Renewable island: Green ethos at core of Irish construction
One Albert Quay, Cork. Home to Johnson Controls and others, the building is among the leaders globally for sustainable design; it is in the Gold LEED standard since 2016.
Land and our planet’s resources are precious, and finite, so it’s essential our buildings for the future, for environmental sustainability, for underlying values and for human habitation recognise that fact, and continue their upward trajectory of smart design, sensitive and appropriate siting, best construction practice, delivery, evolution, energy usage and adaptability.
SUSTAINABILITY & CLIMATE
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Buildings should of course carry best-practice forward, both in how they are made and in how they perform: now, the marketplace (from investors, designers and occupiers) is recognising that imperative and, vitally, is prepared to pay a premium for it too.
It’s just over a decade now since the first office buildings in Ireland raised the bar to meet greener energy standards such as the so-called LEED standard (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), devised in the late 1990s by the US Green Building Council, and now a well-established global standard with four certified tiers reflecting building performance, culminating in ‘platinum’.
Coming along most recently too as the level of expectation (and need) rises ever higher was the European Union’s Taxonomy legislation, from the start of this year, which is yet another a classification scheme that determines the environmental sustainability of the construction of new buildings, the renovation of older buildings and guides the acquisition and ownership of buildings) has come into force since January 1st, entities will look to differentiate themselves in how they develop, operate, and manage real estate.
It’s a sector littered with acronyms and jargon, often impenetrable to the layperson, and typically range from ‘old-fashioned’ BER’s to nZEB, ESG, LEED , BREAM and NABERS2, and on to the goal of net zero energy usage by 2050: the ‘lay’ person, the man or woman in the street, or at his or her office desk, is as vitally invested in building performance as wider society, niche sectors, and, well, the planet’s future, given how much energy goes into construction and work-place occupancy.
Buildings matter, as their operational emissions (ie energy used to heat, cool and light buildings) account for 28% of all global carbon emissions. Separately, but relatedly, their embodied emissions (materials and construction processes during the entire building lifecycle) generate another 11% of emissions.
Little wonder, then, that pressure has been on for some time now on building owners/investors, operators and occupants to reduce their carbon footprint.
Ireland’s first gold LEED building was Dublin’s Symantec Orion offices, delivered in 2010. Even larger office buildings in Cork following quickly, in 2012 initially by JCD Group, then by O’Callaghan Properties, both of them delivering in the city’s quays and in suburbs like Mahon, and becoming ‘the new normal.
The highest, LEED platinum standards were first met in Ireland in 2019 with Miesian Plaza, and that exacting standard is being met by more and more commercial developments since, most typically in the highly-controllable office sector, with retail’s more open public spaces, and high lighting demands, lagging somewhat behind.
Now, LEED’s own four-tier certification is being outpaced by even higher standards heading towards net zero carbon buildings – a new gold standard, and one which is likely to be superseded by buildings that generate more energy than they consume.
To get to ever-higher levels of performance and low impact, technology and data analysis on increasingly ‘smart’ buildings is vital, and among the leaders globally are the likes of Johnson Controls (originally Tyco) in Cork, based in the Gold LEED standard One Albert Quay (by JCD) since 2016.
Now, moving towards past nZEB (nearly Zero Energy Building and LEED gold and platinum we need to consider “how we can move new and existing building towards being net-zero carbon,” acknowledges Racheal McGinley, Head of Sustainability at the Irish wing of global real estate giants, CBRE (whose Cork office are in the high-performing One Albert Quay).
“Building owners and occupiers won’t be able to achieve this if they don’t have high quality data on how their buildings are performing, and use this data to control building systems to reduce energy use. Sustainable buildings must be smart buildings, to maximise performance and reduce carbon emissions,” Ms McGinley highlights.
Developer Brian O’Callaghan, whose O’Callaghan Properties (OCP) currently is developing one of the city’s large office developments nearby, of over 300,000 sq ft at Navigation Square notes that “commercial and residential property have evolved significantly over the last 20 years from BER certification to nZEB, and now towards new objectives established under EU Taxonomy regulations.”
These regs are a classification scheme that determines the environmental sustainability of the construction of new buildings, the renovation of older buildings and the acquisition and ownership of buildings across a spectrum, came into force on Jan 1st 2022, and a second ramping up follows at the start of 2023, he adds.
“Older properties which have not adapted to the changes are likely to become stranded and suffer a significant diminution in value,” emphasises Mr O’Callaghan. “Occupiers, in turn, are demanding the most sustainable buildings, which is driving a virtuous circle of sustainable development.”
The EU Taxonomy regulations now require mandatory reporting on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation for all companies with 500+ employees and who have a balance sheet in excess of €20m, or a turnover of more than €40m. (For example, the objective on Climate Change Mitigation requires a building to have a primary energy demand of 10% lower than a Nearly Net Zero Energy Building (nZEB).
By 2023, these will be added to by four more additional environmental objectives, spanning sustainability and protection of water and marine resources, pollution prevention and control, transition to a circular economy, and protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems and “the aim of the new regulations is to focus capital flows towards sustainable investments in order to achieve the EU target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,” notes O’Callaghan.
Deep into the fray here too is the ESG agenda (Environmental, Social & Governance) which, say CBRE, “is now the lens through which occupation, development, investment, and funding decisions are made and we expect that 2022 will mark a step change in ESG becoming an integral factor across the full range of real estate decisions.
“As sustainability gathers even more momentum, particularly now that EU Taxonomy legislation has come into force since January 1st, entities will look to differentiate themselves in how they develop, operate, and manage real estate.”
Marketing, and money, is talking the talk, in other words.
“From acting for, and responding to, corporate occupiers, we ‘ve noticed a shift in their priorities,” says director with Lisney Ireland, Edward Hanafin.
“Previously, some occupiers had made notional comments about reducing their carbon footprints or a general nod in the direction of green credentials. More recently human health and climate change have taken centre stage and are now high on their agenda. These principles are driving changes to office design, function and operation.”
“From a developers’ perspective, you are expected to meet certain minimum standards: but, what they are is constantly shifting,” Mr Hanafin points out. “Minimum compliance with legislative requirements (nZEB etc) is no longer acceptable and office solutions need to exceed expectations. Being a zero-carbon scheme is currently ahead of the curve but in time, will become expected. This seems to be driven by internal company policy but also staff retention and recruitment of employees.”
It’s not just offices (or, hotels, or shops): even the once-humble ‘shed’, the industrial buildings that keep the physical outputs of global economy on the move and housed, are moving with the pack, and are hyper-aware of ESG.
New industrial and warehouse buildings are being built to nZEB standards, where sustainable features include high thermal performance, electric car (EV) charging stations, attention to where energy/electricity is sourced from, LED lighting, rainwater harvesting to reduce potable water consumption, use of renewable energies or on-site renewable energy production, such as roof-mounted solar panels.
Among the other features key to newly-designed office buildings are green walls and alpine roofs, intelligent lighting (LED and PIR/lux level sensors,) systems such as building management/monitoring /BMS controls ensuring efficiency energy and water usage, (possibly with AI and predictive modelling), solar reflective energy efficient glazing, mobile apps to create personalised workspaces and track employees’ energy usage, and better design consideration to orientation and glass/solid panel ratios.
In the wider picture, and apart from specific building systems, and long-term recyclability of building products and materials, sustainability principles also to the fore are a site’s location relative to transport perspective, location in relation to proximity to housing and amenities, and in particular access to restaurants, cafes and fitness, sports and social amenities.
