Fit for 2050: System-parameters for a low-energy built environment as if ‘carbon’ matters

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions within the built environment, necessitates an integrated approach to development, which moves beyond nZEB to zero-emission buildings (ZEB), maximising return on embodied-carbon utilised and facilitating low operational-carbon patterns-of-use. A key insight and call-to-action emerges from the understanding that the life-cycle expectancy of services is a third of that of fabric, resulting in M&E being a significant repeat ‘embodied-carbon-cost’ across the lifetime of any development, thus making a reduction in carbon emissions, commensurable, with our carbon-budget, particularly difficult. The conclusion of the research is the recommendation of a virtuous circle incorporating (i) improved building performance, facilitating (ii) reduced embodied-carbon of M&E services, which when matched with (iii) maximum on-site renewables, leads to (iii) significant support for local electrical-grids to reduce peak demand.