LETI | ZERO CARBON ROADMAP The London Energy Transformation Initiative aims to support the construction of zero carbon buildings by 2030. It is creating a roadmap describing how this can be achieved, and newly crowned CIBSE Building Performance Engineer of the Year ClaraBagenal George says anyone in the industry can get involved COUNTDOWN TO ZERO T Signing up to support Letis zero carbon 2030 proposals he latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, from October 2018, makes abundantly clear the need for urgent action to reduce carbon emissions, warning that we have just 12 years to limit the impact of climate change by keeping global warming to a maximum of 1.5C. The London Energy Transformation Initiative (Leti), along with the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), Architecture 2030 and others, believe all new buildings need to achieve net zero carbon in operation by 2030. This might feel like a long way off, but considering projects are often completed and occupied up to five years after they are designed, this deadline appears much closer. By 2025, 100% of the buildings we design need to be able to achieve net zero in operation. As an industry, we need to be certain that we can deliver this not just for pioneer projects, but for all projects. Currently, the industry is not even sure howto define zero carbon and what this means for our projects. Should the target depend on location, height or building typologies and does it include embodied carbon or unregulated loads? Although much progress is being made in the data-disclosure movement, the industry often does not make the connection between performance in use and what is deemed to be a sustainable building design. To understand the extent to which we have to reduce emissions, we need to get to grips with how our buildings are performing. Definition Leti believes that, by 2020, we need to have developed a definition of operating at net zero, with defined measurable targets and a design approach. This will give us five years to sense check, refine and validate the approach as well as allow time for market uptake so we can be sure that, by 2025, all the buildings we design operate at net zero. To that end, Leti aims to develop a comprehensive roadmap during 2019 setting out the approach, targets and benchmarks that developments in London need to achieve to reach net zero in operation. This means that, by 2020, developers, consultants and policy officers in London and the rest of the UK will be able to understand what their developments must achieve to ensure our climate change targets are met. Leti working groups The roadmap includes seven Leti working groups focusing on the following areas: Leti is aiming to develop a comprehensive zero carbon roadmap during 2019 40 March 2019 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Mar19 pp40-42 Leti roadmap.indd 40 22/02/2019 18:22