The UK government says climate change is the greatest long-term challenge facing the world today. The Stern Review said we need an "urgent global response". Look hard at the climate models and it's quite clear that both are right. Carbon dioxide is the main climate change gas and how much we emit is not only down to policy makers but all of us - especially those of us involved in designing, constructing or procuring buildings.

Total CO2 emissions from buildings account for about 44% of all UK emissions. These emissions fell between the early 1970s and the beginning of this century because of better insulation, heating efficiency, and the switch from coal to gas-fired electricity generation. However, the emissions are now rising again: decision support at the design stage can help to reverse this trend.

There is no question that major CO2 savings from buildings are possible. However, it is a mistake to focus only on relatively efficient new buildings when the renewal rate is only 0.6% and the vast majority of emissions come from existing buildings.

You can learn a lot from scrutinizing actual CO2 figures from existing buildings. There is a shocking gulf between targets for gas and electricity use set at the design stage and what buildings usually achieve in practice. And it soon becomes apparent than icons of sustainability like micro-turbines and solar PV are usually a distracting side-show compared to fundamental decisions about materials, insulation and glazing.

If you need help improving the energy performance of the buildings you are designing or procuring, CAR can help. We can advise on meeting the new targets for low and 'zero carbon' homes, or assess design proposals at an early stage to say what renewable energy systems are appropriate for the site. We can also examine an existing building and recommend how you can cut its carbon footprint without spending huge sums of money.

Projects

• Advice on low carbon building (Granta Architects)CAR have acted as sustainability and climate change consultants to Granta Architects since 2005. We have advised on low carbon building design, and especially renewable energy, on a range of new buildings and refurbishment projects across housing, healthcare and sports facilities.
• Post-occupancy evaluation (various clients)CAR directors have carried out more than 20 post-occupancy evaluations of new buildings, focusing specifically on carbon emissions and sustainability. In some cases we have also examined occupant satisfaction. Most of the buildings have been large and complex, but our attention is now turning to housing and individual dwellings. [Read more »]
• Renewable energy systems (DTI) CAR monitored and disseminated the results of a major field trial of renewable energy systems in commercial buildings. There was a huge variation in the proportion of energy consumption met by renewables over the course of the year (from less than 7% to more than 50%).
• Design guide on sustainable schools (DfES) More effort goes into making new schools 'sustainable' than probably any other building type, but are these new schools any good? CAR took a magnifying glass to the latest crop of green schools on behalf of DfES, and our findings were published by the Department in 'Design of Sustainable Schools - Case Studies'.
• Sustainability checklist (Sport England) CAR worked with Eclipse Research Consultants on a checklist of actions to be taken at the design stage to ensure that a new sports facility is as sustainable as possible. Around 40% of the checklist relates to energy efficiency and renewable energy.
• Climate Lite Design Tool (BRE/DTI) CAR collaborated with the Martin Centre, University of Cambridge, to develop the LT Method (Light and Thermal) for assessing energy consumption at the design stage. We are now working with BRE to integrate this into a visual design tool to predict CO2 emissions and optimise renewable energy at an early stage.
• Demulog (EU Directorate XII) This project, carried out with partner organizations in France, Belgium and Finland, addressed the design of energy efficient housing for low-income groups. Social housing providers were involved throughout in briefing, specification and project planning. The design and analysis phases of the project were preceded by an extensive consultation exercise with families from the target income range.
• Sydney Olympics (Multiplex Pty) CAR were natural ventilation consultants for the main Olympic Stadium in Sydney for the year 2000 Olympics. This competition-winning design was successful on the basis of its innovative environmental strategy. We modelled air movement through the stadium section to minimize the need for air conditioning, using salt solution modelling techniques.
• Millennium Village (Taylor Woodrow Developments/Battle McCarthy) The Greenwich Millennium Village project was ground-breaking in its promotion of the environmental agenda for a large, mixed use scheme. CAR worked with a team composed of designers, engineers and developers to set out green objectives and propose new solutions employing the concept of dynamic insulation.

Publications

H. Mulligan. Bringing buildings to the carbon market place, Proceedings of 5th ISES-Europe Solar Conference, Freiburg, Germany, 20-23 June, 2004.

H. Mulligan. Building the blocks of carbon trading: participation potential at the city scale. Proceedings of International Congress of the Association of European Schools of Planning, Vienna, 13-16 July 2005.

H. Mulligan. The New Californian Architecture: Resource Efficiency for the 21st Century, Taylor and Francis Publishers, in press 2008.

H. Mulligan. and K. Steemers. Total energy use in refurbishment: avoiding the over-commitment of resources, World Architecture, Beijing, Aug 2004.

J. Palmer. University challenge (William Gates Building), HAC Magazine, March/April 2004. [Download (PDF, 8Mb) »]

J. Palmer. Did this sink or swim? (Oxstalls Campus), Building Services Journal, 28(1), 2006. [Download (PDF, 14Mb) »]

J. Palmer. Full marks for effort (Kingsmead School), Building Services Journal, 28(6), 2006. [Download (PDF, 5Mb) »]

J. Palmer. Power politics (Scottish Parliament), Building Services Journal, 29(1), 2007. [Download (PDF, 1.1Mb) »]

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