Zero Carbon Home Strategy for the Developers - Research Proposal Example

Zero Carbon Home – Strategy for the developers Introduction Carbon free society is the new phenomenon that is being discussed largely at the international level. Developed and developing nations are meeting occasionally to discus the strategy to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In April 2009, the European Parliament agreed on certain amendments to recast the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. (European Commission, 2009) In the UK, nearly one third of the total waste emerges from construction activity. The production of materials used in the construction industry requires a vast amount of energy. Manufacture involves industrial processes, and transportation to retailers involves the consumption of fuel. The builders transport these materials from the plant to the construction site. Energy is also required in dismantling an old building and for the disposal of the waste material from a building. The total energy used in the construction of a building is termed the embodied energy. It constitutes nearly a sixth of the total energy that a building consumes during its lifetime (Ind, May 9, 2007, Pg. 6 ). The UK Government has recognised the importance of the suggestions made by the UK Green Building Council with regard to the building of zero carbon homes across the country. The Council had informed the Government that at least eighty percent of the new homes would not be able to comply with the standards specified in the code; until and unless, the Government permitted the generation of offsite energy (Milne, 2009). The recent Stern review also cautioned about the dangers of global warming and warned on dire consequences and stressed on the need for urgent international action on climate change. The review also presented some facts related to emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and states that UK alone emitted over 150 million tones of carbon dioxide during the 2004 and the use of energy for the construction purpose accounts for half of the emission. (Department for Communities and Local Government, 2006) Dr. Gupta and Chandiwala (2009) with reference to Kate Barker’s report mentioned that UK faces shortage of houses and by 2050, one third of the total housing stock will be needed to built and opines that 27% of the CO2 emissions from the energy sources used in homes during the various performances of daily activities. World is on the brink of sinking if immediate action is not taken to prevent carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere. And to reduce the emission of CO2, it is necessary for the world to act on whole and not any individual nation, it is also necessary for industries to act not limited to households. On this backdrop, the present paper assumes to identify and evaluate steps to achieve carbon free homes by 2016 as envisioned by the British Prime Minister Mr. Gordon Brown apart from presenting the obstacles and constraints of builders in the mission. Process of building carbon free homes The UK Government requires every new home to be constructed in the country to comply with the standards, inherent in Level 3 of the code for sustainable homes, by the year 2010. The new code comprises of performance levels in seven areas of building construction. This code has been derived from the BRE’s Eco Homes system, and serves as a procedure for environmental assessment. The carbon levels of construction projects are ascertained by BRE licensed assessors, who establish ratings for buildings that vary from 1 to 6. A 6 level rating denotes a zero carbon level (Milne, 2009). This code establishes the basic standards for energy and water utilisation. Builders can gain additional points by the effective use of materials in their constructions. It also provides extra points for waste reduction and pollution prevention. Several builders have welcomed this code; and architects and builders have adopted its provisions, so as to construct houses that conform to level 6. In 2007, the Kingspan’s Lighthouse prototype was exhibited to the public. This project complies with the requirements for a level 6 construction (Milne, 2009). According to John Alker, public affairs manager for the UK Green Building Council, the issue of zero carbon homes is controversial. The definition of zero carbon homes has proved difficult to translate into practice for the construction industry. The deadline of 2016, specified by the government though realizable, could stretch the resources of the industry to a considerable extent (Richardson, February 6, 2009. Pg. 21) Charted Institute of Building (CIOB) states that a building is considered as zero-carbon when carbon emission from the buildings resulting from energy used in daily activities is zero. And according to Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH), zero carbon homes are calculated on the basis of total energy consumed in the building, contribution of energy from on site renewable/ low carbon installations and off-site renewable contributions. Further CIOB states that existing definitions do not include the energy used in creating, renovation, maintaining and disposing of building. And therefore recommends new definition of zero carbon across domestic and non domestic buildings as well(CIOB, 2008) (Williams (2008) states that housing crisis has resulted in development of new policies reflecting ambitious housing constructions which is estimated to generate 5.7m tonnes of carbon dioxide only in construction. The building regulations fall short in fulfilling the vision of zero carbon homes. The United Kingdom has introduced innovative policies like Climate Change Levy and Climate Change Agreements, the Renewables Obligation and the Energy Efficiency Commitment which stress on reducing the use of energy for domestic purpose. And more keeping in mind the increase in demand for affordable houses for the next coming years, zero carbon homes can be ensured by proper strategy (Department for Communities and Local Government, 2006) The Government of United Kingdom, in order to achieve the status of zero carbon homes by 2016, adopted the Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) on 10 April 2007 which provides to the future Building Regulations and defines the national standard for sustainable design and construction of homes (Dr. Gupta and Chandiwala, 2009) The report of Department for Communities and Local Government (2006) reveals the changes to building regulations have improved the energy efficiency in most of the houses as compared to pre-2002 and pre – 1990 standards. Yudelson (2009) states the importance of ultimate tool which can be used to assess the effects of home building or urban development on environment. In this context, David Kirkland developed software called EVA Tool which provides information regarding the effects of house building and Kirkland figures out that 70% of life cycle costs is committed on just one percent of projects upfront costs. The figure below shows the comparison prepared by Bill Dunster Architects between typical UK resident and Zero Energy Development. Source: Jerry Yedulson (2009) Green Building Trends: Europe, Island Press, UK, pp.128 However, progress towards zero carbon homes will be dealt by gradually strengthening the energy/carbon performance in Building Regulations 2006 through following steps as suggested by Communities for Local Government (2007) The construction industry in the UK has long been seized with the development of zero – carbon homes. In 2006, the UK Government enacted the Code for Sustainable Homes to establish statutory standards, which require all new homes built in the UK to meet zero-carbon home standards, by the year 2016. The Wolverhampton based Construction Company, Tarmac Plc has adopted the standards in its projects, so as to realize the goal of building eco – friendly homes (Richardson, February 6, 2009. Pg. 21). The turmoil in the housing market has pressurized developers to satisfy the governmental requirements, which could increases material and construction costs. Housing officials warned that the number of houses constructed in the 2009, would be less than 80,000. Subsequently, house prices reduced drastically, and reached an all time nationwide average of £132,301. There was a reduction in prices of 13.5 percent, in comparison to that of the previous year. Moreover, the statutory definition of a zero – carbon home is ambiguous. As a clarification, the Government stated in its 2006 publication that a home would be a zero – carbon home if it produced net zero CO2 emissions, from all energy uses in that home (Richardson, February 6, 2009. Pg. 21). Renewable Energy As stated earlier, UK faces shortage of affordable houses and requires millions of houses till 2050 to accommodate its increasing population. The United Kingdom has a very good chance of going carbon free till 2016 by developing zero carbon homes. The new buildings could be constructed through energy efficient strategy which may result in potential energy saving by end user, performing thermal insulated building which would allow gaining energy self-dependency and climate neutrality at much lower cost, installing solar PV cells, etc. The Code for Sustainable Homes has put forth its nine elements for zero carbon homes viz energy/CO2, Potable Water, Surface water runoff, materials, construction site waste, household waste, pollution, health and wellbeing, management and ecology. The CSH can be achieved through constructing Passivehaus because of high quality air, the house can generate heat solely via the air, and won’t drop below 16OC in winter, smaller heating system and renewable energy system, lower fuel consumption ultimately alleviating fuel poverty. The essential components of Passivehaus that makes it possible to consume low energy are high levels of insulation; south oriented triple pane windows, airtight building envelope, Mechanical Ventilation through Heat Recovery (MVHR), and minimized thermal bridging. The following figures show the rate of decrease through the construction of Passivhaus and how does it fits in with CSH guidelines. (Andrew Peel) Source: Andrew Peel, www.passivhaus.org.uk Passivehaus Scenario Source: Andrew Peel, www.passivhaus.org.uk Parnell (2007) suggests that in order to achieve zero carbon status by 2016, first revision of building regulations in 2010 should be for 44% reduction in carbon emissions as per Code Level 4 which is achievable by following Passivhaus principles of constructing house. Further Parnell also mentions that the present strategy for increasing to Code Level 3 in 2010, Code Level 4 in 2013 and then Code Level 6 by 2016 (as shown in figures below) are back – loaded with challenges to achieve zero carbon homes from the base of 44% reduction in building regulations. It is suggested that sharp drop in the capital costs of renewable technologies and the efficiency of these technologies need to increase, skill shortages need to be addresses, reliable data on various renewable energy technologies, etc. Source: Andrew Peel, www.passivhaus.org.uk Minimum Energy/Carbon Standards in the Code for Sustainable Homes Source: Department of Trade and Industry, Great Britain (2007) Meeting the energy challenge: a White Paper on energy, Some of the techniques to be employed in attaining the zero carbon home ideal are described below. Solar water heating can reduce emissions considerably. In addition, Sumatec hydraulically compressed earth blocks are to be used as the main load bearing components in the construction of buildings, as they reduce heating costs and do not produce emissions during their production. Warmcel insulation is another material, whose manufacture requires significantly lesser energy, in comparison to other thermal insulators (GreeninBrum, 2009). Moreover, rainwater harvesting, has the capacity to reduce water consumption by half. In addition, the employment of triple glazed windows and Mykon panels increases the light entering the house to a major extent. In addition, there is the solar store that transfers the water heated by solar panels and stores if for future use. Such stored water retains its heat for several days. Furthermore, the work surface of the kitchen should consist of reprocess recycled glass and the flooring should consist of rammed and polished red clay. These materials reduce costs drastically (GreeninBrum, 2009). Costs and Benefits The government made an assessment of implementing its new policy, and found that costs varied according to the location and type of the homes. The government has also considered other definitions of zero – carbon homes; which have been seen to dilute the standards of energy efficiency, a reduction in the level of carbon savings to be realized on site and permitting allowable solutions that hope to reduce emissions (Sustainability Zero-Carbon Homes Building, April 17, 2009). CIH in its summary paper on “Building a Greener Future” mentioned some of the costs and benefits of the CSH policies. The result of policies will be definite increase in the price of materials required to construct the buildings. The report states that Code Level 3 will increase the construction costs by 2-3 percent basing on the traditional method of construction whereas the costs could be null if modern methods of construction are used. Further, Code Level 4 would increase the construction cost up to 4-7 percent whereas additional costs for Code Level 5 and 6 are touted to be higher than Code 4. Notwithstanding the increased costs of materials, the CSH comes with package of benefits like expected carbon savings up to 7 MtC per annum by 2050, considerable cost reductions can be achieved for each doubling of installed capacity of low and zero carbon technologies. (Communities for Local Government, 2007) Industry analysts predict that if 12 million Micro-Combined Heat and Power (CHP) were installed, the additional costs may decrease to £400 from £2000. The Government is of the view that requiring the new homes to be carbon – free would be simpler than making alterations to the existing homes to decrease emissions. The Code for Sustainable Homes provides a 1 to 6 star rating to homes. This grading depends on features that conserve water, employ on site energy generation and utilise solar energy. Level six requires all energy supplies to the home to originate from zero carbon sources (Spittles, June 4, 2008, Pg. 4). The implementation of these standards would increase the construction cost of a building by an additional amount of £35,000. According to the National House Building Council, homeowners are not willing to incur the additional expenditure, involved in making their homes carbon free. Most homeowners are opposed to living in a home that does not have modern comforts. The green homes would certainly not have power showers or gas hobs (Spittles, June 4, 2008, Pg. 4). Moreover Britain Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown made an announcement that all zero carbon homes not exceeding £500,000 will be exempted from stamp duty until September 2012. (www.therenewableenergycentre.co.uk) In this regard, the Stamp Duty Land Tax (Zero Carbon Homes Relief) Regulations 2007 came into force on December 7, 2007 which is designed to kick start the net zero carbon homes by providing tax exemption to the applicant. (www.opsi.gov.uk) According to Department for Communities and Local Government Report (2006), achieving Code Level 3 will save around £50 per household each year and Code Level 4 will save around £100 per year. The important aspects that were taken into consideration included calculation of energy efficiencies of flats; calculation of water efficiencies; and the use of off – site renewable energy sources. However, in the future, these aspects will not be considered, unless they are directly related to the pertinent development. Homes will be allowed to use conventional gas and electricity grids, as long as they produce net zero carbon emissions. However, there are many stakeholders involved in this mission of zero carbon homes which needs to be addressed. Input and Output worksheet. Retrieved from http://www.ibpsa.org/proceedings/BS2009/BS09_0001_8.pdf on 6 October 2009. Constraints to Goal Osmani and Reilly (2009) state that there is low demand for zero carbon homes and is predicted to increase in future. There are certain constraints in achieving the goal of zero carbon homes as there is certainty of lack of interest by the general public. In a research carried out by Osmani and Reilly (2009), 76% of house builder respondents stated that lack of confidence, lack of widespread customer demand are significant barrier to zero carbon homes. In regard to financial barriers, house builders were concerned about the net financial cost and overall profitability. As per European Commission (2009) report on ‘Zero Carbon Homes’, it was revealed during an survey of house builders around UK, that achieving zero carbon homes by 2016 was not at all a problem but they insisted on comprehensive approach with clear guidelines with supportive legislation. They considered supply chain as a major barrier and stated that there were no financial incentives for producing zero carbon homes due to the uncertainty arising about the development costs of such homes. They stressed on the clarity of definition of CSH on zero carbon homes and were little concerned about the availability of renewable technologies. Conclusion Climate change needs to be tackled at the earliest as possible. Code for Sustainable Homes defines the national standard for sustainability of new homes and serves as guide to future building regulations. And accordingly, construction industry has pulled up its socks to meet the expectations of CSH levels. (Dr. Gupta and Chandiwala, 2009) The UK government is committed to make all the homes energy efficient by the year 2030. It is a great dream that is unfortunately not buttressed with financial incentives. The Federation of Master Builders states that the government has failed to offer practical benefits to homeowners and builders. Moreover, it is unlikely that the government would succeed in achieving its goal, while labouring under the current economic crisis. The proposals for achieving energy efficiency seem to be sound in theory, but the energy producing companies will be forced to make improvements to their infrastructure.(www.propertywire.com) References 1. Andrew Peel, The Energy Challenges for Zero Carbon Homes, What is it and How to meet it, www.passivhaus.org.uk 2. Chartered Institute of Buildings (August, 2008) The Definition of Zero Carbon, Policy Statement, Berkshire, United Kingdom, www.ciob.org.uk 3. Communities for Local Government (2007) Building a Greener Future – Towards Zero Carbon Development, CIH Summary Paper, http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1505157 4. Department for Communities and Local Government (2006) Building a Greener Future: Towards Zero Carbon Development, Consultation, London, pp. 1, www.communities.gov.uk 5. Department of Trade and Industry, Great Britain (2007) Meeting the energy challenge: a White Paper on energy, Volume 7124 of Cm Series, The Stationery Office, UK 6. Dr. Gupta, R. and Chandiwala, S (2009) Investigating the potential for achieving low and zero carbon homes in the UK using an interactive code for sustainable homes based toolkit, Eleventh International IBPSA Conference, Glasgow, Scotland, UK, July 27 – 30, 2009, 7. European Commission (2009) Zero Carbon homes: house builders give their perspective, Science for Environment Policy, DG Environment News Alert Service, Issue No. 153. 8. Ind, J. (May 9, 2007, Pg. 6 ). Are you a carbon zero hero? But what is a zero carbon home? Birmingham Post , . 9. Jerry Yedulson (2009) Green Building Trends: Europe, Island Press, UK, pp.128 10. Milne, R. (2009, April 10). What are the options for zero-carbon development? Retrieved August 17, 2009, from UtilityWeek: http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/features/uk/what-are-the-options-for-zero-.php 11. Osmani M. and O’Reilly, A. (2009) Challenges Facing Housing Developers to Deliver Zero Carbon Homes in England, World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, Vol. 53, UK. 12. Tessa Parnell (2007) Consultation on Building a Greener Future: Towards Zero Carbon Developments, Fulcrum Consulting Comments, London 13. The Renewable Energy Centre: No Stamp Duty on Zero Carbon Homes until 2012, Press Release, 2008, Energy and Environment, OpenPR, www.therenewableenergycentre.co.uk 14. The Stamp Duty Land Tax (Zero Carbon Homes Relief) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/3437) – www.opsi.gov.uk 15. UK govt criticised for its zero carbon homes plan. (2009, February 26). Retrieved October 4, 2009, from PropertyWire: http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/uk-govt-zero-carbon-homes-plan-200902262688.html 16. Williams, Jo (2008) Where are the green houses? The Guardian, www.guardian.co.uk/society Read More