are more experimental with ‘‘green’’ design. It is also more financially supportive at regional and national level but also is more prescriptive in terms of human factors, with for example the German legal minimum of 12.5sqm/person and the right to natural light for office workers.

When the UK lags behind the rest of Europe in the provision of Government incentives to support such new technologies as photovoltaics, for example, why should developers and investment funds, it was asked, finance the construction of ‘‘green’’ buildings? A lead from the UK Government was called for. Six key points for the future design and management of commercial office buildings, raised by one team of presenters, included:

1. 1.

   respect the planet by maintaining bio-diversity when specifying materials;

2. 2.

   reduce transport emissions by mitigating staff car travel;

3. 3.

   sweat the building through longer operating hours;

4. 4.

   limit energy use through design based on researched use patterns;

5. 5.

   pursue lean design through reducing embodied energy;

6. 6.

   aim for user contentment and productivity by designing adaptive buildings that support social interaction.

It was also observed that more efficient office space utilisation is key to reducing occupier costs[2] and CO² emissions. Quoting the architect Frei Otto one speaker noted that, ‘‘If you really want to be ‘green’ then don’t build’’.

For all the inventiveness of many of the ideas presented it was clear that the science is still in its infancy. Paul Morrel of DL&E, felt there was a general lack of belief in available figures. He called for verifiable data and the need for a proper science on the subject. Concern, conscience and conviction are not enough, he said. He thought we needed compulsion too. He pointed out that if China with 21 per cent of the world’s population were to rise to the same per capita CO² generation figure as the USA, then it would virtually double world emissions at a stroke. The USA apparently exhausts some 19 tonnes per person of CO² into the atmosphere each year, more than twice the figure for the UK and more than five times the world average. Espousing energy efficiency, he believed that one of the barriers to occupier concern was the current taxation anomaly in treating capital and running costs in the same way.

So what is the UK Government doing to help? ‘‘Our national goal’’, Michael Meacher reminded us, ‘‘is by 2010 to reduce CO² emissions to 20 per cent of 1990 levels, in accordance with the Kyoto targets for worldwide reduction’’. With the Government as the UK’s single largest construction client, speakers and delegates believed it needs to show the way ahead. To help the industry do better the minister said there are a number of Government supported initiatives. There is Sir John Egan’s task force which aims through its demonstration projects to show how to increase efficiency, achieve higher quality, reduce waste and costs. There are the Government’s Best Practice Programmes and the DETR’s Construction Innovation and Research programme. To encourage us to do better, neither sticks nor carrots were mentioned. Instead Mr. Meacher threw back the challenge, ‘‘I invite everyone here...to write to me to say what you are doing today that is relevant to sustainability and your ideas to make progress fast’’. An official response was promised for each letter received!

Paul StansallDirector, Tectus Architecture

Notes

1. 1.

   For detailed accounts of these projects see The Architects’ Journal 14 January 1999 and 25 February 1999.

2. 2.

   See for example the recent Stationery Bookshop publication, Ministry of Defence, Management of Office Space, A Report to Parliament, produced by the National Audit Office with the assistance of Tectus architects and space management consultants.

3. 3.

   A fuller account of this conference is available on www.tectus.co.uk and AJ 25.2.99.

4. 4.

   Readers may wish to note that revision 3 of the BCO Guide to Good Practice, in building procurement is due in the spring of 2000 and will be revised to reflect the outcome of this conference.