This document discusses a presentation given on visions for a low energy future and the role of universities. It begins with an introduction from Robin Nicholson on his background and experiences. The presentation then discusses the need to reduce energy demand and improve the existing building stock. It highlights the speaker's work with universities on research and different approaches like DIY and collective action. The presentation emphasizes the need for simple, well-executed solutions and measurement of impacts.

1. Do we need visions for a low
energy future? What role for the universities?
Centre for Engineering and Design Education,
Loughborough University
17 October 2012
Robin Nicholson CBE RIBA Hon FIStructE
Senior Partner, Edward Cullinan Architects
Chair, Cambridgeshire Quality Panel
Design Council CABE BEE
Convener of Edge
Director, NHBC

4. Hillside Hub,
Stonebridge,
NW London
• COMMUNITY
CENTRE
• CAFÉ
• HEALTH CENTRE
• TESCO EXPRESS
• 25 SHARED
OWNERSHIP
FLATS
• 34 OPEN
MARKET SALE
FLATS
• CIVIC SPACE,
COMMUNAL
GARDEN,
PARKING

7. 2012 ‘Time of your life’ party

11. Do we need visions for a low
energy future? What role for the universities?
• What’s the problem/opportunity (incl. politics)?
• Demand reduction and the existing stock
• Our work with universities/research
• DIY (as in Green Deal) &/or collective?
• Reduce…reuse…recycle
• keep it simple and do it well and then measure it!

12. What will you be doing in 2050?
What was I doing in 1974?
Some of the images in these presentations may be subject to copyright
but are used in the public interest and not for profit

13. NUM work-to-rule and 1973 Oil Crisis led to
the 3-day week: 1 Jan – 7 March 1974 to conserve electricity

14. Essex 31st January 1953

15. Birmingham tornado 28th July 2003

16. Newcastle 26th Sept 2012
• we hear a lot about new zero carbon homes by 2016 but the existing stock ….
• our homes have put up with a lot but very low energy is seriously difficult
• we can do so much on our own but don’t we need to act collectively?

17. We have always made houses suitable for Willis Carrier invented air-
the particular climate until …. conditioning in 1902
But 71% of all energy
delivered to air-
conditioned buildings is
used to power the air-
conditioning

18. “To meet the challenges of the 21st century, buildings
need to perform much better: as sustainable assets,
for their occupiers and for the environment. For
example, UK Government policy is for new buildings
to be zero carbon within a decade; and for the energy
and carbon efficiency of the existing stock to improve
dramatically.
To respond to these targets, the construction industry
will need to provide a very different service…."
Bill Bordass paper on Soft Landings Sept 2010

19. Stern Report 30 Oct 2006

20.  Climate Change Act became law 11/08 (34% reduction by 2020 and 80% by
2050)
 Morrell appointed 11/09; Interim ‘Low Carbon Construction’ Report (3/2010)
 Change of Government 5/10
 Low Carbon Construction Final Report 11/10
 Carbon Plan 3/11
 Energy Act 10/11 – Green Deal, Privately rented (min ‘E’ EPC by 4/18 and
Energy Cos Obligations in place of CERT/CESP)
 Green Construction Board established (co-chaired by Mark Prisk and Dan
Labbad answerable to Francis Maude at Cabinet office) 6/11
 Zero carbon new homes by 2016 (announced by Gordon Brown and Ruth
Kelly 4 August 2009
 Zero carbon for all new non domestic 2019 or?????
 80% reduction by 2050 means 1,600 homes per day and….!

21. DECC established 10/8

22. The Carbon Plan
published March 2011
• at least 34% reduction in
emissions by 2030 and 80% by
2050 below 1990 base
• setting 5 yearly carbon budgets
for Government Departments
Key issues
• Generating 2x electricity by
nuclear, CCS (carbon capture and
storage) and renewables
• Insulating homes + more efficient
boilers
• electrifying transport incl. cars
• Creating export opportunities
• Leading international debate

23. “Low Carbon Construction” will
be managed by the Cabinet Office
• Government Construction Board
• Green Construction Board
working with:
• UKGBC/ Strategic Forum
• ICE on infrastructure
• 2050 group on procurement
After Latham (1994) and Egan (1998)
how will be change the industry?

24. SDC scenarios: 50% cut by 2020
“There is a general and growing awareness of the challenge but few
businesses have an accurate understanding of the sheer scale of the
undertaking ahead…” Paul Morrell Interim Report

25. What cost zero carbon?
Renewables, wind energy,
solar thermal energy,
photovoltaics, biomass,
ground source heat pumps.
Building services, air conditionin
avoidance, heat
recovery, site wide energy
systems (CHP), lighting
controls (daylight and
presence) zoning, smart
Metering
Copyright Faithful and Gould
Building form and orientation,
thermal performance,
shading, daylight penetration

26. Michael Gove (Education) + Vince Cable (Business) + George Osborne (Chancellor) + David Cameron
(PM)
Where is the Coalition going now? Guardian 13 Nov.2010

27. “Every hour the sun beams onto Earth more than enough
energy to satisfy global energy needs for an entire year.
Solar energy is the technology used to harness the sun's
energy and make it usable. Today, the technology
produces less than one tenth of one percent of global
energy demand” National Geographic

28. Michael Pawlyn Exploration Architecture – bio-mimicry used in Sahara Forest Project
and World Water HQ inspired by the Namibian fog-basking beetle and ancient Persian
ice-making technology to make a self-sufficient building

29. Conclusions from • Government to use its
Edge Debate no 50 procurement power to force
8th Oct 2012 the industry to change
at BIS with TSB • Performance based
specification (cf Olympics)
• Public access to local data
(incl all energy bills)
• it’s the SME’s that innovate
with some push and some pull
• In construction, clients
benefit from innovation not
the innovators
• Energy companies already
won the means to produce an
increase of more than 6 ºC

30. “Technology does have a vital “There must be a shift in focus
role to play but, although from rhetoric to results-driven
necessary, it is not sufficient… action….A strong driver for the
reduce demand as well as transition to a sustainable
focus on efficiency and develop economy is a green tax shift,
renewable strategies to meet reducing taxes on income and
our needs.” increasing taxes on pollution..”
2010 2011

32. Home and energy 22%, Transport 14%, Food 21%, goods 13%,
Services 7%, Government 8%, Capital Assets 15%

33. 90% of non-energy In UK and USA we throw away:
minerals in UK are used
• 50% salads
for construction.
• 53% bread
400m tonnes consumed
• 25% fruit
by UK construction
every year • 20% vegetables
70m tonnes of
construction and
demolition waste go to
landfill ….waste
Each year 13m tonnes
go straight to landfill…
pure waste

34. We consume 240,000 plastics bags every 10
seconds globally (Botticelli’s Birth of Venus)
Source: ‘Running the numbers II’
by Chris Jordan Photography

36. Halve the demand,
double the efficiency,
halve the carbon in the
supply……
The Children’s Plan
Dec 2007

37. Ashley C of E Primary School,
Walton-on-Thames
Inspired leadership (Head then Governors)…2 eco-monitors per class
report week’s performance every Friday to Assembly (target
<100kWh/day rewarded by £10 for special projects)…spread to parents
who can win membership of 100 Club (target < 100kWh/week)…300watt
computers replaced by 15watt laptops …. occasional carbon free
Fridays…eco-driver display unit in lobby…51% reduction in electricity
use in year 1 …91% in year 3…
Ashley won a 2009 Ashden Award

38. St Luke’s C of E Primary School,
Wolverhampton - opened 6/09
Architype Architects
Inspired leadership; 2 eco-monitors per class in School Council - ‘eco-
driver’; orientation excellent; BREEAM Excellent; biomass boiler; ‘A’ EPC;
but it would need £300k PVs to be Zero Carbon: won Sorrell School Award

39. Whole System Design
Power Generation
Building Services electricity
Building
heat
Amory B. Lovins
Rocky Mountain Institute
Starting downstream multiplies savings by about tenfold upstream—yet this
design principle is almost never taught
Rocky Mountain Intitute Factor Ten Engineering

40. How to achieve an 80% cut in the carbon impact of the built environment
The multiplier effect
Power Generation
Halve the Carbon Intensity
Building Services
Double the efficiency
Building
Halve the demand

44. 2006

46. Installation by Aeneas Wilder

47. Edward Cullinan Architects – founded 1965 as a cooperative
2010 Building Magazine Architectural Practice of the Year
2010 Building Design Public Building Architect of the Year

48. Founded in 1956.
• When Jose Maria Arizmendiarrieta arrived in 1941 there were 7,000
inhabitants
• Currently the 7th largest Spanish company
• at end of 2011 it employed 83,869 people in 256 companies
• The cooperatives are owned by their worker members

49. 1964 1997 2010
2010

50. International Manufacturing Centre, 1992-2002
University of Warwick has >22,000 students

51. International Manufacturing Centre,
University of Warwick – value
• 1992-2002, built in 3 phases
• 10,700m²
• Phase 3 value management
• Movement for Innovation case study
• key support for West Midlands
future manufacturing strategy

52. http://www.dqi.org.uk/website/default.aspa

60. DQI review of IDL as part
of briefing for International
Institute for Product and
Services Innovation
12.02.10

64. Carbon Buzz report + Hoare Lea POE using Usable Buildings Trust methodology

66. DQI mid-design review of
International
Institute for Services and
Product Innovation 15.06.11

68. Cullinans’ research engagement
includes:
• 2000- Design Quality Indicator with CIC + David Gann - ODPM
• 2002 – Probe study on Cambridge CMS with UBT
• 2004- Soft Landings Project with EMBS, Cambridge >BSRIA
• 2005 - ‘Spreading the word’ with David Bartholomew DTI
• 2006 - Visual Representations as ‘Artifacts of Knowing’ with
Boris Ewenstein and Jennifer Whyte (Imperial) - ESRC
• 2007-11 - ISSUES with Guthrie + Jowitt - EPSRC
• 2008- ‘Stickyworld’ with Michael Kohn - TSB
• 2008– CALEBRE led by Loughborough – RCUK + E.ON
• 2010 - POE with Hoare Lea
• 2010- ‘User participation in healthcare design’ with Warwick -
EPSRC
•2012 – funding confirmed for TSB’s ‘Rethinking the Build
Process’ with Hyde HA and Warwick

69. Photo: Bill Bordass
• last PROBE study of Cambridge Centre for Mathematical Sciences 2002 showed it in
top 10 percentile: http://www.usablebuildings.co.uk/
• Retested and published by BSRIA 12/2006

70. Edge meeting with EPSRC, ESRC, TSB 6/11

71. The Edge is the only interdisciplinary
construction industry think-tank
• www.edgedebate.com
• Founded 1996
• ICE + RIBA, CIBSE, RICS,
IStructE….
• Supported by Arup Foundation,
Carbon Trust, CIC, CABE,
Canada House, Italian + Danish
Embassies
• Holds debates by invitation only
• Promotes carbon measurement
through the edge pledge
http://www.edgedebate.com/?page_id=474
• Published Edge Futures
• Lobbies Government

72. Edge current programme includes:
• influencing Green Construction Board
• engaging research community with practice
• the role of women in construction (ref. Davies Report)
• procurement: lessons from the recent past with DC CABE
• education for inter-disciplinary practice
• smart cities conference with Italian, Danish and Dutch embassies

73. BASF house with rehau – CSH 4
Tarmac Zedfactory semis – CSH4 + CSH6
E.ON ’30s semi – original>CERT>CSH3>CSH6eq. wrap up

74. CALEBRE – WP5

75. CALEBRE – WP5

76. CALEBRE – WP5

77. If we build new
houses at the rate
we are building
them it would take
236 years to
replace the existing
stock. The USA
declared
Independence 236
years ago (thanks
to David Birkbeck)
• 80% of the homes we will be living in in 2050 already exist
• Climate Change Act 2011 – 34% reduction by 2020 + 80% by 2050
• Our homes are responsible for 40% carbon (and other) emissions
• How will we reduce our footprint by 80%?

78. Technology Strategy
Board Retrofit for the
Future Programme
Phase 1 – 194 Design and
feasibility studies
↑ Croydon – 94% reduction in energy
↓ North Devon Homes – first passivhaus retrofit
Phase 2 - £17m for 86 social
housing projects aiming at 80%
reduction in emissions
• 17 kg/m2 (SAP)
• 20 kg/m2 (Passivhaus)
See
http://www.retrofitforthefuture.org
Low Energy Building Database

79. TSB exemplar in Bertram Street, N. Camden by United House
+ Parity Projects (Russell Smith) monitoring

81. Mayville Community Centre N16 by Bere Architects is the first certified
Passivhaus non-domestic retrofit in the UK and uses 90% less energy

82. Some issues:
• Planning – conservation of buildings rather than energy
• Building physics and our general ignorance
• Lack of appropriate design and building skills
• Absence of controls designed for people to use
• Financial incentives – Green Deal RIP?
• Us – ie the hassle
• Us – our values and behaviour – re-bound and pre-bound
• where is the collective energy?

87. May 09 Transition Highbury workshop at Drayton Park Ecology Centre

88. Outside the Police Station at the Incredible Edible Todmorden

91. Low Carbon Communities - DECC
• £10m for
• 22 test-bed
communities
• Phase 1 projects >
3/10
• Phase 2 projects >
3/11
• Evaluation by OPM
7/12
White Architects at Whitehill Bordon 11 Jan 12

92. OPM Review of Low Carbon Communities for DECC 7/12:
• demonstrated the huge potential of community groups
• included a range of organisations from well established to
new who needed a model to follow
• Sharing knowledge is good but trips to London and DECC’s
e-portal poor (cf CABE shared learning programmes)
• schools are key to spreading the word especially into
minority ethnic communities

93. Reduce… Reuse… Recycle….

94. http://www.thecirculareconomy.org

95. Rosendale Primary

102. CABE (1999-2010) killed ‘by accident’ by Jeremy Hunt.
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110118095356/http://www.cabe.org.uk/archive
Merged with Design Council 2011
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110118095356/http:/www.cabe.org.uk/

103. Daily Mail writes on 27 June 2008: Meanwhile…
Swaffham has two 1.5MW
“Under £100billion plans unveiled turbines (66m diam), the
by Gordon Brown, at least 4,000 second by popular
wind turbines will go up in some demand despite objections
of the UK's most beautiful scenery, from RAF; now there are 8
while another 3,000 will be built at sea.” more on the south side
Stirling Castle (through a telephoto lens) Swaffham in Norfolk

104. It has been estimated that Cambridge University needs:
23 x 2MW turbines (70m diam. blades) and another (say) 8 for the colleges
So why not plant them along the M11?
or put them in the pylons? 40k pylons with 8 turbines each
would power 640,000 homes
with a 4 year pay-back

105. The Danish island Samso has 4500 Westmill Wind Farm Coop in
inhabitants and is 100% powered by South Oxfordshire built five
wind with 21 turbines owned by the 1.3 MW turbines in 2008
islanders

106. Letchworth established 1903 by Ebenezer Howard – pop. 33,600

109. • 180 km of Mediterranean coastline in eastern Libya
• Covers some 5,500 square kilometres
• Home to some 250,000 people

122. • Buildings are 40% of
the problem
• New buildings are easy
but the existing are
more important
• Focus on measurement
and inter-disciplinary
working
• Its behaviour change
and design (‘Halve the
demand….’)
• it’s challenging but
really exciting?