Michael Anderton, General Manager UK&I of HVAC Building Solutions at Johnson Controls, explains the important role HVAC could play in reducing carbon emissions.
Just over two years ago, the UK government established its goals to reduce carbon emissions 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels. It’s clear the world drastically needs to reduce carbon emissions to help curb the impact of climate change.
HVAC – heating, ventilation, air conditioning – is the one solution that many ignore. But when 40% of total UK carbon emissions come from the heating and cooling of buildings, it’s hard to ignore the impact these systems have on our planet, especially when many are run entirely on fossil fuels. However, a revolution is on its way.
What’s the issue?
By 2050, it’s expected 80% of our buildings will still be standing. The UK will need to make a rapid transition from gas to low carbon heating solutions to meet emissions targets. This is relatively simple for new builds, as new building regulations take aim at the carbon emissions produced by homes across the UK. In fact, the new regulations stipulate that CO2 emissions from new-build homes must be around 30% lower than current standards, while emissions from other new buildings, including offices and shops, must be reduced by 27%.
However, the challenge isn’t getting new buildings to be more energy efficient; it’s about ensuring our current building systems are updated to work in the same way. But for most companies, each HVAC component is likely to remain in place for years – if not decades – before being replaced. HVAC systems have a long life expectancy of around 20 years and while newer technologies can help us move to a more energy-efficient world, if something is not broken, why would you fix it?
Building owners and facility managers (FMs) are conflicted between sustainability goals and operating expenses. As the energy crisis and the rising cost of living continues to take precedence, short-term cuts on spending are likely to have a negative impact on any energy efficiency progress. Business leaders, owners, and FMs must come together to make the right choices that benefit the company, the planet, and the occupants of a building to ensure everyone is safe, happy, and healthy.
Data is king
To take the first step on any energy efficiency journey, we must first understand what energy is being used and how. With the ability to bring data from different sources throughout a building into a common platform, building owners and FMs can see where inefficiencies lie and make contextualised decisions based on the insights.
HVAC systems are complex, with lots of individual components needing to work together effectively to ensure reliable and energy-efficient system performance. Just one component poorly designed, maintained or incorrectly controlled can have a negative impact on the overall system performance.
We now have an increased amount of accessible data from all types of building systems, such as HVAC, security, fire, lighting, and IT. Each of these systems produces a huge amount of data and when used in combination with each other can make buildings safer, more comfortable, and more efficient. If we then connect all these areas with intelligent systems, you can make real-time, informed decisions to reduce emissions, improve on sustainability, and increase occupant comfort.
The impacts of inefficiencies
No matter which HVAC solutions a facilities manager chooses, it’s not a case of installing them and then waving goodbye. By implementing smart technologies, such as smart connected chillers, FMs can use predictive maintenance and monitoring tools, which use AI and automation to predict issues before they arise. This ensures equipment runs reliably and downtime can be minimised.
Investments into new HVAC solutions with smart tech means efficiency savings can be made throughout a building. Imagine a particular room, or an entire floor is empty. Smart systems can monitor occupancy levels and adapt the heating accordingly, so nothing is wasted. Such a setup helps create huge savings – financially and environmentally – especially amid an energy crisis.
With the pandemic shining the spotlight on our health, ensuring employees have a safe and productive return to the office by improving indoor air quality (IAQ) was a much-needed wake up call. Not only do we want a healthy planet, but we also need healthy people. Some buildings in the UK have bad ventilation and overall IAQ. With mechanical ventilation in these environments, we can continue to improve IAQ and keep the focus firmly on improving the air we breathe, even as the effects from the pandemic dissipate.
When fresh air flows into a building, the spread of airborne viruses can be reduced, staff sick days can be lowered, and businesses can experience increased overall output – a win-win for all.
For businesses, governments, schools, and hospitals across the country, IAQ may soon become the number one priority – on par with sustainability initiatives. But this isn’t without its own challenges. Improving IAQ requires an increased consumption of energy as you’re pumping fresh air from the outside, indoors. There will be a fine balance to meet the goals of improving IAQ whilst keeping consumption low to meet both goals.
The focus: retrofitting
With conversations on climate progression taking focus, it’s clear we’re just at the beginning of the journey towards carbon emission goals. New regulations and incentives will need to be implemented for businesses to even think about retrofitting outdated systems.
Investment in smart tech, alongside retrofitting HVAC systems, will have benefits for both cost-efficiency and the environment as we move towards our net zero targets. There isn’t an option to tear down all the inefficient buildings to create shiny, new, net zero ones. We have to find a way to adapt existing buildings with new technology and energy efficient HVAC systems to make them work better.
Net zero and emissions goals can’t be achieved overnight, nor will the problem go away if we ignore it. So, now is the time to take action.
