Tomorrow is already happening today – JLL
Don’t worry, it’s not Christmas Eve yet, but as the consumption (shopping, wrapping and mince-pie eating) reaches a peak today, here’s some food for thought from JLL. “We need a new vision and a new whole-life framework for both measuring the carbon footprint of the built environment and finding a way to encourage investors, financiers, contractors and occupiers to improve the whole-life carbon footprint if progress is to be made.” So says JLL in its recently published comments on property sustainability matters, ahead of publication of its full “European Property Sustainability Matters 2011” report due early next year.
The firm says it is imperative to control the cost of using energy as the economy recovers – but the cost of changing buildings or developing new properties that meet existing legislation is likely to rise faster than general inflation, it warns.
JLL notes that the European directive passed in May will overhaul the existing systems for the eco-labelling of buildings, and that changes will become necessary as the new and more rigorous regulations are implemented.
While the government expects to introduce incentives next year for those who introduce solar panels and biomass boilers, the firm asks whether there could not be more emphasis on simply not using more energy. “Saving energy can provide a faster and larger financial pay-back than generating ‘green’ energy,” it notes.
JLL also outlines the current confusion surrounding the Carbon Reduction Commitment in the UK and points out that the whole-life carbon footprint of the built environment is much more than a simple measure of energy in use – one has to look at the embodied carbon of construction and the transport energy relating to a building. The CRC, Energy Performance Certificates and Display Energy Certificates do not measure the whole-life carbon footprint of a building.
Tomorrow is already happening today, the firm says – in other words, are we already investing today in property to future-proof it for possible future scenarios resulting from climate change? “Our key objective should be to imagine tomorrow and plan today if we hope for a sustainable future. Are we, however, also currently planning a property market for conditions which may be less sustainable?”
