Published May 6, 2021
Listen to or watch the ninth episode of Urban Green Live. Hosted by Urban Green Council CEO John Mandyck, this live interview series features international industry experts to answer your questions about a low carbon future.
On May 6, 2021, we welcomed Julie Hirigoyen, CEO of UKGBC. During this episode, Julie and John will discuss the concept of net zero, common strategies and how net zero relates to social value.
Key Takeaways
‘Race to Zero’ is a global net-zero campaign.
-> The UK GBC actively encourages its members, including businesses, local authorities, and other organizations, to set ambitious climate targets and commit to the Race to Zero campaign.
-> The UK government collaborates with international organizations to work towards standardizing definitions and approaches to net zero, with initiatives like the green taxonomy to ensure consistency and credibility in net zero claims.
Energy efficiency is prioritized as a crucial first step before considering renewable energy procurement and offsets.
-> The UK GBC emphasizes setting minimum energy efficiency standards for different building types.
-> The importance of credible renewable energy procurement is highlighted, with a focus on adding renewable capacity to the grid rather than purchasing renewable energy credits.
Speakers
John Mandyck
Chief Executive Officer
Julie Hirigoyen
CEO UKGBC
Q&A
John Mandyck: Industry has been talking about net zero for a long time. As a consultant, what is the most important thing to talk to clients about to accelerate the shift to net zero?
Julie Hirigoyen: The most important thing for clients to understand is that energy efficiency is the number one starting point that we need to reduce energy demand. We cannot get to credible net zero carbon by just using the same amount of energy and trying to offset it or buy renewables. It’s just not going to work.
John Mandyck: You note that offsets need to be credible, so how is that defined? How do we know an offset’s a good offset?
Julie Hirigoyen: The UK had a report produced earlier this year called the Oxford Principles for Net Zero Aligned Carbon Offsets. I would definitely recommend that you take a look at that. There’s two bits; one is emission reduction and the other is direct carbon removal. Then the questions are how is that stored, is it short or long lived storage, and how are we calculating that?
There are standards, there’s the gold standard for the global goals, which is probably the most globally relevant. The credibility of the offset is about how the carbon removal or avoidance is measured, evidenced, and stored/maintained over time.
John Mandyck: As an architect, it’s hard to ensure that your building will be net zero before it’s built. What are some of the strategies that the UK firms use to ensure that they meet their goals?
Julie Hirigoyen: It’s a really tricky one. We’ve got a real problem here which we call the performance gap; so design models that are designed to predict their energy performance are often woefully off beat. It could be like up to 200% difference. I think we need to start incentivizing based on the performance of the building upon delivery and occupation, and you can’t really do that until you’ve got a year’s worth of occupation.
It’s actually really important to have all of the parties involved, even the facilities managers, right up front in the design and then monitoring that throughout. There is an initiative that is being trialed here in the UK that’s come from Australia. It’s called Design for Performance and it incentivizes the right parties to actually make sure that how the building’s used is what’s driving the design decisions up front.
John Mandyck: Do you see gaps in the workforce that need to be filled to shift to net zero carbon? What roles need to be filled and who needs to be trained?
Julie Hirigoyen: The obvious concern that’s come up repeatedly here in the UK is that we have gas boiler installers whose jobs are going to be obsolete if we make gas boilers obsolete, which is the prerequisite of us at GD Net Zero. On the other hand, we have heat pump installers in very short supply and people who don’t understand what heat pumps are or what they do.
I say we don’t just kick the gas boiler installers out and appoint new people who’ve got these heat pump electrical qualifications and skills, we retrain. I think this is a really big issue for the sector and actually does require some government intervention. Without the certainty of the policy, people aren’t gonna train themselves for a marketplace they don’t think is gonna be there in two months time. I
John Mandyck: Do we need to shift our nomenclature from net zero to either net zero carbon or carbon neutral buildings to signal what we really need to drive? In your view, are net zero carbon buildings and carbon neutral buildings the same thing?
Julie Hirigoyen: No. I worry about the term ‘carbon neutrality’ because it’s been around for a really long time and there are even organizations that are called carbon neutral. I think neutrality doesn’t bring the zero into it, so you could just carry on emitting. Technically, carbon neutral means you’ve offset or compensated for the carbon that you’ve been responsible for. For me, that doesn’t signal the change in mindset, behavior, or the transformational market shift that’s required. More zero, less net is the mantra I use.
John Mandyck: Does the UK have policies in place to confirm that buildings continue to be net zero so they don’t slip from their goals? What’s your view on net zero commitments?
Julie Hirigoyen: From a net zero carbon in operation point of view, we would say you have to re-disclose and demonstrate that every year. It is based on actual energy usage that could go up or down in any given year, so you need to be constantly accountable for it. You can’t say we did it one year and so we’ll be like that for the next 10.
John Mandyck: The UK government recently cut funding for domestic energy improvements, but still promotes energy efficiency in non-domestic buildings. Is this a sign of future policy or just a way for the government to reduce public spending post Covid?
Julie Hirigoyen: It was such great news that the government did finally hear that retrofit was a green recovery measure that generated jobs all over the country whilst tackling energy efficiency and reducing emissions. It was a win-win-win. They brought it out too quickly, not well thought through enough, then they completely pulled the plug. This is a market that requires really long-term investment. The skills, jobs, everything aren’t there, and they’re not gonna be there unless you can see 10, 15, 20 years out. I’d say that is the most disappointed we’ve been as an organization for probably six years.
John Mandyck: I was surprised to hear that the definition of net zero was still up for grabs or did I misunderstand?
Julie Hirigoyen: We put out a brief report, which will be on our website, where we try to break down what this kind of definition is and the steps to achieving it. We split it between construction and in operation, and included the baseline performance from now, the minimum things you’ve got to get right, and then going all the way to 2050.
As we go along, there will be big shifts in the market and a big tightening of that definition. We’re not advocating for the definition to stay still, we’re advocating for it to get tighter and more stringent over time.
Achieving science-based net zero (w/ Karl Downey)
We sat down with Karl Downey to discuss the Science Based Targets Initiative and their Building Sector Guidance.
NYC Next: Trends for a Changing City
At our 2023 conference, we brought together experts to explain three key trends that will shape the future of NYC.
Hydro’s potential in a zero carbon future (w/ Sophie Brochu)
Join Sophie and John as they discuss how NYC can utilize hydropower to reduce carbon emissions.