Climate Change : Can our buildings cope? The Hon. Tom Roper President, Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council Board Member, Climate Institute Retrofitting for Energy Efficiency Brisbane Convention Centre, Qld, February 2012
Discussion points
What are the impacts?
Mitigation and / or adaptation?
New build
Changes for existing buildings
Best practice
Design for the future
Sustainable cities
Our challenge
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Buildings and greenhouse gases
The Buildings Sector accounts for 3040% of global energy use – 10 Gt CO2 equivalent – and with unchanged policy and practices would grow to 14.3 Gt CO2 by 2030.
Source: IPCC Working Group III – Buildings, page 11
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ASBEC’s Second Plank Report found that 23% of Australia’s emissions are attributable to the built environment, growing 38% by 2030
Energy consumption in buildings is a fundamental source of emissions particularly because of our coal fired generation
A price for carbon will reduce buildings emissions but is not sufficient – complementary measures are essential
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In 2100….
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New York NPCC climate protection levels
Source: Annals of the New York Academy of Science www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123443047/issue
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Queensland – some projections (2070)
Brisbane temperatures above 35ºC increasing from 1 to 21
140% increase in severe storm intensity
Tropical cyclones moving southwards
Up to 67,700 residential and 1440 commercial buildings at risk from sea level rise
Threats to The Great Barrier Reef
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Cities as heat islands
Source: Rebekkah Brown
Source: Katzscher Sasbe 2009
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Heatwave impacts on residential building performance
Source: Nguyen, Wang & Chen
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Major risks to the built environment and infrastructure
Overheating – uncomfortable temperatures and increased cooling load
Flooding – intense rainfall
Subsidience and landslip
Drought and water scarcity
Coastal change
Thredbo landslide 10
Designing for the future
Buildings designed today will need to operate through a
period of significant climate change
CIBSE’s “future weather years” enable designers to assess the impact of climate change using building energy and thermal simulation models
Takes into account future climate scenarios for the UK over the 21st century
The tool applies a morphing technique to the data based
on anticipated climate changes Source: The Chartered Institute of Buildings Services Engineers – TM48:2009
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Source: Professor Martin Parry, Oxford, April 2011
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PIXEL Building - Carlton, Victoria
Carbon neutral
Water self-sufficient
Building information systems
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Dandiiri Contact Centre
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“Reliable and consistent whole-building energy analysis is key to achieving increasingly agressive performance targets in the building sector, and to motivating building owners to invest in energy efficiency.”
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500 Collins Street, Melbourne
5 Star Green Star
Energy savings 52%
Chilled beams
Efficient lighting
Solar hot water
Water savings
Recycled construction waste
Waste wise certification
Productivity improvements
Source: Google Images
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Empire State Building
A deep retrofit
3 year payback
38% cut in utility bills
Savings $4.4m annually
105,000 tonnes CO2 over 15 years
Retrofit chiller plant
Refurbish windows
Purchase green power
Source: Google Images
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A 1960’s office
Improve building envelope by upgrading windows
Increase fabric insulation and air tightness
Solar shading
Improve thermal mass
Automatically controlled mechanical ventilation
Water chilled beans
Night cooling
Source: UKCIP
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Transforming the planning & building process
Redesign planning and building tools to account for the impacts of climate change
Use and improve adaptive management process and contingency planning
Take predicted climates into account at the design stage of any new development, refurbishment or regeneration programme
Incorporate climate change effects and impacts into new infrastructure initiatives
Create resilient outdoor spaces and buildings
Promote zero carbon
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Cool roofs “Changing surface colors in 100 of the world’s largest cities could save as much as 44 billion tons of carbon dioxide. This is the equivalent to the rise in global carbon emissions anticipated by 2020.” Stephen Chu – Secretary, US Department of Energy
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Carrots and sticks Mayor declares London “retrofit ready”
Re-fit
London Green Fund
Re New
Re Connect
London Carbon Prize Source: Google Images
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Turning old buildings green
President Obama’s $4b public/private energy upgrades – paid for by the savings achieved
State legislation financing energy retrofits financed by property tax surcharges (PACE)
Ygrene Energy Fund 5 year contract for Miami and Sacramento
Short term loans from Barclays Capital backed by insurance warranties and bundled into long term bonds 24
Australian initiatives
$1b Tax Breaks for Green Buildings
White certificate schemes
Green Building Fund
Low Carbon Australia
Compulsory Mandatory Disclosure
Government lease requirements
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Melbourne’s first environment upgrade agreement “We know that access to affordable capital is a major barrier in retrofitting commercial buildings. This signing marks an important milestone, removing this barrier and equipping building owners with the financial tools they need to reduce their energy use, save water and lower their carbon emissions.” Cr Cathy Oke, City of Melbourne
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“Innovative cities in both the developed and the developing world have demonstrated that with the appropriate strategic approach they can economically enhance their resource efficiency – realizing the same value from a much smaller and renewable resource base – while simultaneously reducing harmful pollution and unnecessary waste.”
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Chicago Climate Action Plan
“Adding green to urban design 2008” : 21 key actions including roofs, facades, landscaping around buildings
Thermal radar mapping the city’s hottest spots to prioritise pavement removal, green roofing and tree planting
4 million sq. ft of green roofs, planned or completed since 2008
9,000 acres of tree canopy added since 1993
Managing stormwater, including 150 green alleys
Green permit acceleration
Source: Progress Report First Two Years
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Our challenge
We can no longer afford business as usual
No reason for panic nor for complacency
Buildings offer the largest and fastest cut in CO2
Design and build for future climates and retrofit what we have
Develop strategies to build resilience to current variability and future uncertainties 29
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