The challenge – and opportunity – of decarbonising university estates
Tim Clement, head of carbon and environment, Morgan Sindall Construction
The expansion of British higher education that began after the Second World War saw the rapid growth of existing university estates as well as the creation of many new universities.
During the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, university estate managers have wrestled with how to manage this legacy of new buildings against a backdrop of a range of factors – from fluctuations in student numbers to increased competition from an increasingly diverse group of academic institutions.
While there are many issues arising from the buildings built during the post-war period – from asbestos to poor structural integrity – the most pertinent drawback of the lecture theatres, accommodation or laboratories of this era is their relatively poor energy efficiency.
The recent acceleration in the need to protect our planet for future generations has resulted in a reckoning for universities. Many have stepped up to the challenge with highly ambitious net zero commitments.
A huge number of these organisations are the lynchpins of the cities and towns in which they are based, being central to their identity as well as economic and social wellbeing. It is therefore – in more ways than one – unsustainable for their estates to fall behind with the need to reduce carbon outputs.
The rise of retrofit
When combined with increased energy costs, concerns over scarcity of materials and recurrent funding issues, the task at hand may seem insurmountable.
Yet thanks to a commitment to R&D and innovation shown by both construction companies and universities over the past decade, there are an increasing number of solutions that can help universities decarbonise to create estates that are fit for purpose in a world struggling to confront the climate emergency.
Indeed, given the vast estates at their disposal, universities have a significant opportunity to demonstrate real leadership in the decarbonisation of their assets through implementing simple solutions while helping to grow the UK economy.
This includes retrofitting - ensuring windows and heating systems are more energy efficient – being perhaps the most viable solution for many universities, which also extends the life of existing structures.
Recent advancements have made this increasingly affordable, but there are still hurdles to overcome.
A recent report from Historic England showed that more than 105,000 new workers, including plumbers, electricians, carpenters and scaffolders, will be needed to work solely on decarbonising the UK’s historic buildings every year for the next three decades for the UK to meet its 2050 net zero target.
Such a number could seem overwhelming, but we can take heart from the steps our sector is taking to meet this challenge through both the investment in technology and its workforce.
Our own decarbonisation journey started in 2010, when we began measuring our emissions
In 2017, our parent company Morgan Sindall Group became the first UK construction company to voluntarily have its targets verified by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). These targets enable the Group to contribute to keeping rising temperatures below those set out in the Paris Agreement while helping to train a workforce able to deliver the environmentally appropriate buildings of the future.
In 2021, we introduced CarboniCa, an innovative carbon calculation and reduction tool that enables our project teams to work with customers to estimate, manage and reduce whole life carbon emissions through the design, construction and entire lifecycle of an asset.
CarboniCa and our wider decarbonisation proposition, upskills and empowers all our stakeholders – our staff, customers, supply chain and even communities in which we work – to make environmentally appropriate decisions based on meaningful and robust data to reduce the harmful effects of carbon emissions on both local and distant communities. They are a real, working example of Morgan Sindall’s Intelligent Solutions approach.
Trusting the data
The importance of data in making the decisions that will help decarbonise assets was at the heart of our landmark Circular Twin study in 2021. This involved digitally building an already operational school and reworking the design from start to finish so that each decision and design choice favoured a lower carbon outcome.
It comprehensively proved how an early alliance of designers, clients, contractor, and the supply chain leads to significant reduction in whole life carbon for modest capital cost uplift.
In response, decisions could be made by the client based on the modelled lifecycle carbon of the building, not cost.
Capital and operational costs were evaluated and forecast, but carbon was the key driver. This allowed the traditional paradigms of value defined by cost to be challenged and invited the assembly of the project team, and their behaviours, to change – ultimately helping to achieve long-term cost savings through operational efficiency.
The Circular Twin process prompts us early in the process to ask basic questions that can have significant impacts. For example, what will the main structural frame be? That allows us to bring the supply chain in and examine how this can support both the functional and structural requirements of the building.
The model therefore provides decision points at the interface between design and structure that allows the client to make informed decisions.
Circular Twin also allows us to address conventional wisdom in order to deliver lower carbon outputs. For example, while photovoltaic panels are increasingly common, it can be the case for certain products that their manufacturing process means they are high in embodied carbon, thereby negating any benefits overall. As contractors, it is also our responsibility to help clients navigate these complex issues.
Circular Twin demonstrates how a model can be replicated – it doesn’t matter what the site is or even what the building typology is. By following the Circular Twin model, we can decarbonise a university building which can then be replicated in a corresponding sector such as leisure, offices or further R&D.
Using data to plan for the future
CarboniCa delivers analysis that ranks every material in a building from highest carbon impact to lowest. When speaking to colleagues, I advise them to focus on the top ten and spend less time on the rest.
For example, you could get tied in knots weighing up the carbon associated with the delivery of a low-impact material rather than just homing in on the concrete, steel or plasterboard that you know will have a significant effect over the lifecycle of a building.
Such information can also be included in the handover documents provided upon completion, a robust legacy for clients and operators of the buildings, with a dataset of high quality and value that is easy to understand and manage once the building is handed over. This provides the asset manager with a foundational materials bank or register for the building, with a reduced maintenance burden baked-in to the asset through ‘whole life’ decision making.
It is also vital for the end user to be involved in what the building controls look like and how they work. The more we can limit user control, the more we can create predictable carbon outcomes over the building’s entire lifecycle. However, some level of control will often still be needed, and the end user is the best person to tell us if they understand how to operate it properly or not.
Rising to the challenge
Decarbonising university estates is a complex mission, but over recent years the acceleration of knowledge means it is now more achievable than ever. British universities have a proud history of leadership and innovation – from the University of Manchester creating the first electronic stored-program computer to the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.
By demonstrating how aging buildings can be given new leases of life through retrofitting and other methods, these institutions can continue to be inspirational and educational, serving as beacons as to how our country can address the increasingly urgent challenge of carbon reduction.
Find out more!
We're launching our report Decarbonising University Estates to coincide with the AUDE (Association of University Directors of Estates) annual conference on 4th April.
If you'd like to speak to the team about decarbonising your estates, please contact us here.