Jessica Ferris – senior energy and carbon analyst at Salix Finance
The decarbonisation of buildings across the United Kingdom has become a hot topic within the government’s net zero plans.
In 2019, buildings accounted for 30% of the UK’s total emissions. This equates to roughly 136.4 MtCO2e of all UK emissions that come just from buildings.
It’s clear that the building sector will require drastic measures to reduce its carbon emissions down to what the UK government hopes to achieve in 2050. The fundamental plan to reduce carbon emissions is through building fabric improvements and the installation of low carbon heating systems. However, to be able to see if any of these improvements have had an impact, it is critical to measure the carbon emission reductions that come from these changes. It is quite a task but measuring and monitoring of carbon savings is more manageable than it seems.
So why is monitoring and reporting important? There are several key drivers, but the primary one being that monitoring and reporting on carbon emissions helps us to establish a baseline. One of the most leading initiatives in addressing climate action is the Science-based Targets Initiative (SBTi), which outlines key requirements for organisations to commit to net zero. They require organisations to establish an emission baseline which then allows for the development of short- and long-term emissions reduction plans. Without a baseline tailored to your project, it would be impossible to measure the progress.
For us at Salix, this is an issue that is given great emphasis and there are a few different ways to collect useable data for carbon reporting that are quite user-friendly. The easiest way is to keep record of your building’s utility bills. The first step is to select a year that would have had a typical energy usage to act as your baseline. From then, it is useful to keep track of your annual energy usage via energy bills to compare from the baseline.
Once you have collected your annual energy usage, you will need to find an emission conversion factor. These factors are the simplest way to find the rough carbon emissions for your fuel type. A reliable source for factors is the UK government Greenhouse Gas Reporting Conversion Factors (Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2024 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Simply multiply the energy usage by the right emission conversion factor for your fuel to get your carbon emissions, being conscious that the measurements may need conversion. For example:
Baseline: 19,000 kWh of electricity use in 2019-2020
19,000 kWh x 0.20705
= 3,933.95 kg of C02
This type of monitoring and reporting is useful for internal project records, but also for any external work. At Salix, all of our projects have to go through the same reporting as mentioned here.
When a project finishes, the public sector organisation is required to provide us with their energy data for three years post project completion. This allows us to then look at their carbon savings and keep track of all the positive progress we’ve made. We’ve created a very handy tool to track your carbon savings which you can find here on our Salix website. This might be useful for your internal tracking, or as a nice tool to base your own tracking on.
Now that you’ve managed to determine your carbon savings, it is essential to use these figures to help set your short- and long-term sustainability goals. Referring back to the Science-based Targets Initiative procedures, organisations should set near-term targets and long-term targets. The former being a carbon saving goal that is achievable within the next five to ten years, whereas the former being up to 2050. These goals can and should encompass a wide range of ambitious that the organisation is hoping to achieve. Some great tips and guidelines can be found here within the Science-based Targets Initiative procedures.
Monitoring and reporting are critical within the sustainability journey. Without establishing a proper baseline figure, it is not possible to accurately measure your progress. Through proper monitoring, it allows you to set realistic goals and better establish plans on how you can improve your carbon savings without overhauling the whole system.
Not only that, but it makes it easier celebrate your carbon successes, which we all need to do from time to time!
References
Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2024 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
HM Government – Heat and Buildings Strategy (publishing.service.gov.uk)
The Corporate Net-Zero Standard – Science Based Targets Initiative
SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V1.2 (sciencebasedtargets.org)
This article appeared in the Nov/Dec 2024 issue of Energy Manager magazine. Subscribe here.