Action needed to keep building related CO2 on downward curve, says CCC

Government needs to urgently set course to reduce building-related carbon emissions when current programmes such as ECO and the Renewable Heat Incentive expire in 2017, warns the 2015 progress report from the influential Committee on Climate Change.

The CCC, the body that scrutinises government efforts to stick to the five-year carbon budgets set under the Climate Change Act, puts buildings near the top of the agenda in its list of recommendations to government.

Overall, the report concludes that CO₂ emissions dropped by 8% in 2014 compared with 2013, in line with the targets in the second carbon budget and bringing us 36% below 1990 levels.

However, the report also points to less positive factors that contributed to this result: the mild winter months in 2014, rather than improved efficiency, helped reduce building emissions by 15%, and lower power emissions were due to increased imports rather that a switch to low-carbon sources (scroll down for graph, below).

Julie Hirigoyen, chief executive of the UK Green Building Council, said: “The committee has issued a clear warning – progress on improving our buildings is currently falling short. The government must follow its advice and agree an action plan for energy efficiency which results in homes that are cheaper to heat and that are shielded from the worst effects of climate change.”

The body concludes that the decisions made in the current parliament will impact on how much progress is made to 2030 and beyond, urging new and clearer policies on five building-related areas.

These are to:

1. Commit to the Renewable Heat Incentive to 2020, or until a suitable replacement is found.
2. Set out the future of the Energy Company Obligation beyond 2017, ensuring it delivers energy efficiency while also meeting fuel poverty targets.
3. Implement the zero carbon homes standard without further weakening, ensuring investment in low-carbon heat.
4. Introduce a standard to prevent new homes overheating, and promote passive cooling in existing buildings.
5. Develop a strategy to address the increasing number of homes in areas of high flood risk. 

Richard Twinn, policy adviser at the UKGBC, added that the report rightly emphasises the role that buildings play in the national target to reduce carbon emissions by 80% from 1990 levels by 2050.

On the Renewable Heat Incentive, he said: “It’s had reasonable uptake in the past few years, but it’s budget hasn’t been confirmed beyond this financial year [April 2015 to April 2016] – there isn’t yet a commitment from the Treasury to finance it. So the CCC is calling for a commitment to it up to 2020, or until there’s a replacement.”

“On ECO [Energy Company Obligation] it says the government should confirm what happens beyond 2017, bearing in mind that the previous transition – from CERT and CESP to ECO – was fairly disastrous, due to different targets and reporting.”

ECO offers pensioner households and those on low incomes loft or cavity wall insulation, or boiler repairs or replacements.

But Twinn said that the 2012 to 2017 ECO programme had already delivered most of its contribution to carbon emission reductions, as energy companies were incentivised to deliver installations early.

He also endorsed the report’s call for implementation of the zero carbon homes by 2016 target without further weakening. “Government hasn’t yet confirmed it is sticking to that target, or what the details of it should be, and we’re only six months from 2016.”

Change in UK domestic GHG emissions 2013-2014

Source: DECC Provisional UK greenhouse gas emissions national statistics 2014, DECC Energy Trends 2014, CCC calculations

The zero carbon homes target is likely to be implemented by ratcheting up the fabric efficiency standards for new homes set down in Part L 2016 – Twinn said that the consultation document on the revised standard is expected this autumn.

“But previous uplifts [in energy efficiency standards under Part L 2013] were less than anticipated, so we could see a significantly watered down version, or a delay for a couple of years,” he said.

Responding to the report, the ICE director general Nick Baveystock said: ”Climate change is a long term challenge which demands long-term thinking. The Committee is absolutely right to stress the need for policy makers to think beyond 2020 – creating a certain environment for investors and demonstrating the UK’s commitment to tackling this.”

Meanwhile, the industry is still waiting for clarity on the zero carbon target for non-domestic buildings, pencilled in for 2019. “We’ve had no word on that from government for five years,” said Twinn.

Further measures urged by the CCC include a review of the plethora of carbon reduction schemes affecting corporates and major organisations, including the Carbon Reducation Commitment and Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme. “It wants to see less of a burden on compliance, and more opportunities to invest in solutions,” said Twinn.