BY ANDREW WARREN
This
month the UK formally becomes the first G7 nation to adopt as a legally binding
commitment that we shall be living in a net zero carbon economy in 30 years’
time.
It
is a clear and bold commitment, that has rightly been lauded practically
everywhere..
The
few cynics have concentrated upon the undeniable fact that practically all of
the politicians taking the plaudits will long since have quit the public stage,
well before the magic year of 2050. And thus won’t be around to face any
difficult questions . Or indeed to accept the congratulations that
will be due.
That
is undeniably a fair point. Doubtless a good reason why many are calling for
more immediate targets to be created. Like the “30 by 30 Energy
Efficiency Act.”
What
is this? Put simply, a firm commitment and programme to ensure that around 27
million homes and 3 million non-residential buildings will be made completely
energy efficiency. Completed by 2030. Hence the slogan: 30 by 30.
Already
we have the genesis of this, created by Theresa May, who ceases being
Prime Minister this month. Back in 2017, she launched the Clean Growth
Strategy for the next thirty years. This identifies the enormous economic
potential for business to save fuel. At least one-fifth could very
cost-effectively be saved. Interestingly, the vast majority of this potential
(over 80%) was to be released not so much by improving industrial
processes . But significantly by improving the way buildings are
run.
Doubtless
that was one of the main motivations why as Prime Minister she
launched last summer her “Buildings Mission” in a speech at the
Jodrell Bank observatory complex in Cheshire.
She
promised that within twelve years- in other words, by 2030 - energy usage in
all new construction will be “at least half” of that permitted
under current building regulations .
“Heating
and powering buildings accounts for 40% of our total energy usage.
By making our buildings more energy efficient and embracing smart technologies, we can slash household energy bills, reduce demand for energy, and meet our targets for carbon reduction”, promised Theresa May.
By making our buildings more energy efficient and embracing smart technologies, we can slash household energy bills, reduce demand for energy, and meet our targets for carbon reduction”, promised Theresa May.
She
continued: “By halving the energy use of buildings, we could reduce the energy
bills for their occupants by as much as 50%.”
Subsequently
the Government has confirmed that whilst such calculations will for the first
time include energy usage from appliances within their calculations,
they will not include transport usage. Presumably that caveat is to remove any
recharging of electric vehicles from assessments.
Describing
her initiative as the “catalyst for new technologies and more productive
methods”, which she maintained could be “exported to a large and growing
market”, acknowledging the enormous potential to improve the existing building
stock.
As
part of the “clean growth and grand challenge mission”, the Government is also
aiming to halve the energy costs for the existing building stock - both
domestically and commercially by “reaching the same standards in existing
buildings too.”
And
not just delivering ecological benefits. The social benefits
of the 30 by 30 programme are uniquely broad. Fusing the public’s
clear rejection of continuing austerity and cuts with the growing desire to
tackle climate change , it make this the key capital infrastructure investment
priority.
It
provides occupants with comfortable living conditions in cold winter and high
summer. It requires a massive training programme, resulting in a
wide range of jobs, both skilled and unskilled. Already far more people are
employed in manufacturing, distributing, installing and maintaining energy
efficient equipment than in any other part of the energy sector. The programme
offers new business and investment opportunities in every single constituency.
And it will, at last, abolish the scourge of fuel poverty forever.
We
know the technical potential exists to cut energy consumption levels
by over 50%.Achieving this target will require the adoption of
world-leading quality standards for retrofitting and constructing
buildings.
This
is a genuinely ambitious project. After all, the vast majority of
buildings we will be living and working in by 2050 have already been built.
Upgrading these has been likened by civil servants charged with delivery as
being much akin to the challenge set in President Kennedy inaugural speech in
1961. This was to see a man walk on the moon before the decade was out.
At
that point, nobody knew with any precision how this noble objective would be
achieved. But that speech became the catalyst. It ensured that in July 1969, a
man named Armstrong would walk upon the moon.
I
don’t really think that realising this buildings’ Mission is anything like as
difficult. Unlike with space research, we do already have practically all the
technologies around to achieve our goal. It is the delivery techniques we have
to improve upon. Do that. And we shall have knitted together the most effective
social and environmentally beneficial programme. So, 30 by 30 it must be.
Andrew Warren is Chairman of the British Energy Efficiency Federation, and this post is reproduced from an article by him published in the July/August edition of 'Energy in Buildings and Industry', page 10
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