Eco-Region NW: Sustainable Construction CCINW, Manchester, September 6, 2005 Alastair Moore University of Manchester Centre for Urban & Regional Ecology

Order of things... Project overview Ecological footprint Scenario modelling tool Case study: construction Conclusions & Questions

Eco-Region North West

Energy & water Goods & services Renewable resources Non-renewable resources Resource depletion Air, water, waste Goods & services OUTPUTS Future impacts Land & environmental capacity INPUTS Informatio n & capital People CITIES & REGIONS as MATERIAL PROCESSORS

OBJECTIVES  Databasing: comprehensive data system on regional resource and waste flows  Modelling: integrated model to analyse future trends and scenarios  Benchmarking: reporting system for waste minimization and resource productivity  Business applications: apply the model / database system to the construction industry  Policy & public applications: use the database / modelling system to analyse regional policy

Indicators: Can be applied to regional economy: or SIC sectors, or products (e.g. house) Ecological impacts: ecological footprint (EF) Climate change: carbon intensity Resource efficiency: resource inputs / resource outputs Resource sufficiency: domestic production / domestic consumption Resource productivity: GVA in production per unit MFA Res.effectiveness: primary inputs / final consumption after waste

Ecological Footprint Estimate of a population's consumption of food, materials and energy in terms of the area of biologically productive land or sea required to produce those natural resources gha: A global hectare is one hectare of biologically productive space with world-average productivity 2002, biosphere had 11.4 billion hectares of biologically productive space (approx one quarter of the planet's surface) Includes 2.0 billion hectares of ocean and 9.4 billion hectares of land. 1 global hectare is a hectare representing the average capacity of one of these 11.4 billion hectares. Global hectares allow the meaningful comparison of the ecological footprints of different countries, regions, LAs, which use different qualities and mixes of cropland, grazing land, and forest When all global hectares of bioprucdtive land and sea are divided by the total global population, we end up with our fair earth share gha.

Construction sector: case study

Drivers? UK Gov’t Sustainable Development Strategy UK SCP Sustainable Communities Prescott’s £60K house Kyoto and UK GHG targets Aggregate levy Landfill levy SEA SA Competitiveness Current NW footprint 6.2 gha/cap vs ‘fair earth share of 1.8 gha/cap

Overall picture

Scenario modelling framework Housing stock, flow model Spreadsheet-model linked to REAP and others Baselines or exg stock, growth, clearances HH energy demand scenarios Housing construction (MFA, EF, C02)

Ecological footprint of construction 0.63 gha/cap household energy demand (~10% of total EF) gha/cap for construction activities How to reduce the EF of housing by factor of 4 (i.e. ~0.16 gha/cap for energy demand & for construction)?

To build new.... or not to build new? This is the question (sort of) ~15-18,000 new houses constructed per year (RSS) Opportunity for energy efficiency gains & lower EF Has considerable construction EF to annualize ~13,000 additional houses per year, net of clearances ~3-5,000 homes cleared (demolished) per year Reduces EF of poor quality exg stock Replacement houses have construction EF to annualize New homes have lower operating EF Should no. of new more efficient houses be increased, or should we retrofit existing stock? Could retrofit some or all of 3-5,000 homes slated for clearing

Construction phase

How ‘heavy’ is a house, and what is it’s ecological impact? EA c o d e 123 code TOTAL Ecological Footprint per tonne (=direct + indirect) EF EF gha/tonnet/housegha 77 Other mining and quarrying Structural clay products Cement, lime and plaster Articles of concrete, stone etc Wood and wood products Paints, varnishes, printing ink etc Rubber products Plastic products Glass and glass products Ceramic goods Iron and steel Structural metal products Electric motors and generators etc Total

MFA (standard vs eco) STANDARD gha/tonne EF-standard (gha) ECO-TYPE gha/tonne EF-eco-type (gha ) CEMENT BRICK LIME STEEL PVC WINDOWS TIMBER INSULATION (rock) INSULATION (polystyrene) INSULATION (cellulose) CER.TILES CLAY TILES AGGREGATE

House construction EF Total EF embodied in construction materials required to build typical house in the NW is 29 gha REAP tells us another 13 gha per house is due to the activities of actually assembling all these materials into a house Total EF of constructing a dwelling is 0.3 gha/cap/yr (assuming 60 yr lifespan) or 0.6 if 30 years is used (assuming closer comparability with operational costs) Total EF / cap from construction yr operational life yr operational life 0.6

Household energy damand: A series of potential policy options

combined option - no retrofit; add 12K Ecohomes Excellent existing stock - 1/3 replaced by new stock at increased rate 16k /yr total stock: exg + new energy EF in exg m.gha energy EF in new: Ecohomes excellent m.gha total EF from HH energy demand 1000 gha total EF / cap from HH energy demand

combined option - 40% house retrofit; add 12K Ecohomes Excellent new stock at increased rate 12k /yr total stock: exg + new exg dwelling efficiency:40% house gha per dw energy EF in exg: 40% house m.gha energy EF in new: Ecohomes excellent m.gha total EF from HH energy demand 1000 gha total EF / cap from HH energy demand

Results (build & operate) Policy options total EF / cap from HH energy demand single policy: add 18K annually combined option - no retrofit; add 12K Ecohomes Excellent combined option - no retrofit; add 12K BedZED combined option - 40% house retrofit; add 12K Ecohomes Excellent combined option - retrofit to 40% house std ovr 30 yrs; add 9K BedZED combined option - 40% house with 30% (31K) replacement; BedZED combined option - 40% house with 50% (42K) replacement; BedZED Total EF / cap from construction 60 yr operational life yr operational life 0.6

Questions Is the EF the best metric to measure resource efficiency? How do we annualize the EF of construction to ensure comparability between new build and retrofitting? Footprint calculations are an underestimate of our global impacts, and they rely on national and regional level data. Does this make the EF measure too simplistic? Is the EF’s accuracy sufficient to allow us to act on what the footprint is showing us now?

Conclusions Retrofitting may deserve a closer look. Few key assumptions, but EF, CO2 and material intensity results are comparable. Start of a universal indicator of ecological impact of consumption. Data is generally standardized and available yearly; hence updatable More data will yield better resolution.

Alastair Moore Research Associate Centre for Urban & Regional Ecology University of Manchester

CO2 emissions from construction of typical UK house EA c o d e 123 code TOTAL Co2 for different building materials tonnes materials per house Total CO2 per house T CO2/tonne 77 Other mining and quarrying Structural clay products Cement, lime and plaster Articles of concrete, stone etc Wood and wood products Paints, varnishes, printing ink etc Rubber products Plastic products Glass and glass products Ceramic goods Iron and steel Structural metal products Electric motors and generators etc Total

combined option - 40% house with 30% replacement existing stock - 1/3 replaced by new stock at increased rate 31k /yr total stock: exg + new exg dwelling efficiency gha per dw energy EF in exg gha new dwelling efficiency BedZed2 gha per dw 0.16 energy EF in new gha/cap total EF from HH energy demand 1000 gha total EF / cap from HH energy demand

combined option - 40% house with 50% replacement existing stock - 1/2 replaced by new stock at increased rate 42k /yr total stock: exg + new exg dwelling efficiency gha per dw energy EF in exg gha new dwelling efficiency BedZed2 gha per dw 0.16 energy EF in new gha/cap total EF from HH energy demand 1000 gha total EF / cap from HH energy demand

combined option - retrofit to 40% house std ovr 30 yrs; add 9K BedZED 2900 new stock at increased rate 9k /yr total stock: exg + new exg dwelling efficiency:40% house gha per dw energy EF in exg: 40% house m.gha new dwelling efficiency BedZed2 gha per dw 0.16 energy EF in new gha/cap total EF from HH energy demand 1000 gha total EF / cap from HH energy demand

combined option - no retrofit; add 12K BedZED new stock at increased rate 12k /yr total stock: exg + new exg dwelling efficiency:40% house gha per dw energy EF in exg: 40% house m.gha new dwelling efficiency BedZed2 gha per dw 0.16 energy EF in new gha/cap total EF from HH energy demand 1000 gha total EF / cap from HH energy demand

SUMMARY OF THE REGION all figures per capita unless otherwise stated units long range 2050 population 1000s 1000s households (2004) 1000s size of household p EF 2005EF 2010EF 2025 long range EF 2050 EF / cap - central projection total EF - central projection million.gha

Household food cons. Regional extraction Regional production Commercial food cons. Public food cons. Factors: transport & construction Exported production Production waste / emissions Exported extraction Imported extraction Imported production Primary mass balance Secondary mass balance Demand side mass balance Externaliti es mass balance Consumer waste / emissions Tertiary waste / em Secondary waste / emissions Primary waste / emissions

Eco-Region NW data framework National level Region al level Sectora l level Firm level Benchmarking ASSESS / ENWORKS 2a) Ecological footprint 2b) sectoral footprint ImpactsActivitiesProduction by sectors Consumption by factors Waste & emissions 5a) Sectoral model (REWARD) 5c) Production benchmarks 1) Mass balance model 3a) Regional waste balance 4b) consumption benchmarks 3b) Waste sector benchmarks 5b) Activity model (Atlas) 4a) Construction benchmarks upstreamdownstream REAP model: Application to Eco-Budget UK

LCA results

Energy Retrofits to Existing Buildings –Loft Insulation (100 – 200mm) –Cavity Wall Insulation –Draught Stripping –Double glazing with low ‘e’ glass –Floor insulation –Gas Central Heating Controls –Hot Water Tank Insulation –Hot Water Tank Thermostat –Primary Pipework Insulation –Condensing Boiler –10% renewables –Yield 38% CO2 reductions, or –5.48 tonnes to 3.62 tonnes CO2/year/dwelling –5580 tonnes/yr if applied to approx 3,000 dwellings slated for demolition –53% reduction in EF by 2050 assuming 30 year phase-in