verco

EPC Grades or Actual Energy Use? Grappling with Net-Zero Chalk and Cheese

Radical improvements in the energy efficiency of existing buildings are needed if we are to reach net zero. But should their performance be assessed by their EPC grade or actual operational energy use? Both are the answer, but these are chalk and cheese, so property owners and investors must learn to deal with two very different agendas.

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Climate resilience and the search for ‘zero carbon’: Trends and expectations for sustainable real assets in 2019

The challenge of improving the sustainability of real estate portfolios is not new. However, the increasing pressure from investors, certification bodies and other industry drivers is creating a wave of change toward portfolios that can demonstrate increasingly resilient and efficient asset performance. Furthermore, a growing desire for occupants to have real time access to building […]

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Towards zero – a targeted approach

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recent report gave a stark warning that current pledges from governments are not enough to avoid dangerous levels of climate change. In order to avoid this, we need to be aiming for a maximum of 1.5 degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels. Current INDCs (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions) to 2030 mean that […]

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Would You Risk the Planet’s Fate on a ‘Coin Toss’?

The climate coin toss: Has your business set carbon reduction targets that only have a 50% chance of preventing a catastrophe? The Science-Based Targets Initiative is helping companies to set carbon targets to achieve the Paris Agreement’s ‘2ºC’ goal, but their approach gives just a 50% chance of success. Can we risk the fate of […]

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Net Zero Buildings – what does this mean?

World GBC wants to “advance net zero”, whilst the amended Energy Performance of Buildings Directive published last month in OJEU affirms that all new buildings must be “nearly zero energy” by the end of 2020 and GRESB insights this month is dedicated to “Net neutral buildings”! What on Earth do all these labels mean? This article […]

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Efficient Resilience (or how I learnt to love modelling and my FM)

Hot on the heels of wellbeing, resilience is the latest issue to, rightly, grab the attention of the property industry. As with wellbeing, resilience covers a complex range of issues, but a core one is resilience in the face of more extreme whether events. And while these issues are getting more coverage, reduced energy use […]

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Prop Tech: Avoiding White Elephants

As with most industries, there is a lot of excitement around what technological developments can do for the property sector.  This includes in relation to energy and carbon management. There is a buzz around new technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), block-chain, ‘big data’, ‘cloud computing’, artificial intelligence and data analysis. But a lack […]

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