2022 PREVIEW | NET ZERO THE CLOCK IS TICKING Over the next 12 months, the building services sector will be focusing on net zero targets, while ensuring building occupants are safe from Covid and other risks. Alex Smith looks at the main trends for 2022 and previews the guidance that will ensure CIBSE Members have the competencies to meet the challenge T he clock is now ticking and the targets are in place, declares CIBSE technical director Hywel Davies. We have to design net zero buildings now. Creating net zero carbon buildings will be at the forefront of building engineers minds in 2022. The stark evidence of climate change means there is no time to lose, and the construction industry has the will and the ingenuity to deliver buildings that leave no carbon trace. In the UK, the threat of climate change has coalesced once-disparate views, and now the only question is how quickly we accelerate towards the Future Homes and Buildings Standard1, which aims to make all buildings net zero ready from 2025. Energy reduction should not be the only priority over the next 12 months, however. Attention should also be paid to health, safety and wellbeing, not only in the way we keep occupants safe from the virus, but also in how we ensure buildings that put lives at risk are never designed. The next year will be an opportunity for engineers to ensure their competencies are in line with what will be required under the Building Safety Bill2 these competencies will be required for all buildings (see page 20.) The ultra-contagious Omicron variant of Covid-19 has been a jolt for those who thought the virus had been neutralised by vaccination and increased immunity. There will be no room for complacency in 2022, and attention will turn to difficult-to-ventilate buildings. Net zero carbon and health, wellbeing and safety are two of CIBSEs Knowledge and Research Priorities3, with the others being: circular economy; climate adaptation; digital engineering; retrofit and refurbishment; and smart buildings. Simon Wyatt, a partner at Cundall and chair of the CIBSE Knowledge Generation Panel, says CIBSEs five Covid-19 guidance documents were downloaded almost 40,000 times in 2021. These didnt just focus on ventilation, but also on lifts and escalators, and public health engineering issues. The rate of publication has been remarkable, he says. CIBSEs publication diary for 2022 shows a plethora of relevant guides around the net zero revolution. AM17 Heat pumps for non-domestic buildings follows hot on the heels of the housing equivalent, AM16, while TM65.1 and TM65.2 add much-needed embodied energy data on building services systems. Wyatt believes there will be an increase in clients interest in the operational energy use of their buildings in 2022. CIBSEs TM54 Operational energy performance guidance enables designers to calculate predicted in-operation energy use and compare it against buildings actual energy use, allowing building managers to identify performance gaps. A revised TM54 will be published in 2022. The lack of mandatory operational assessments in Conservation of fuel and power: Approved Document L4, published last month, was lamented by Wyatt. In the draft document, it was mooted that large buildings would be required to assess operational energy by using TM54 or other modelling methodologies, such as the Passivhaus Planning Package. The big missed opportunity is that a significant proportion of the market will develop buildings without any clue of the operational energy use, says Wyatt, who adds that the success of the Nabers energy rating system in Australia, where energy use in buildings has been reduced by 70%, shows what can be achieved by predicting energy use. Ed Wealend, head of research and innovation at Cundall, says a new generation of developers in the UK is using the Design for Performance (DfP)5 initiative, which is based on Nabers, and that London property firms are keen to get the first DfP-rated building. A bit of healthy competition is good way to drive the market, he adds. Nathan Millar, sustainability principal at Elementa Consulting, has also seen an acceleration in interest in zero carbon and decarbonisation, and expects it to start becoming the norm in 2022. Were seeing clients of all sizes, from the public and private sectors, trying to find the best route to net zero, says Millar, who believes one of the big drivers is access to green funding. Developers need to clearly articulate the energy use of their buildings to investors, he adds. Time to define How net zero is defined should become clearer in 2022. Last year, LETI supported by CIBSE, RIBA and the Whole Life Carbon Network 18 January 2022 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Jan 22 pp18-20 2022 preview.indd 18 23/12/2021 15:44