Sustainability Flashcards
When is an EPC not required?
Places of Worship
Super low energy efficient buildings (e.g. industrial warehouses)
Temporary buildings
Some listed buildings, but not all
Are you familiar with the term circular economy?
Circular economy is the concept of all products being reused in a continuous cycle, minimising waste.
What does MEES stand for?
Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards
To sell or let a property, an EPC of E or above required. From April 2023, it will be extended to all existing leases.
The minimum requirement will increase to a C in 2027 and a B in 2030
What is sustainability to you personally?
Meeting the the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
- Taking the required action to minimise pollution, finding solutions to reduce/meet needs, creating a positive outlook for the future of the planet.
What does BREEAM stand for?
Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method
What is COP26?
▪ COP26 is the most recent annual UN climate change conference. COP stands for Conference of the Parties, and the summit was attended by the countries that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – a treaty that came into force in 1994.
▪ The two-week meeting was seen as a critical moment for commitments and action after richer nations had failed to raise the $100bn annual climate funding they had promised to vulnerable countries and the gap to staying below 1.5C loomed large.
What was agreed at COP26?
▪ For the first time at a COP conference there was an explicit plan to reduce use of coal which is responsible for 40% of annual CO2 emissions.
▪ There was a commitment to ‘phase down’ rather than ‘phase out’ coal after a late intervention by China and India.
▪ The agreement pledged to significantly increase money to help developing countries cope with the effects of climate change and make the switch to clean energy.
▪ There’s was also the prospect of a trillion dollar a year fund from 2025 onwards after a previous pledge for richer countries to provide $100bn (£72bn) a year by 2020 was missed.
▪ While some observers say the COP26 agreement represented the “start of a breakthrough”, some African and Latin American countries felt not enough progress was made.
How does COP26 relate to the Paris Agreement?
▪ At the COP 21 meeting in Paris in 2015, the Paris Agreement was formed.
▪ During the COP Meeting, the parties agreed to pursue efforts to prevent temperatures rising more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels to avoid the most dangerous impacts of global warming.
▪ The following Conference of the Parties meetings discusses how each nation is progressing against the original Paris Agreement.
Are you aware of any impending changes to minimum energy efficiency standards?
▪ Yes I understand the government has recently proposed changes to the EPC requirements for commercial property and buy to let properties which are due to take effect from 2025.
▪ Currently the minimum required energy efficiency rating for domestic rental property requires an E rating however this is expected to increase to a C rating or above from 2025.
What sustainable initiatives are you aware of that are implemented by the RICS?
- SKA ratings encouraging green codes of practice for commercial properties
- RICS has launched the Value the Planet campaign and committed to forming a climate change expert panel to implement the UN’s sustainable development goals.
- RICS has also launched a Responsible Business Report filled with solutions for companies to operate in a greener capacity, regardless of the firm’s size. This includes introducing higher recycling rates and reducing energy, transport and water use where possible.
What things do you implement to promote sustainability?
- Print only when necessary
- Car sharing
- Use of energy efficient equipment
- Recycling
- Cycle to work
- Careful to minimise waste
- Avoid use of plastic bottles where possible
- Use of cloud based sharing system
Can you explain your understanding of the term carbon neutral?
- Carbon neutrality is to have a balance between the carbon emitted and the carbon absorbed from the atmosphere in carbon sinks.
- This is an important measure of the impact that businesses and projects have on the environment and global warming.
- To date no artificial carbon sinks are able to remove carbon from the atmosphere at the levels required to off set global.
What procedures does your firm implement to promote sustainability?
- Recycling of cardboard, paper and plastics
- Use of Energy efficient lighting (motion sensors) • Energy efficient equipment (LED lamps, energy efficient monitors)
- Cycle to work scheme
- Reduce printing by using cloud based systems
- Charitable contributions (tree planting / environmental programmes)
- Sign up to Green initiatives and codes of practice (use office space with high EPC / BREEAM ratings
What is the Paris Agreement?
- The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty concerning climate change
- It was adopted by nearly every nation and came into affect in 2016
- The goal of the Paris Agreement is to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius whilst targeting levels below 1.5 degrees Celsius when compared to preindustrial levels
- The agreement commits all major emitting countries to cut their climate pollution
- It also creates a framework for the transparent monitoring and reporting of each individual countries progress.
Name some sustainable building methods?
- Use of recycled materials such as reclaimed timber, recycled tiles and plastics
- Ground Source Heat Pumps
- Air Source Heat Pumps
- Solar Panels
- Wind Turbines
- Solar Shading
- Rain water harvesting
- Green Roofs
- Automated Building Systems (Lighting sensors)
