Beyond Compliance

This article originally appeared in the October 2009 issue (no. 84) of 'the environmentalist', the magazine of the Institute for Environmental Management and Assessement (IEMA).

In the run-up to Copenhagen, governments around the world are proposing carbon reduction targets as part of their negotiating positions. New Zealand has set a preliminary goal to reduce emissions 10 to 20% by 2020; Japan has set a 15% reduction target – albeit from a different baseline. Meanwhile, proposed legislation in the U.S. sets a 17% target by 2020 and the EU has pledged to reduce emissions 20% by that date.

However, many leading global companies have set their own corporate targets for emissions reductions that make these country pledges seem modest and meagre. Wal-Mart’s climate change strategy sets a 20% reduction target by 2012 and Unilever have set a 25% reduction by that same year. British-French rail company Eurostar set a 25% reduction target for 2012, and reached its goal three years ahead of schedule. Meanwhile, supermarket chain Tesco promised a 50% reduction in its footprint by 2020, and Marks and Spencer pledged to go completely carbon neutral by 2012.

In this article, we explore why large companies commit to such ambitious reduction goals, and consider what this means for carbon reduction both at home and abroad.

Why do large companies go beyond compliance?

Companies embark on carbon reduction initiatives in order to exploit opportunities and to manage their risks, including costs, customer retention, regulation and/or exposure to weather and resource variability.

As described in “The end of the low-carbon agenda?” (Issue 72), many companies are attracted to the lower energy and transport bills associated with driving carbon out of the business. Marks & Spencer, for example, originally pledged to spend £200 million on its “Plan A” eco-initiative, but has since found the programme to be cost-neutral and expects the ultimate savings to outweigh its planned investment. In this context, a low-carbon initiative can engage staff in what would otherwise be a traditional cost-reduction exercise.

Multinational companies face more direct risks from climate change. Long supply chains and inefficient suppliers leave firms vulnerable to rising energy prices – especially as governments regulate emissions in transport. Meanwhile, weather-related disruptions – storms, floods, drought, can threaten companies’ “just in time” logistics networks. Climate change risks are increasingly being incorporated into businesses’ planning strategies. As Unilever states, ‘”there will be serious consequences for our business operations, including threats to our agricultural supply chain and the availability of water in some of our markets. The costs of addressing climate change now, while considerable, are likely to be far less than waiting and allowing the problem to get worse.”

With climate change now a popular concern, companies that voluntarily embark on carbon reduction initiatives are earning a reputation as environmental leaders. The Sunday Times “Best Green Companies” list is widely seen as the benchmark for sustainability leadership in the UK, and a company’s commitment to carbon reductions is one of the main criteria that the newspaper uses to evaluate performance. Companies strive to be on this and other “green lists” because environmental leadership can often translate into increased customer loyalty and sales growth, as well as employee satisfaction.

Anticipating regulatory trends is not a new concept for large corporations. For example, chemical companies have long understood that environmental risk management is essential to their continued profitability.

When the chemical industry launched its Responsible Care code of practice in 1988, only 13% of its practices were required by US government regulation. Four years later, the US government had made 80% of these company-initiated practices a regulatory requirement. Companies that had voluntarily adopted the Responsible Care principles were well placed to comply with the eventual increase of government regulation.

Climate change policy has followed a similar course: despite growing pressure, governments have been relatively slow to adopt emissions reduction targets. Meanwhile, leading companies have seen the advantages of a low-carbon economy. These companies have been steadily measuring, reducing, and offsetting their carbon emissions over the past five years – with telecommunications firm BT launching its carbon reduction initiative back in 1992.

The global supply chain

Unlike utilities and manufacturers, large retailers often have relatively low “direct” or “Scope 1” emissions (emissions from sources under a company’s direct control), and their emissions from purchased electricity and steam are not particularly high. However, these companies maintain extensive supply chains, and influence a carbon footprint that may be 20 to 60 times greater than their direct and energy indirect emissions.

Unilever, for example, reports the carbon footprint from their own factories, offices, laboratories and business travel at approximately four million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year. Their wider (“other indirect” or “Scope 3”) footprint from sourcing agricultural and chemical raw materials is around ten times larger, and when consumer use and product disposal are included, this footprint can expand to 30 to 60 times greater than their direct emissions. As a result, many companies find that they can achieve more ambitious emissions reductions if they involve their suppliers – and even their customers – in their low-carbon initiatives.

These companies often wield tremendous influence over their suppliers due to their immense purchasing power. Wal-Mart, for example, is the largest single customer of many suppliers around the world. Even Proctor & Gamble, the world’s largest consumer goods maker, counts Wal-Mart as its largest customer. When Wal-Mart asks its suppliers to measure their carbon footprint or identify ways to reduce emissions, they are more likely to get a response than would be a smaller customer. As Marks & Spencer’s Mike Barry puts it, “They know that if they want to want to be pursuing business with us in the future, they have got to come on the journey with us.” To this end, Marks & Spencer has helped its suppliers set up four “green” factories that use significantly less energy and contribute to the firm’s lower carbon footprint.

Not only are these changes pushed up the supply chain, but also down to the end user. After launching their “Plan A” sustainability initiative, Marks & Spencer found that up to 75% of the carbon footprint of their clothing came from washing, drying, and ironing. As a result, the company has begun designing and labelling its clothes for washing at lower temperatures and launched a customer communications campaign.

As described in our article “Counting the Cost of Outsourcing” (Issue 55), many of the emissions from developing countries are attributable to outsourced manufacturing on behalf of Western companies. Indeed, adjusted for exports, China’s carbon footprint is significantly lower than the United States’. 70% of the products sold in Wal-Mart stores are made in China, and the company has supply relationships with 5,000 Chinese enterprises.

What happens when massive Western companies demand that their foreign suppliers go beyond compliance and reduce emissions? It may be too early to tell, but we would expect this supply chain pressure to lead to greater demand for green electricity and energy efficiency improvements at factories in China, India and other developing countries.

There is another source of external emissions reductions that major companies are pursuing: carbon offsets. Carbon offsets are purchased emissions reductions that occur outside an organisation’s boundaries. In this regard, generating measurable reductions by investing in a wind or solar project in China is only one step removed from investing to help an apparel factory in China reduce energy.

Indeed, large corporates in the U.S., U.K. and mainland Europe are embracing carbon offsetting to help them go beyond compliance and achieve net emissions reductions far faster than they could through incremental internal measures. By supporting projects in developing countries that do not have national caps on their carbon emissions, these companies are helping to accelerate the transition to a lower-carbon mode of economic development.

Different paths to a lower-carbon future

It is clearly in large companies’ best interest to announce and pursue ambitious carbon reduction goals. These initiatives can drive significant reductions in thousands of supplier companies in developing countries and provide an incentive for a rapid transition towards lower-emissions practices in those countries.

This ongoing trend raises an interesting possibility. The post-Kyoto climate change negotiations are currently bogged down over the issue of developing country reduction commitments. Developed nations like the U.S. and U.K. argue, correctly, that emissions from China, India and other poorer nations are so large that serious action to fight climate change will be stymied without their active involvement. The developing nations argue, also correctly, that current warming is due to richer nations’ historical emissions and rich countries should demonstrate their own commitment to reduce their footprint before lecturing others.

Wal-Mart, M&S and other companies are showing that it is not either-or. The world economy is so intertwined that actions taken in developed nations can lead to significant emissions reductions overseas. Indeed, while a binding emissions cap would provide the force of law, it is likely that supply chain pressure and demand for offsets will also drive significant cuts.

Major structural change to our carbon-based economy is inevitable as we shift to different ways of meeting our needs while tackling the challenges of climate change. Large corporates have led the way in showing how a commitment at home can lead to a reduced footprint overseas. As pressure mounts on carbon caps in developed countries, we can expect to see it spread into faster action around the world.

Suzy Hodgson, AIEMA, is a principal consultant and Jamal Gore, AIEMA is the managing director at specialist carbon management company, Carbon Clear Limited.

Breathing Room

Most of the news that comes to us from the climate change front lines is alarming. Over the last few years greenhouse gas emissions and temperatures have continued their upward trend. Emissions have risen so much over the past decade that what used to be considered a worst-case scenario is now our most probable future.

But the future is not cast in stone - at least not yet. As reported in the Financial Times, the International Energy Administration (IEA) has found that global CO2 emissions had fallen faster in the past year than any year over the past four decades.

In one sense, the IEA report is a good-news-bad news-story. CO2 can stay in the atmosphere for a hundred years or more, so lower emissions mean a lower overall concentration of greenhouse gases. And that means less warming in the future. The bad news is that much of the reduction we are seeing is due to economic pain.

Emissions fall when factories reduce output, businesses go bankrupt and workers lose their jobs. As we noted in a blog post several months ago, the last thing we want to do is reinforce the perception that lower CO2 emisisons means financial misery. It is this perception that makes it so hard for governments to negotiate a climate change treaty that will help us achieve the ambitious global cuts that are needed to forestall dangerous warming in the future. The recent reductions are not nearly enough to stave off the worst effects of climate change, so a global agreement remains the order of the day.

There has, however, been another effect from the economic recession. Not only have existing factories and power plants reduced their output, but a large amount of new construction has been put on hold. New coal-fired power plants have an operational life of fifty years or more, so a decision to launch a new fossil fueled power station would lock us into decades of carbon-intensive energy production - at a time when we should be moving in the opposite direction.

Postponing construction of these power stations gives us some breathing room. We're not committed yet. There's still time to choose an alternate path, preferably one that doesn't lock us into a worst-case scenario of spiraling emissions and environmental misery.

Many renewable energy and energy efficiency investments have also been hit by the economic crisis, but not everything has ground to a halt. We continue to learn more about how our carbon emissions affect the climate, and about the likely impacts of climate change on planet and people. We continue to learn more about promising technologies and approaches that reduce the tradeoff between helping the environment and securing a decent quality of life. And we learn that governments are taking climate change seriously - regulations will force businesses to factor the cost of carbon into their business decisions. Each new piece of information reinforces the knowledge that we can and must do more - not less - to cut emissons.

So one possible silver lining to the recent economic pain is that it has given us an opportunity to make more informed decisions and hopefully avoid making long term decisions we might eventually come to regret.

The future is not cast in stone. As the economy recovers and the investment climate improves, let's use what we've learned to re-evaluate our options and make faster progress towards a lower-carbon future.

(Back to the Carbon Clear website)

The 230 MPG Car

According to the news reports, General Motors has done the impossible. The NYT and hundreds of other press sites have covered the auto maker's announcement that the forthcoming Chevy Volt hybrid car will run 230 miles per (US) gallon of gasoline. Given our interest in low-carbon solutions, that was enough to make the team at Carbon Clear sit up and take notice.

The announcement was a shot across the bow of Toyota, which sells the best-selling Prius hybrid car, and generate more buzz around the long-anticipated Volt. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency's fuel economy website, the Prius gets 48 mpg in city driving, better than anyone else, but pathetic compared to the Volt's 230 mpg.

General Motors based their claim on the fact that the Volt is a plug-in hybrid that can run for 40 miles in electric-only mode, and the battery can be recharged overnight from a household electrical outlet. The gasoline (petrol) motor only kicks in to recharge the electric batteries when the car is driven more than 40 miles in typical conditions. Since the typical American car only travels 33 miles per day and the battery gets recharged overnight, argues GM, the gasoline engine will rarely get called into service. The car might travel on average for 230 miles before an entire gallon of gasoline is consumed.

Voila, 230 mpg.

I can see how this number might be technically accurate. But does it tell customers what they really need to know?

The Volt is expected to cost between $30,000 and $40,000 - considerably more than a conventional car of the same size. I can think of four reasons why people would spend the extra money:

1. They have money to burn and are caught up in the hype,
2. They want to reduce consumption of imported fossil fuels,
3. They want to reduce CO2 emissions from driving,
4. They want to spend less on fuel.

Let's set aside the first rationale, as it falls outside the normal scope of this blog. How does the Volt rate on the other three?

Rationale #2: Most of the electricity in the United States comes from coal, natural gas, nuclear, and hydropower. The coal, gas, and water, and (much of) the uranium are sourced domestically. So a car that gets mosts of its power from grid electricity rather than gasoline wins on this count. If the 230 mpg figure is accurate, then the Prius uses nearly five times (okay 4.79 times) as much gasoline compare to the Volt. Winner: Volt.

Rationale #3: How does the Volt compare on greenhouse gas emissions? According to the GM press announcement, the Volt can typically travel 40 miles on electricity alone, and its built-in battery has a useable capacity of 8.8 kilowatt-hours. So its daily energy consumption is 8.8 kWh for 40 miles of travel. That's 0.22 kWh/mile.

Greenhouse gas emissions from electricity vary widely depending on the fuel source, but on average the emissions from electricity consumption in the U.S. average 599.9 grams CO2 per kWh. Multiply that number by the Volt's 8.8 kWh daily electricity consumption and we get 5,279 grams of CO2 emissions per day. That's about 132 grams CO2 per mile, or 82 grams CO2 per kilometre. (These are what the carbon reporting standards call "Scope 2" or "energy indirect" emissions: you're using the energy, but the CO2 is coming out of someone else's pipe.)

According to the UK's Car Fuel Data website, the Prius emits 89 grams CO2 per kilometre. Winner: Volt, but not by nearly as wide a margin.

We can look at the CO2 data another way. Let's see how much petrol would have to be consumed to release the Volt's 82 grams CO2 per mile. The US Energy Information Administration says that a gallon of gasoline emits 19.567 pounds CO2/gallon. Converting to metric makes the math easier and gives us 2,346 grams CO2 per litre of gasoline.

Now we have Chevy Volt grams of CO2 per mile, and gasoline grams of CO2 per litre. Manipulating the numbers gives us an equivalent fuel economy of 67.5 miles per (U.S.) gallon. The US EPA says the Prius gets 48 miles per (US) gallon. The UK says the Prius gets 72 miles per (UK) gallon - equivalent to 60 miles per (US gallon). Winner: Volt.

Rationale #4: How much does it cost to drive the Volt? According to the US Energy Information Administration, the average cost of electricity in the year to April 2009 was 9.09 cents per kWh. From our earlier calculations, we learned that the Volt uses 0.22 kWh per mile. So the Chevy Volt's energy costs 1.9998 (let's call it two) cents per mile.

How efficient would a gasoline powered car need to be to achieve the same per-mile fuel costs? The handy US Energy Information Agency website tells us that the average US gasoline price in the week ending August 10th, 2009 was $2.65 per gallon. With two cents (the Volt's per-mile energy cost), we would be able to buy a whopping 0.0135 gallons of gasoline for our car. And if our car were to travel a mile on that amount of fuel, it would need a fuel economy of 75 miles per (US) gallon. Using the larger UK gallons, we would need a fuel economy of 90 mpg to match the driving cost of the Volt.

By comparison, the Prius gets a US EPA rating of 48 mpg, and a UK VCA rating of 72 mpg. Winner: Volt.

Summary: If GM's driving distance and battery capacity numbers hold up in the real world, the company appears poised to take the green consumer car title away from Toyota (and push Honda from second place down to a lowly third). My calculations show a significant greenhouse gas and fuel cost saving compared to the latest model Toyota Prius. The Volt gets the equivalent of between 67 and 75 mpg, depending on whether you're looking at CO2 emissions or dollars per mile. The advantage over the Prius is nowhere near the five-fold difference being trumpted in GM's press releases, but it is real.

• CO2 emissions per mile: 40% lower using EPA figures for Prius (8% lower using UK figures)
• Energy cost per mile: 57% lower using EPA figures for Prius

GM has thrown down the gauntlet. I'm eager to see if Toyota and other car producers will rise to the challenge and produce even more efficient vehicles.

(Carbon Clear website)

U.S. Military: Climate Change a Security Threat

One of the most vexing challenges related to climate change has long been finding a way to get people to pay attention. Climate change is caused by the release of invisible gases and the impacts are felt over relatively long timeframes.

We simply are not evolved to pay attention to such intangible, long-range threats. We respond much better when the danger is immediate, proximate, and something that we've encountered before.

Like war, for example.

This week, the U.S. Defense Department issued a report arguing that U.S. failure to lead the way on greenhouse gas reductions could expose the country to a raft of military security challenges.

Storms, droughts, floods, and disease can lead to riots, wars and conflict, mass population movements, and government instability in strategically important countries around the world. Dealing with these challenges, on a recurring and increasingly basis, is but one of the costs imposed by unchecked climate change.

The timing of this report is helpful. The ambitious plans that were initially drafted in the U.S. House of Representatives are in danger of being watered down or even shelved. Putting the case for taking action into terms that we humans are better evolved to understand and recognise may help shift the terms of debate and lead to rapid action.
(Carbon Clear website)

Two Degrees

During last week's Group of 8 summit in L'Aquilla, Italy, leaders from the largest greenhouse gas emitting nations met to set the stage for December's climate change conference in Copenhagen. Together these 17 countries are responsible for 80% of global CO2 emissions.

Meetings like this are useful because they allow governments to broadcast their negotiating positions and begin edging towards compromise positions.

There's a lot that didn't happen during this meeting. China's president left early, the developing nations refused to commit to a reduction target, and while the industrialised nations agreed to reduce emissions 80% by the year 2050, they failed to state the base year - so we are left asking, "80% of what, precisely?".

And yet, there was a ray of hope. The G8 communique contained the following interesting passage:

"We reaffirm the importance of the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and notably of its Fourth Assessment Report, which constitutes the most comprehensive assessment of the science. We recognise the broad scientific view that the increase in global average temperature above pre-industrial levels ought not to exceed 2°C."

I believe this is the first time that a communique from heads of state has mentioned a temperature target. Most discussions to date have focused on emission levels, but I have always found this to be a bit abstract. Emissions affect the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gas concentrations affect the temperature, and the temperature change leads to the climactic changes about which we are all concerned.

Emissions levels are important, but they are hard to understand - they can't be seen or touched directly.

Temperature is another matter - a warming world can be felt by both people and ecosystems. So these world leaders have jumped two steps up the chain to talk about tangible outcomes - limiting temperature rises to two degrees Centigrade (about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

Two degrees is about the maximum temperature that scientists think we can bear without reaching a "tipping point" into unpredictable and potentially catastrophic climate change impacts. Beyond that point, and we may enter a system where warming triggers feedback effects like methane releases from the sub-arctic tundra, CO2 releases forest die-offs, and less heat reflected back out to space due to melting glaciers.

Focusing on outcomes instead of processes gives us more flexibility to look at a range of options. It sets an ultimate test for any measure or negotiating position that is proposed in the run-up to Copenhagen: how effective

is this measure in keeping warming within two degrees?

So much for the good news. The bad news is that it's almost too late.

Alan Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists says that we've already warmed the planet by 0.8 degree, and time lags from the greenhouse gases already released mean that temperatures would rise another 0.6 degree even with no further pollution. So we have set a target to limit increases to 2 degrees, and we're already at 1.4.

We have to do more, and soon.

(To the Carbon Clear website)

PRESS RELEASE: Total wins 'Environmental Innovation Award 2009'

The following press release features Carbon Clear's fuel card partnership with Total.

Institute of Transport Management, 18 June 2009

TOTAL wins ‘Environmental Innovation Award 2009’

Birmingham 17th June 2009 – Awareness of environmental issues in business and among the general public has reached new heights as a result of a constant barrage of reports and studies into the contribution of human activity to climate change. In the fleet and automotive sectors, companies are facing strong pressure to develop products and systems which reduce emissions at the same time as maintaining high performance and productivity levels. As part of its fleet Awards programme, the Institute of Transport Management (ITM) has been investigating fuel cards as a means of reducing carbon emissions and increasing fleet efficiency. On the basis of information collected by the research team, the Awards Committee is hereby delighted to announce that TOTAL is to be presented with an ITM ‘Environmental Innovation Award 2009’ for its TOTALCARD green product.

The TOTAL Group is a major player in the global petroleum industry and is actively involved in both upstream and downstream operations: oil and gas exploration, development and production, and liquefied natural gas (LNG), plus refining, marketing and the trade and shipping of crude oil and petroleum products. It also produces base chemicals (fertilisers and petrochemicals) and speciality chemicals for both consumer and industrial markets (adhesives, resins, electroplating and rubber processing). The company additionally has interests in coal mining and power generation. On the basis of a clear corporate vision and decisive leadership, the company has grown to become the fourth largest integrated and publicly traded company oil and gas company in the world, able to boast sales of more than £150 billion per year and the second biggest capitalisation in Europe, registering in excess of €130 million.

Its TOTALCARD services help fleet operators to fine tune fleet efficiency through web-based, PIN-protected management systems which operate through a nationwide network. Managers can avail of a thorough yet intelligible analysis of fuel use, including spending, miles per gallon and time of purchase. The system gives managers much greater control over the activities of the fleet, resulting in cost savings as well as a better environmental profile. Indeed, TOTAL is fully committed to exploring the potential for environmentally friendly fuel products, and has recently launched a dedicated green card to assist fleet managers in meeting the latest emissions regulations.

TOTALCARD green enables easy calculation of CO2 emissions, implementation of reduction programmes, access to follow-up reports and carbon offsetting. The emissions calculation is based on fuel expenditure and is available to managers online. Collection of such data forms the background for a three-part CO2 reduction plan: price incentives for advanced fuels which decrease consumption by 3.8 percent; ongoing monitoring of daily expenditure, fuel consumption per vehicle and unusual transactions; comprehensive and practical advice relating to the key principles of investing in advanced fuels and lubricants, vehicle maintenance and driving behaviour. Following implementation of the action plan, managers can access online data on emissions levels, percentages of advanced fuels used and resultant savings. Additional emissions can be offset by the Carbon Clear programme to which TOTAL itself contributes in proportion to the fuel volumes of TOTALCARD green clients.

Announcing the Award to TOTAL, ITM Media and PR Director Mr. Patrick Sheedy said: ‘TOTAL has been successful with the ITM Awards programme in the past, winning fuel card titles since the start of the decade. With its latest product, TOTAL tackles the environmental issue head-on through a dedicated green fuel card. Considering the increase in the burden of emissions regulation on businesses today together with public pressure to improve green credentials, fleet companies really do need a helping hand to reduce CO2 output. Having thoroughly examined the fuel cards currently on the market, the Institute is confident that the strongest environmental offering comes from TOTAL, with its TOTALCARD green. This latest fuel card from TOTAL will be a hugely useful tool for fleet managers who must watch emissions at the same time as keeping an eye on the bottom line. It also underlines TOTAL’s dedication towards ensuring a healthy energy future for the planet.”

Mr. Sheedy concludes: “I congratulate TOTAL on winning this Award and hope that other businesses in the transport industry will pay heed and model their own environmental policies on those of TOTAL. I look forward to witnessing the development of further pioneering products and services from TOTAL in the near future.”

(Carbon Clear homepage)

More Hot Summers - More Air Conditioning?

(This article was originally published in issue number 80 (June 2009) of the IEMA journal the environmentalist.)

One of the main challenges in the fight against climate change is dealing with unexpected feedback effects. In many cases, a warming globe creates impacts that lead to even more warming. In this article, we explore the feedbacks between climate change and building heating and cooling systems, and discuss some of the options available to environment managers.

The Met Office has predicted a sweltering summer for 2009. According to the UK’s Chief Meteorologist, “….we can expect times when temperatures will be above 30°C, something we hardly saw at all last year.”

Hot summers are becoming more common as climate change takes hold. While summers in 2007 and 2008 were cooler in many northern latitude countries, the summer of 2003 was the hottest in Europe for at least five centuries and in the UK, six out of the seven warmest years since 1659 have occurred since 1990.

And it’s not just a European phenomenon - eight of the past ten summers in the USA have been warmer than the average for the 20th century.

Climate Change and Building Energy

These hot summers have energy implications: according to Government figures, the USA's residential energy demand was approximately 10 percent higher than what would have occurred under average climate conditions for the season, and it is likely that in the UK, electricity consumption will rise as a result of an increase in air conditioning. Since most of our electricity in both countries comes from fossil fuels, increasing air conditioner use makes it more difficult to meet challenging emissions reduction targets.

In the USA 65% of commercial buildings have air conditioning, compared to 27% in Europe, although a higher percentage of buildings constructed after 1991 rely on air conditioning. One rule of thumb is that a 2°C temperature increase translates into a 25% rise in air conditioning loads. If summers continue to get hotter, will the UK adopt the Continental tradition of afternoon siestas to deal with the heat, or follow the USA’s heavy reliance on round the clock air conditioning?

An indication of what might lie in store for the UK can be gained from looking at air conditioning trends in New England. Historically, electricity demand was greater during the region’s snowy winters due to heating demands and a greater reliance on electric heaters. In summer demand would drop as residents relied on windows and fans to keep cool. But around 2000, peak electric loads shifted to the summer due to the increased use of- and the perceived need for-air conditioning. Now, even in northern New England, peak load has shifted to the summer due to more regular use of air conditioning, and a switch away from electricity for winter heating.

Making matters worse are the unpredictable shoulder seasons of autumn and spring. Lag-times in heating and cooling mean gas-fired heating systems may be competing with air conditioners in those months where cool mornings transition into warm afternoons. Simultaneous heating and cooling is not uncommon, especially in small and mid-size buildings which do not have active management and may not have been properly commissioned. Increasingly variable weather during these seasons due to climate change may mean even greater energy consumption.

Can these trends in increased summer electricity demand be reversed, or will our hotter summers continue to be accompanied by a rise in air conditioning and the related emissions from electricity production? Can we take action to break this positive feedback loop?

Small buildings and air conditioning use

Historically, smaller buildings had a single boiler and thermostat. Now even modest buildings of 4,000 square feet (372 square meters) typically include heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems and automated controls with numerous control devices. These systems are generally design/build – meaning the same firm that designs them, installs them. This approach may result in a lack of independence and transparency in the set up and deployment of the building controls.

Typical problems in small retail and office premises can include:

• Lack of documentation (i.e., no sequence of operation or controls wiring diagrams)
• Comfort problems (intermittent overheating in the winter or overcooling in summer)
• Loss of original intent as subsequent contractors modify the system with limited understanding of existing functionality (e.g., programmable thermostats not set properly for use)

This problem of proper commissioning and air conditioning use can be illustrated in an ongoing project evaluating a 4,200 square foot (380 sq meter) office building in northern New England. A review of the monthly consumption of purchased electricity showed that this building’s electricity usage was 40% higher in August than in January due to air conditioning use even though 2007 was not a particularly hot summer in New England The annual electricity usage amounted to 31,850 KWh causing almost one tonne of CO2e emissions . This indicated an average electricity energy intensity of 8.5 kWh per square foot. Regional best practice indicates an average electricity energy intensity of half this amount, 4.12 kWh per square foot. . Optimization of controls could reduce the building’s electricity usage by at least 15% overall - in this case, cutting annual greenhouse emissions by approximately 150 kg of CO2e.

The Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems of small and mid-size commercial buildings typically do not work as effectively and as efficiently as they might. The deficiencies can result from a lack of expertise in control system diagnostics and operations in the staff and in contractors who typically are on site to perform routine maintenance. In particular, smaller buildings and companies often cannot afford to maintain a facilities manager or employee with facilities management expertise.

These results are not unique to the US. A pilot study in the UK evaluated 20 retail premises for temperature and relative humidity. The results showed that higher summer thermostat settings could improve both thermal comfort and the energy efficiency of air conditioning units. However, despite increased energy costs and the public’s mounting concern over climate change, few UK retail outlets have any plan for managing air conditioning use.

These deficiencies lead to on-going costs, lost personnel time due to comfort problems, increased operating costs as contractors are brought on site to address comfort issues, energy waste, and avoidable carbon emissions.

The building as a system

While proper operational control of energy use is often the starting point for making cost-effective improvements and reducing carbon emissions, it is also helpful to recognize a building as a dynamic system – with energy consumption influenced by its site and orientation, building envelope micro-climate, occupant behaviour and landscaping and the surrounding vegetation.

For example, ground soil and groundwater are both warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer than ambient air temperature. Ground source pumps use these temperature differentials to pre-cool incoming air and reduce the energy requirement of air conditioners in summer, and do the reverse in winter.

Construction materials can play an important role: masonry has a higher thermal mass than glass and steel, and therefore maintains a more even temperature. The lag time between heating and cooling can be used to maintain interior temperatures and reduce air conditioning loads.

Building occupants can be motivated to reduce internal heat gains in the summer by ensuring lights, computers, printers and other electrical equipment is turned off when not in use. Meanwhile staff can be encouraged not to overcool buildings simply because air conditioning is available – many companies are already encouraging casual wear on hotter days to reduce cooling requirements.

Landscaping can provide a shade canopy in the summer, lock up carbon through photosynthesis, and reduce ambient temperatures through evapo-transpiration. Broad-leaf deciduous trees in particular have canopies which reduce passive solar gain in the summer while allowing it when needed in the winter.

This type of holistic view is easier for new-builds, where such considerations can be factored in at the planning stage. Options for cost-effective improvements are more limited with existing buildings. However renovation does present real opportunities to improve the building envelope to manage heat flow. Natural ventilation can be improved by considering the placement of internal partition walls that do not impede cross ventilation, and windows can be retrofitted to make better use of nighttime cooling to lower cooling requirements during the day.

Conclusion

Nearly every human activity has an effect on the climate. Buildings occupy a critical role in modern society, and climate feedbacks threaten to amplify their impact. However, with careful planning, we may be able to break the link between buildings and global warming.

Suzy Hodgson AIEMA is a Principal Consultant and Jamal Gore AIEMA is Managing Director at specialist carbon management company Carbon Clear Limited.

Conjunction Junction

Time for some definitions:

• and.  (-conjunction used to connect gramatically coordinate words, phrases, or clauses) along or together with; as well as; in addition to; besides; also; moreover.

• or. (-conjunction used to connect words, phrases, or clauses representing alternatives) "books or magazines", "to be or not to be".
  

'And' and 'or' are both conjunctions, but they serve nearly opposite functions.  Compare these two sentences:

1.  "Given the threat of climate change, should our company reduce internal emissions as much as possible or use carbon offsets?"
2. "Given the threat of climate change, should our company reduce internal emissions as much as possible and use carbon offsets?"
   

One little word can result in such a huge change in thinking.  Using "or" when we talk about climate change means we take a suite of viable solutions off the table.  Using "and" enables us to consider a wider range of options.

As I noted in a blog post exactly one year ago, there is no single source of greenhouse gas emissions, and there is no single solution.  We have to seek the most ambitious, fastest emissions reductions possible, wherever they may occur.  When it comes to carbon, we need internal reductions and offsets.

(Carbon Clear homepage)

Eurostar celebrates two years of 'Tread Lightly'

High-speed rail operator Eurostar on Monday celebrated the two-year anniversary of its 'Tread Lightly' environmental initiative, and issued a progress report on its five-year carbon reduction target.

In 2007, the company pledged to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per passenger journey 25% by 2012.  At the same time, they embarked on a 10-point plan to reduce their other environmental impacts, and to make passenger journeys carbon neutral by offsetting the remaining CO2 emissions.

In the first two years of 'Tread Lightly', Eurostar has exceeded their carbon reduction target, achieving a 31% reduction through increased passenger numbers and a switch to lower-carbon electricity sources.  While the company expects per passenger emissions to increase slightly due to a recession-linked fall in passenger numbers, they have nevertheless raised their overall emission reduction target, to 35% by 2012.  As CEO Richard Brown notes, "This is challenging and requires significant investment of resources."

Eurostar's initiative is notable for its dual approach - they have pledged to reduce and offset, and are delivering tangible, verifiable results on both fronts.

Carbon Clear is proud to be Eurostar's carbon credit provider for the offset component of 'Tread Lightly'.  As a business, Eurostar has offset more than 70% of the unavoidable emissions attributable to their operations.  Their partnership focused approach has been a good match to our own, where we work together to support carbon projects that deliver robust, additional emissions reductions while helping communities in poorer countries make the transition to a low-carbon future.

Total Launches New Fuel Card

(from the  company press release)

Total is launching a new fuel card which will enable fleets to track their CO2 emissions based on actual performance, rather than claimed figures.

TotalCard Green provides fleet managers with real-world fuel consumption reports based on the petrol or diesel bought, and then calculates the fleet’s actual CO2 emissions.

Total, which has 850 filling stations throughout the England and Wales, then offers advice on implementing a CO2 reduction plan (correct vehicle maintenance, use of advanced fuel and lubricants and advice on driver behaviour) and provides price incentives on advanced fuels such as its Excellium product which is claimed to reduce fuel consumption by nearly 4%.

The fuel company will follow up the plan with reports to show the differences in both litres fuel and carbon emissions made by following the plan.

Samuel Vermeersch, TotalCard development manager, said: “We know that more and more companies are looking at ways to reduce their carbon footprint and we strongly believe our card will help them optimise their fuel spending and make carbon management much easier for them.”

As part of the scheme, Total will contribute to the Carbon Clear carbon offsetting pro-gramme, based on the fuel volumes bought with the new card, and offer customers the chance to offset their emissions through the company.

For more information on the card, go to www.totalcardgreen.co.uk