News

Key headlines in the Labour manifesto included ‘Accelerating Net Zero,’ ‘Clean Power’ and ‘Get Britain Building again.’ Now the election is over, Envision have taken a look at the new government’s first actions, promises yet to be enacted, further action that is needed, and consider how the new Labour government will impact the sustainable building’s sector.

National Planning Policy Framework Consultation

At the end of July, the new  government published their first draft of the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which is now open for consultation until 24^th September. The revised document seeks to overhaul the current planning system, paving the way to meet their pledge of delivering 1.5 million homes over the next 5 years. They hope to achieve this through the reintroduction of mandatory housing targets for local authorities, and identifying ‘grey belt land’ for areas of new development. This reverses Michael Gove’s decision last year which saw housing targets become an “an advisory starting point.”

The new government say they will be ready to intervene to make tough decisions if areas fall behind their targets, and have pledged to recruit 300 new planning officers to help facilitate the proposed changes and to speed up the planning process. 

Introduction of the Grey Belt 

The draft NPPF proposes when brownfield development has been maximised and a local authority is still unable to meet their building targets then they should undertake a ‘Green Belt review,’ which will aim to free up grey belt land from the green belt in order to meet local needs. This marks a significant change from previous iterations of the NPPF which state changes to the Green Belt should be reserved to situations of ‘exceptional circumstances’.

“Grey Belt:  For the purposes of Plan-making and decision-making, grey belt is defined as land in the Green Belt comprising Previously Developed Land and any other parcels and/or areas of Green Belt land that make a limited contribution to the five Green Belt purposes (as defined in para 140 of this Framework) but excluding those areas or assets of particular importance listed in footnote 7 of this Framework (other than land designated as Green Belt).”

Presumption for sustainable development

Another key change of the NPPF is the strengthening and reforming of ‘the presumption’ for sustainable development (PSD).

Currently this means that ‘all plans should promote a sustainable pattern of development that seeks to: meet the development needs of their area; align growth and infrastructure; improve the environment; mitigate climate change (including by making effective use of land in urban areas) and adapt to its effects.’ The main function of the presumption for sustainable development is to encourage planning permission to be granted where local plan policies are not up to date.

The introduction of more demanding targets for local authorities and the need to show a 5-year housing land supply at all times will mean the scope of the presumption for sustainable development will become more relevant until local authorities update their plans accordingly. There are also changes proposed to help ensure locational and design policies are considered for schemes that are utilising the presumption in order to secure approval, this aims to stop low quality, unsustainable development being approved.

With the discussed new targets and associated updates to NPPF, MP Clive Lewis described a ‘bonanza’ of upcoming business in the sustainable construction sector in a recent webinar with the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC), not just for residential development but also associated commercial development. 

With updates to the NPPF and local plans coming, sustainable planning policies are continuing to evolve. Envision offer a broad range of services to help make sense of these, and assist through design to ensure they are met. We provide end to end support from the Pre-Application stage through top post-construction to ensure all of our clients sustainability objectives are met.

Clean Power by 2030: Supporting Green Energy and the Environment

A key headline in Labour’s manifesto is the introduction of Great British Energy, a ‘publicly-owned clean generation company, that will harness the power of Britain’s sun, wind, and waves to cut energy bills and deliver energy security for our country.’

The updated NPPF will set new thresholds for onshore wind and solar generating stations to be Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs). These thresholds were initially set in the Planning Act 2008, and have since become outdated. With advances in technology solar panels are now more efficient, and wind turbines larger and much more powerful than their predecessors. These advances in technology now means many smaller scale on-shore wind and solar projects fall with in the 50MW NSIP threshold.

In the consultation document the government are now proposing to:

a. set the threshold at which onshore wind projects are determined as Nationally Significant at 100MW; and

b. increase the threshold at which solar projects are determined as Nationally Significant to 150MW.

These measures aim to ensure projects follow a “a proportionate process to secure consent,” and help the government meet their manifesto pledge of doubling onshore wind and tripling solar power by 2030.

These plans will see the carbon factor of grid supplied electricity continue to fall, thereby increasing the green credentials of all electric heating solutions in both residential and commercial developments.

Warm Homes Plan

In addition to the revised NPPF another key policy proposal is the Warm Homes Plan, which Labour claim will “cut household bills by up to £500 every year for families.”

This will be done through introducing energy savings measures such as loft and cavity wall insulation upgrades, increased access to renewable technologies such as solar panels. They aim to do this by giving devolved government and local authorities the “power and resources” to upgrade cold homes. 

It is anticipated that the next fiscal event will outline exactly how this will be funded.

Further Action Required

Clarification is needed from the new government on how they will interact with the new Future Homes Standard (FHS), which is set to become mandatory in 2025. The FHS would reduce carbon emissions in new homes by 75-80% compared to homes built under current building regulations. A government spokesperson has said “We fully support the need for low carbon homes and will review proposals and feedback from the future homes standard consultation in due course.” With 2025 fast approaching it is crucial for the new government to take it’s stance on this long-awaited and progressive standard.

The Labour government also need to outline how they will interact with the proposed Amendment ‘Part Z’ to Building Regulations which addresses whole life carbon and embodied carbon emissions within major developments. If enacted this would accelerate the consideration of embodied carbon and production of whole life carbon and circular economy assessments across the country, something that is currently only seen within GLA planning policy. 

Furthermore, last year the  Carbon Emissions (Buildings) Bill, ‘A Bill to require the whole-life carbon emissions of buildings to be reported; to set limits on embodied carbon emissions in the construction of buildings; and for connected purposes,’ got to its second reading in the commons. 

It is imperative the new government sets outs it’s plans for reducing embodied carbon emissions, which make up 20% of the UK’s built environment emissions.

We are delighted to release our 2023-2024 Carbon Footprint Report & Reduction Plan. We have made significant headway since our inaugural report last year and have reduced our overall carbon footprint – all whilst achieving a 42% increase in our turnover and a 60% increase in our headcount.  Some of the headlines:

✅ An overall reduction of 14% in our Scope 1-3 Emissions, bucking company growth trend
✅ A 27% reduction in carbon footprint per employee
✅ Retrofitting heat pumps into our London office
✅ Bespoke database to track the Scope 3 emissions of our projects
✅ 3/4 of the way to a fully electric company fleet by 2025
✅ A ban on international air travel (unless a project critical site visit) and total ban on domestic air travel

Read our full report here.

Last week we posted about the recent news from BRE regarding the pre-release of the BREEAM UK Non-domestic Version 7 manual.

Envision has now completed a detailed review of the changes, which you can read here.

Some key features are:

Key drivers –

• Increased importance is placed on embodied carbon and the use of life cycle assessments (LCA’s) on projects, specifically aligning more with the LETI embodied carbon templates and the use of data in kgCO₂e/m₂. 
• Maintain the level for health and wellbeing, aligning with new standards for natural and artificial light, which previously focused on outdated methodologies. 
• Re-focus the weighting of energy and carbon on grid emission factors, increase the use of prediction of operational energy consumption data, and push for the electrification of buildings.

RIBA Stage 2 requirements remain – RIBA Stage 2, or concept design, credits remain within V7, with some being required to achieve Outstanding ratings. Therefore, please get a BREEAM assessor on board for your projects as early in the process as possible as early action will continue to be important for higher ratings.

New minimum standards – many minimum standards remain from the existing V6 standards, with some additions particularly with Excellent and Outstanding ratings:

• There is a huge drive towards completing Life Cycle Assessments for projects, with an LCA required to be completed at any stage for an Excellent and every stage for an Outstanding. 
• A form of TM54 analysis is now required for an Excellent and Outstanding rating. 
• A new requirement for natural light, and achieving good daylight factors, is a minimum requirement for an Outstanding rating. This will penalise buildings with deep floor plates which do not offer good daylight penetration. 
• The water consumption baselines have been increased, meaning achieving the required improvements over the baseline for Good ratings and above are now harder. There is also a slight change in the % required to achieve credits.  
• The impact of refrigerants, and their emissions, has been included as a mandatory for Excellent and Outstanding ratings. 

Scoring – There are no changes to the weighting process for V7, however the threshold for ‘pass’ and ‘good’ ratings have been reduced by 5% each (40% and 25% respectively). 

Simple buildings – The ‘simple buildings’ approach has been removed from the UK scheme.

EU Taxonomy alignment – Across the scheme there is a much better alignment with EU taxonomy requirements, with overlap between evidence for BREEAM and evidence for EU taxonomy. 

Ultimately, as always expected from the BRE, the V7 scheme is a step change than the previous V6, with the aim to always push forwards sustainability in the built environment and ‘raise the bar’ for sustainability as a whole. Our detailed review of the changes within each category for BREEAM V7 can be found here, but if you would like to understand how BREEAM V7 will impact you, and your future developments, please get in touch at contact@envisioneco.com.

Please note that developments won’t be assessed against Version 7 for some time (Envision will give you as much warning as possible on timescales for this), however the pre-release gives us a great opportunity to plan for these future changes in development projects.

We politely request that recruitment agencies do not contact us regarding this position.

We are currently seeking a Junior Sustainability & Energy Consultant to work within our sustainability & energy team, based in our office in London. The position is an immediate start.

The Company

Envision is a leading sustainability, energy and building services design consultancy that provides specialist support towards sustainability within the built environment.  We were founded in 2012 by directors of a multi-disciplinary planning and engineering consultancy and have steadily grown into a well-established company.  Unlike many sustainability consultancies that have developed as a ‘support service’ to larger practices, Envision specialises in providing end-to-end support to its real estate clients. We pride ourselves on fostering a flexible, creative and fun working environment.

We bring together a range of technical disciplines to advise clients on their ESG policies, to manage their real estate portfolio and develop sustainability and energy strategies for new and existing developments. We combine this with our expert team of building service engineers to deliver low carbon solutions for our clients.  

As part of our sustainability offering, our services include the provision of a full range of environmental assessment methods for both new and existing developments, BREEAM (including In-Use), Home Quality Mark, CEEQUAL, WELL, FitWel and Building with Nature. We also undertake Whole Life Cycle Assessments, which feeds into our strategies for achieving Net Zero.  

We take pride in our pro-active approach, supporting our clients with close and tailored support.  Our pragmatic and hands-on approach means that we are retained by the largest UK property funds, publicly listed developers as well as leading constructors.

The Role

This is an excellent opportunity for a Junior Sustainability & Energy Consultant looking to take the next step in their career. You will join our growing team to work on a diverse range of projects in the UK and internationally. The role is very wide ranging, working on building physics, Net-Zero strategies, ESG, BREEAM and whole life cycle carbon assessments.

Working closely with colleagues of various disciplines in our London and Oxford office(s), you will help to deliver energy & sustainability projects – developing concepts, reports and meeting clients. You will ensure the successful delivery of innovative sustainable and low-carbon design solutions to quality standards and deadlines. You will receive continual support from more senior members of staff, along with access to our in-house training programme allowing you to continue your professional development.

This role will enable you to have an impact across a variety of sectors such as Education, Logistics,  Commercial, Healthcare, Retail and Residential, and ensure that over time you have the opportunity to assume greater levels of responsibility and autonomy. Specific work deliverables expected to be delivered by the consultant in this role will include:

1. Planning-Stage Energy & Sustainability Reports
2. SAP & SBEM Energy Modelling
3. BREEAM & Building Accreditation Support
4. Dynamic Simulation Modelling (TM52, TM59, TM54, Daylight)
5. Net-Zero Strategies  
6. Exposure to Life Cycle Assessment

About You

Educated to degree level in the built environment, sustainability or environmental science, the successful candidate should be highly motivated, possess excellent communication skills and look to develop their ongoing professional qualifications.

Essential Requirements:

• Good knowledge of energy & sustainability related statutory legislation, standards, and drivers in the construction industry.
• An understanding of environmental assessment methods (e.g. BREEAM, WELL & Home Quality Mark).
• Good knowledge of at least one area within regulatory and dynamic simulation modelling (e.g. SAP, DesignBuilder, TAS, DesignBuilder).
• Proficiency in MS Suite and its functionality for calculations.  
• Given the collaborative and client focused nature of this role, good communication skills and experience of using your initiative to overcome challenges are essential.
• Strong analytical skills and proficient in mathematics and English.

Salary: £29k+
Benefits: Company health insurance and pension, social events, flexible working, 25 days
holiday.
Contract: Permanent
Location: London

Preferential:

• Good knowledge of the principles of Net Zero Carbon and its application in the built environment.
• BREEAM accredited
• Good knowledge of ESG strategies.
• Hold a full UK driving licence.

How to Apply

Please send your CV and a short description of your career expectations, any relevant experience and pertinent information about yourself by email to joinus@envisioneco.com 

We are currently seeking an Associate Building Services Engineer (mechanically biased) to work within our sustainability & energy team, based in our office in London. The position is an immediate start.

The Company

Envision is a leading sustainability, energy and building services design consultancy that provides specialist support towards sustainability within the built environment. We were founded in 2012 by directors of a multi-disciplinary planning and engineering consultancy and have steadily grown into a well-established company. Unlike many sustainability consultancies that have developed as a ‘support service’ to larger practices, Envision specialises in providing end-to-end support to its real estate clients. We pride ourselves on fostering a flexible, creative, and fun working environment.

We bring together a range of technical disciplines to advise clients on their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) policies, to manage their real estate portfolio and develop sustainability and energy strategies for new and existing developments. We combine this with our expert team of building service engineers to deliver low carbon solutions for our clients.

As part of our sustainability offering, our services include the provision of a full range of environmental assessment methods for both new and existing developments, BREEAM (including In-Use), Home Quality Mark, CEEQUAL, WELL and Building with Nature. We also undertake Whole Life Cycle Assessments, which feeds into our strategies for achieving Net Zero.

We take pride in our pro-active approach, supporting our clients with close and tailored support. Our pragmatic and hands-on approach means that we are retained by the largest UK property funds, publicly listed developers as well as leading constructors.

The Role

This is an excellent opportunity for an Associate Building Services Engineer with a mechanical bias, looking to take the next step in their career. You will join our growing team to work on a diverse range of projects in the UK and internationally. The role is very wide ranging, working on a variety of project streams. The intention for the role is to build on our existing client base supplying mechanical and electrical design services to support our exceptional sustainability and energy teams.

Working closely with colleagues of various disciplines across our two offices, you will take the lead on Engineering design – developing concepts, reports and presenting to clients. You will ensure the successful delivery of innovative sustainable and low-carbon design solutions to quality standards and deadlines. You will receive continual support from company directors and access to further training allowing you to continue your professional development.

You should have highly technical background with an eye for detail, the role will involve significant review of junior staff deliverables.

This role will enable you to have an impact across a variety of sectors such as Industrial & Logistics, Commercial, Healthcare, Retail and Residential, and ensure that you have the opportunity to assume appropriate levels of responsibility and autonomy. We regularly undertake works for which are GLA referable so designing and undertaking the calculations related to these will be expected experience.

Our Associates are involved in the senior management team and as such are directly involved in the management of the company. As part of the position, you will be expected to attend and contribute to the monthly management meetings alongside the day-to-day role.

Specific work deliverables expected to be project managed and delivered by the consultant in this role will include:

1. Lead HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) design elements on multiple projects
2. Concept Design of Mechanical and Electrical Services
3. Assist with mentoring and reviewing work by more junior staff
4. Technical liaison with Sustainability and Energy Colleagues
5. Maintain existing relationships with Clients
6. Carry out site inspections associated with M&E condition surveys
7. Attend meetings with clients and design teams
8. Knowledge of lifecycle costing and value engineering

About You

Educated to degree level in the field of engineering, sustainability, or environmental science, you will have gained significant demonstrable experience in a sustainability and energy consultancy role within the built environment.

The successful candidate should be highly motivated, possess excellent communication skills and look to develop their ongoing professional qualifications. This will be a technical role involving mentoring of junior staff; therefore, applicants should expect technical questions during the interview.

Essential Requirements:

• 6+ years’ experience in a similar role.
• Expert knowledge of mechanical design related statutory legislation, standards, and drivers in the construction industry.
• Degree qualified.
• Exceptional knowledge of regulatory and CIBSE (Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers) guidance.
• Given the collaborative and client focused nature of this role, excellent communication skills and experience of using your initiative to overcome challenges are essential.
• Strong analytical skills and proficient in mathematics and English.

Preferential:

• Knowledge of electrical design related statutory legislation, standards, and drivers in the construction industry
• Chartered through CIBSE or IET
• Planning-Stage Energy & Sustainability Reports
• Net-Zero Energy Strategies
• ESG Site Acquisition Reviews
• Dynamic Simulation Modelling (TM52, TM59, TM54, TM63, Daylight)
• SAP & SBEM Energy Modelling
• BREEAM Support
• Hold a full UK driving licence

Salary: £DOE
Benefits: Company life and health insurance, pension, company expense account, social events, hybrid, and remote working.
Contract: Permanent
Location: London

How to Apply

Please send your CV and a brief description of your career expectations, any relevant experience and pertinent information about yourself by mail to:

Envision
8-9 Stephen Mews London
W1T 1AF

Or by email to joinus@envisioneco.com

• Redefining the Top Down Model

The way households and businesses use electricity, and the way it is generated, transported and traded, is currently changing rapidly in the UK market. The United Kingdom is taking major steps in decarbonising the country’s economy and the way our national electricity is generated, stored, transported and traded. 

There are business strategies to redefine the national grid’s top down one-way energy flow model. This is the model where electricity travels from the generation power plants, to the national transmission systems, to the local distribution system, then eventually to buildings such as our homes and businesses.  

Fig 1, The Traditional Top Down One-way Energy Flow Model 

The traditional electricity distribution model is built around the one-way flow of energy to the consumer. Due to technology improvements and the increase in local renewable energy production, the plan is to remodel the top down paradigm into an active decentralised model where energy flows in multiple directions. 

Fig 2, The redefined Energy Flow Model with the new market segments

• Challenges and Opportunities

As solar panels and battery storage technology become ever more affordable, the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) will allow the average energy consumer to generate, store and trade electricity back to the national grid. 

SEG is a government-backed initiative first launched in 1 January 2020. SEG requires some electricity suppliers, known as SEG Licensees, to pay small-scale generators, known as SEG Generators, for low-carbon electricity which they export back to the National Grid, providing certain criteria are met. 

The initiative is for anyone with an installation of one of a renewable energy technology up to a capacity of 5MW, or up to 50kW for micro-CHP. Installations must be located in Great Britain and meet the applicable eligibility criteria.

At present local community energy organisations can generate and store electricity via means of renewable energy sources. However, renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind can be unpredictable, as they are subject to the vagaries of the weather conditions. Hence, these local energy communities will stay require grid electricity top-up supply or large scale battery storage.

Fig 3, The Pillswood battery storage system in East Yorkshire, UK. Harmony Energy

Projects like the Pillswood Battery storage facility in East Yorkshire can assist with this. It can store enough energy to power around 300,000 homes for two hours. The system will play a major role in the net-zero transition, ensuring the future security of the UK’s energy supply. 

In addition to the major shifts in electrifying the transportation and building services, the roll out of electric vehicles and heat pumps will lead to an electricity demand expansion can place the regional power networks under electricity strains.  

Energy Operators, Energy Aggregators, and likewise Energy Consultants are merging together to meet this transition and to work with potential clients to understand the benefits of these opportunities. Overall, such a huge transition in the energy sector will translate into further challenges and opportunities to the energy market segments.

• Being flexible is part of the solution 

Energy intelligence is about when and how to use energy. As part of ‘levelling up’ with market changes, energy producers and consumers are observing new prospects for how to be flexible when and how to use energy. Achieving this will help make the most of the existing electricity network, mitigate increases in energy prices and lastly avoid expensive network reinforcement budgets. 

On the commercial side of things, some large businesses across the country’s energy market have adopted Demand Side Response (DSR) agreements to flex their demand in exchange for payments. DSRs encourage large commercial entities to have on-site energy storage facilities to manage shifting their demand according to the energy prices fluctuations over a high usage period. It’s expected that these commercial DSR agreements will become more popular in the future and help balance the UK’s Electricity Network. 

Not only commercial consumers can make benefits of DSR agreements, domestic consumers can also participate. By means of smart energy meters and smart appliances, home owners will have the opportunity to take advantages of the savings through flexible services and flexible contracts.

Zero Bills is a smart energy initiative adopted by Octopus Energy. It is marketed as ‘a world-first smart proposition that allows customers to move into homes that have no energy bills for at least five years, guaranteed’. The claim is that Zero Bills households will save around £1,800 on energy bills compared with those on a standard variable tariff, based on current energy rates. At present the scheme is set up for new homes. 

Octopus Energy have also proposed the ‘Intelligent Energy Demand Approach’ to move demand to the times of the day when electricity is cheapest and plentiful, and out of the most polluting times, when electricity is expensive. ‘Intelligent Octopus’ can optimise an electric car charging by looking at the electricity prices over the next 24 hours, the time the car is need to be ready by, and taking into account the state of other essential components of the power network.

• What is in the Energy Horizon 

As renewable energy production grows, new markets will emerge, and the built environment policy and regulatory landscape will also evolve. The Government and policy makers have acknowledged that the regulatory framework needs to adapt, especially in areas such as energy production and storage. Nevertheless, the way that new markets are allowed to develop, and the degree of central control that should be imposed, is currently another area of active debate. 

At Envision, we specialise in navigating these evolving regulatory frameworks and emerging markets, providing strategic guidance and innovative solutions in building energy consumption and compliance. Our expertise ensures that your projects remain compliant and ahead of industry changes. 

Thanks, 

Yahia Kheder