Helping Scotland achieve its net-zero carbon ambitions
Our research is helping Scotland reduce carbon emissions associated with the construction and operation of its new and refurbished public sector buildings.
The Scottish Government is committed to reducing carbon emissions to net-zero by 2045. Our research is helping to achieve this ambition by showing how new public sector buildings can contribute towards this goal.
Commissioned in 2016 by the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), a public sector body whose remit is to improve public sector infrastructure across Scotland, our research focused on how to reduce carbon emissions associated with the construction and operation of new public sector buildings. The findings were used to set targets to reach the net-zero goal.
The only way to achieve net-zero carbon buildings is to radically reduce operational energy use. We recommended that setting challenging targets in this area would ensure that the government’s commitment to low energy buildings drives the whole project, from the selection of the designers to operational decisions. We also advised on ways of verifying and measuring actual operational performance
In a second phase, we assembled an evidence-base to support the targets and to show that they were realistic and achievable. This involved finding operational energy performance data for exemplar buildings, and assessing a range of technologies.
For new buildings, we looked at the difference in capital costs between Passivhaus buildings, which can achieve a 55-60 percent improvement on the average performance of Scotland’s public sector benchmarks, and conventional construction. To ensure design standards are upheld, we also developed a monitoring and verification plan.
This strong evidence base is now being used to set the targets that will form the roadmap to net-zero. We continue to work with the SFT looking at reducing emissions associated to retrofitting.