Blue Tower Operational Energy Net Zero Carbon Report - Additional information and notes
Efficiency investments made in 2021-22
This year
Last Year
Costs
Annual Saving
Costs
Annual Saving
Investments in efficiency projects Payback on investments (months)
£
582
£
7,829
£
100
£
155
1
8
Overall progress against building targets
Our Science Based Target is based on the performance of our portfolio of buildings. The target is to reduce the kWh of electricity-equivalent energy consumption per m2 of lettable area by 25% in 2030 compared to a 2019 benchmark. For offices, we have set an ambitious benchmark using the BPP REEB 2019 Good Practices for Offices, which is based on the top 25% of offices. For other buildings where a benchmark is not available, we use our 2019 consumption as the baseline. As part of our ISO 50001 process we set annual action plans for each building which are also assessed in the annual independent certification of our process. We recognise that the biggest opportunities for improvement come at the end of the serviceable life of major equipment items, or when we undertake a major retrofit. As a result we don't necessarily expect to see the buildings improve in an even way and they may lag behind the target for several years before a big project can get us back ahead of target.
Moving away from fossil fuels
As part of our Asset Management process we have developed longer-term plans which recognise that fossil-fuel consuming plant will need to be replaced with renewable sources. Where the building is importing heat and coolth from third parties, we will also engage with them to discuss their plans for decarbonisation of those supplies.
Procuring Renewable Energy
MediaCity sits within a private network operated by LEEP Utilities Ltd. During the reporting year the network operator has started to introduce renewable energy sources into the energy mix for the estate but we are currently unable to assign the energy to any particular asset. We will continue to work with our network operator to procure more renewable energy for MediaCity.
Our approach to Carbon Offsetting
We would characterise our approach to carbon offsetting as "beyond the minimum" as, in addition to overseas carbon offsets, we also voluntarily contribute to local organisations such as City of Trees and Mersey Forest.
The concept of a Transition Fund to demonstrate further ambition in terms of offsetting is being actively explored, and we believe that we may be able involve some biodiversity and UK-based activities drawing our own land holdings and other assets, which could provide a compelling additional contribution to the UK's decarbonisation. This work is, however, quite complex and may take some time to evaluate, so we will not be able to establish a Transition Fund, or similar, until we are confident that we can deploy high quality projects within the three-year window allowed in the UKGBC Net Zero Framework and we have been able to engage our stakeholders fully.
Emissions factors used in Carbon Accounting
UK factors from
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greenhouse-gas-reporting-conversion- factors-2021 Coolth emissions factor based on an assumed pessimistic Coefficient of Performance of electric chillers of 3.0, thus the factor is Elect Factor/3.0.
Coolth
Residual electricity from
https://www.aib-net.org/facts/european-residual-mix
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs