Sustainability & Construction Newsletter #9

Welcome to the ninth edition of our Sustainability and Construction newsletter! 

As always, we've highlighted the current hot industry topics relevant to Net Zero and the construction industry to help promote sustainable practices within the sector.

Latest Mitsubishi Electric News:

Mission Zero – Step by step by step

"I don’t know about you, but I was quite excited when Chris Skidmore MP launched his ‘Mission Zero – An independent review of net zero’ on the 20th of January. It is a significant step in the right direction and shows that there are real opportunities, as well as challenges in tackling climate change. Over the next few weeks, I plan to review the report chapter by chapter and try and summarise the important pointers and findings." - Chris Newman, Zero Carbon Design Manager at Mitsubishi Electric. Click here for article #1.

Making the most of heat pump technology

2023 means we're moving ever closer to several critical targets for the built environment. And that means building owners have some important decisions to make. MEES (Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards) is one pressing example. The government wants commercial properties to have a minimum EPC rating of B by 2030. Without the B rating, a property could not be leased or sold. Even though the commercial property sector has been improving energy performance over the past decade, estimates are that around 60% of all non-domestic stock has an EPC of C or lower.

Solution Overview Brochure: Cascade High Temperature Heat Pumps

How do you reduce carbon when you can’t reduce heating temperature requirements? Our new document from the Zero Carbon Design Team looks at the value of using cascade heat pumps to deliver high temperature lower carbon heating. You can also read more about the benefits of high and low temperature heat pumps here.

Stranded Assets | What can we do about it? | Ask ME Podcast

What can building owners do about stranded assets? On the Ask ME podcast, Dan Smith, Chris Newman, and Richard Venga from Mitsubishi Electric discuss what steps building owners and corporate landlords need to take in order to avoid falling into the trap of stranded assets within their portfolios.

Listen to the full episode here.

Latest Mitsubishi Electric Events:

'On the Road to Net Zero' Breakfast Seminar | Dartford and Cambridge

During March, Mitsubishi Electric will be continuing its series of Breakfast Seminars, this time in Dartford and Cambridge. These seminars will once again provide opportunities to learn more about the changes to our business, our products, legislation and how we can continue to work together to reduce carbon emissions in the built environment.

To register for the Dartford Breakfast Seminar on Wednesday, 1st March 2023, please click here.

To register for the Cambridge Breakfast Seminar on Thursday, 2nd March, please click here.

Latest Industry News:

Wilmott Dixon A to Z of Sustainability

There is a lot of sustainability "jargon" in the industry. Wilmott Dixon is taking it back to basics and sharing what these terms really mean. Covering topics such as BREEAM, circular economy, EPC and embodied carbon, they release a few definitions every week on their website.

The Climate Game - Financial Times

Can you reach Net Zero by 2050? See if you can save the planet from the worst effects of climate change in the new Climate Game from the Financial Times.

Creating a sustainable workplace for the future

Sustainability ranks alongside office attendance as the main topic of discussion in the workplace sector right now. Bringing older, inefficient buildings up to scratch is not just a nice to have, it is a necessity as we seek to meet ambitious carbon reduction targets.

Wilmott Dixon to build Net Zero school

Willmott Dixon has been appointed to build Leicestershire's first Net Zero in operation school. Councillor Deborah Taylor, Leicestershire County Council lead member for children and families, said: "I'm proud to say it will be the first Leicestershire school that will be carbon neutral and pupils that attend will learn in an environment that uses renewable energy, has an 'A' energy rating and the latest interactive learning equipment.

The UK Net-Zero Review – plenty to cheer, plenty to do

At more than 300 pages, there is much to absorb in Chris Skidmore MP’s Net-Zero Review for the British government – and to debate about what is and isn’t included. That said, nearly a month on its from publication, two points can be confidently stated.

Which construction companies are on track to meet their Net Zero targets?

As the UK continues on the path to reach Net Zero by 2050, the construction industry is playing its part. Strong performers this year include SNC Lavalin UK & Europe, with a 67.7% reduction in all scope emissions in 2021 vs 2019. Meanwhile, Galliford Try reports a 65% reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2021 vs 2012, and Jacobs reports a 60% reduction in scope 1 and selected scope 2 and 3 emissions in FY21 vs FY19.

LETI Opinion Piece: Operational Carbon in Whole Life Carbon Assessments

As industry becomes more familiar with embodied and whole life carbon assessments, operational energy is more regularly converted to operational carbon within a whole life carbon approach. The latest LETI Opinion Piece proposes a methodology for the conversion of operational energy into operational carbon, for the purpose of making design decisions. This methodology aims to provide a basis for further analysis and discussion.

Data-sharing and more incentives needed in decarbonising the property sector

A new report from the British Property Federation and JLL has identified some of the key challenges in decarbonising the property sector and associated industries. A lack of quality data to inform carbon calculations was identified as a major hurdle to decarbonising the property sector, as well as a lack of supporting incentives from the government. The report also reveals that 9 in 10 senior leaders surveyed by the BPF and JLL do not believe current Government policy will deliver a net zero property sector by 2050.

We hope you've found the content of this newsletter useful and relevant. In each edition, we'll focus on bringing you the latest news and topics around sustainability and construction. If there are any news articles you would like us to feature, please get in touch with us, and we'll make sure your news is included.

Find out more about our new Sustainability and Construction team here.