The UK has no chance of hitting its target of reducing 80% of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 unless the commercial property sector embarks on a massive drive to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, according to the Carbon Trust.

Commercial property accounts for 18% of all UK emissions, but levels have stayed the same over the past 20 years, the organisation found ahead of a new report on building emissions to be published this month. 

Stuart Farmer, author of the report, said national minimum standards under the “energy performance certificate” system must be imposed to improve the average efficiency rating of buildings from E grade to C grade by 2020 and A grade by 2050.

The organisation will also call on the Government to ensure lighting and heating controls become standard across all 1.8m non-domestic buildings in the UK within the next 10 years, and beyond that, businesses should install triple glazing and ground-source heat pumps.

In April, the Government’s “carbon reduction commitment” – a mandatory trading scheme will be imposed on 5,000 large companies in the UK, forcing them to buy allowances to emit carbon dioxide.

The Carbon Trust believes the number of allowances in the system needs to be reduced to accelerate the speed of emissions reductions and incentivise companies to invest in energy efficiency measures.

Concerns over the carbon footprint of existing buildings was echoed in a recent international survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. It found that surveyors in the UK thought their clients did not see conserving energy by investing in their premises as a top priority.

The majority in Britain felt that saving money and making profits would be the main reason to improve the carbon footprint of buildings.

Ursula Hartenberger, global head of sustainability policy at RICS, said that there were few incentives in place for tenants or landlords to suffer the disruption caused by updating occupied premises.

Energy efficiency of a building might influence the rent a new tenant was prepared to pay, she said, but the pace of change was slow and the compulsory energy performance certificate system was having little impact.

Related posts...

• June 22, 2010 -- UK Business Energy Prices: (3)
  A new survey carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit has revealed that over 80% of British firms expect energy and fuel prices to rise sharply and almost 50% have great concern that the UK coul...
• February 21, 2010 -- Identifying a Half Hour Meter: (0)
  How to find out if you have a half hourly meter – So how do you know if you have a half hour meter?  It’s actually quite straight forward, and all you will need to find this out is a recent copy o...
• February 10, 2010 -- UK Business Gas Prices: (0)
  Business Gas Prices can be difficult to understand, as there are many different types of pricing structures available.  You could simply ring around and obtain gas prices direct from suppliers, but it...
• February 7, 2010 -- Oil Prices Back To $70 Range: (0)
  Oil prices plunged in a busy trading session on Friday, triggering big losses across the commodities markets, as investors went back to buying into the US dollar.  Crude oil prices did have a partial ...
• February 5, 2010 -- CRC Business Lights: (1)
  The era of the 'on-all-night' illuminated high street could end, the Environment Agency is predicting. The agency says new rules will force businesses to switch off lights and displays at night to mee...
• February 3, 2010 -- Bglobal Smart Meter Deal: (3)
  Bglobal Plc said it has signed a new agreement to supply and install smart meters for British Gas Business during 2010. The contract value is anticipated at more than £12 million. In addition, the com...

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

CAPTCHA Code *