Sustainability report 2009

The UK’s commitment to an 80% reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2050 represents a major challenge for all sectors of the economy. But can such an aspirational target be achieved? Parsons Brinckerhoff carried out a comprehensive piece of research over two years to answer this question. The report, Powering the Future, was published in December 2009.

The research team assessed CO₂ emission reduction technologies from all sectors of the UK economy and created models to predict the likely impact of each in emissions reduction. The good news is that the target is achievable. However, delivering it will require strong leadership from Government, urgent action and co-ordination between sectors to avoid wasted investments and failed commitments.

The most effective reduction measures identified during the study were:

• A rapid and large-scale shift to electric vehicles
• Radical improvements in industrial energy efficiency
• Intensive and substantial improvement in the insulation of new and existing homes and buildings
• Large-scale application of renewable heating using solar energy and making maximum use of available biomass
• Substantial decarbonisation of electricity generation by the application of nuclear and diverse renewable technologies
• Development and application of carbon capture and storage for large emitters in the industrial sector, in addition to its application to coal-burning power plant

Quick wins will come from improved building insulation, industrial energy efficiency and electric vehicles. Download a copy of the full report at www.pbpoweringthefuture.com

We launched a new website in 2009 to share our research and inform debate on sustainable schools. The UK education sector represents 15% of the public sector's carbon emissions or 2% of total UK emissions. Although carbon is only one aspect of a school’s environmental impact, it has become a key area of focus in delivering sustainability in the sector through zero-carbon schools by 2016.

Zero carbon means the "energy used to heat, cool and light the building, together with the energy used to power equipment within the school". This approach is clearly limited. A more holistic approach to sustainability is required, examining the wider carbon impacts from school travel, commuting and catering as well as impacts from bought-in services and equipment. Our website presents UK and international case studies on what can be achieved in delivering truly sustainable schools, going beyond carbon to include wider environmental and social impacts such as sustainability in the curriculum.

“We are committed to achieving real sustainable outcomes in educational facilities beyond simply proposing technical engineering approaches that focus on energy” – Ed Bartlett, Whole Life Cost Director, Balfour Beatty

Learn more about our research at www.towardssustainableschools.org

Our sustainable schools research programme identified an urgent need to understand better how schools can be refurbished in a sustainable, affordable and low-carbon manner.

Westborough zero-carbon refurbishment is a pioneering project that is exploring how the carbon footprint of an existing primary school can reduced. The school has taken this opportunity to develop a sustainable masterplan for future developments. Balfour Beatty is partnering with The Department of Schools and Families’ Zero Carbon Task Force on this Southend Primary Capital Programme-funded project.

Phase 1 of this two-phase project is targeting a 90% energy reduction in carbon emissions. Combined with real-life monitoring results being fed into improvements on phase 2, the project team will aim to get as close as possible to zero carbon. Low-carbon strategies being developed include improving the school’s insulating fabric and air tightness, installing ultra-energy-efficient power and lighting systems, supplemented by renewable energy through biomass boilers, photovoltaics and a wind turbine.

We believe that in addition to cost, quality and safety being considered in mainstream engineering design, whole lifecycle carbon should feature too. A variety of carbon tools exist but there is little guidance on whole-lifecycle carbon management for infrastructure projects.

We teamed up with the Highways Agency, Network Rail, Atkins and Forum for the Future to produce a lifecycle carbon management framework for major infrastructure projects. A project team of young engineers, working through the Engineers for the 21st Century (E21C) initiative, helped develop the framework, which was published in December 2009.

The Framework is aligned to existing project management systems being used by the Highways Agency and Network Rail. It sets out the importance of understanding the relative proportion of carbon arising from each stage of the project and a process for working out where the biggest reductions can be made. These interventions may be areas of direct control and/or influence. The next phase in its development is to use the framework on a real project.

Download the framework at www.forumforthefuture.org/project/carbon-management-for-infrastructure

Railways are perceived as the transportation mode with the lowest environmental impact compared to road and air travel. Data exists for the environmental impact of rolling stock but little reliable information exists to quantify the environmental impacts of rail infrastructure such as the construction and maintenance of track, stations, tunnels, bridges, signalling and electrification. In conjunction with academia and national rail authorities, our Milan-based rail business is working on a two-year research project funded by the EU to quantify the environmental impacts of this infrastructure in terms of materials use, waste, energy use, noise and landscape. A specification, commissioned by the Union Internationale des Chemins de fer (UIC) will be produced by the end of 2010 to enable the rail industry to quantify and improve the environmental performance of rail infrastructure. More information at: www.infraguider.eu/