Specialists get most from CRC
The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) energy efficiency scheme will galvanise the interest of commercial and public sector operators in reducing the carbon footprint of their buildings, writes Paul Reeve.
That is just as well, because if the UK is to get anywhere near its carbon reduction targets it must get to grips with existing commercial premises, and sooner rather than later.
The CRC applies to around 5,000 organisations including manufactures, offices, banks, supermarkets and other major retail chains, local authorities and Government premises. Organisations using 6,000 megawatt hours of electricity p.a. or more will need to buy ‘carbon allowances’ at an initial trading price of £12/tonne.
Putting a price on carbon is important, because virtually any carbon reduction measure that offers a cost of abatement less than £12/tonne will move the subject up the boardroom agenda from the “nice to have” category into the section labelled: “How quickly can we get on with it?”. Also, those that make the biggest reductions in carbon demand can expect rebates from the CRC scheme, while those that don’t perform as well will have to pay more.
Incentive
In fact, few commentators believe that the price of carbon under the CRC will stay as low as £12/tonne, so it will become an even bigger incentive to invest in carbon reduction measures. As if these financial signals were not enough, the CRC also features an annual performance ‘league table’ that will rank participants on their energy efficiency performance – a ‘corporate reputation’ feature that is almost guaranteed to get carbon reduction onto boardroom agendas.
The good news is that there are plenty of measures that can reduce carbon demand in existing commercial premises for under £12/tonne. This rapidly moves the clients’ question to “so how do we do it all properly?” While more prosaic measures such as insulation, sorting out thermal gain and having a proper maintenance regime should top anyone’s “to do” list, an array of carbon reduction technologies such as metering and monitoring, intelligent controls systems, sensors and modern heating and lighting systems are set to deliver stunningly short paybacks when carbon allowances are factored in.
On top of this, many building operators will be able to take advantage of technical fixes such as power factor correction or voltage reduction – provided they have competent electrical advice. Anyone covered by the CRC will need a carbon management programme, and with an array of carbon saving technologies and techniques to choose from, involving specialist m&e contractors early on can maximise long-term performance.
Attractive
We are confident that the CRC will provide a welcome boost for carbon reduction technology, but what about renewables? The combined effect of the CRC and ‘feed-in tariffs’ should make renewables such as PV and air sourced heat pumps much more attractive, Look at the basics, such as controls, first.
The CRC also requires thousands more organisations with at least one half-hourly meter will have to monitor and eventually report their energy use. Once these companies see clearly where they are using energy, they will be in much better shape to reduce demand. The hard won experience of companies that fall under the CRC will help to confirm which carbon reduction measures “really work” – and just as importantly, what doesn’t. That knowledge, including paybacks, will percolate down to smaller commercial energy users, and even if they don’t need to buy carbon allowances, altering, refurbishing or extending buildings will be a particularly good time for operators to build in the very best carbon reduction measures.
For any building operator, good design and setup will continue to be the best way of achieving long-term energy savings – but a key challenge is making the various measures work together. There are now numerous examples of how involving specialist engineering contractors early on has helped building clients to maximize ongoing cost savings and carbon reductions.