The government is developing a detailed inventory of all the buildings in Great Britain, including all domestic buildings (houses and flats) and non-domestic buildings (offices, shops, warehouses, schools, hospitals etc.) and include information such as the size, age, construction and energy performance of each building.
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero writes:
The completed database will be used for research into energy use and carbon emissions to inform government strategy and policy to help:
- Improve energy efficiency to reduce energy costs
- Examine practical approaches to low carbon retrofitting
- Investigate the potential for integrating low carbon and renewable energy technologies
For the database to be effective, it will need to accurately represent the physical form of each building and what energy equipment is used in it, as well as faithfully reflect the way different types of buildings are used to provide work, education, healthcare, entertainment and many other activities. The Net Zero Innovation Portfolio and the Advanced Nuclear Fund: progress report 2021 to 2022 [said] ‘The UK has around 30 million buildings that are collectively responsible for 30% of national emissions, with the vast majority of buildings emissions resulting from demand for heating.’
The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero has commissioned a team of highly qualified researchers to gather existing data on the building stock in the country and to supplement it with information from a sample of buildings in each of the categories of non-domestic buildings (data on housing is already collected through regular national surveys).
Over the next several months, the researchers will be holding workshops with sector representatives and phoning individuals to complete a survey. They will also visit some buildings in person. Phase I of the research has now been completed. Focused on the hospitality sector, it provided valuable insights that highlighted the complexity of the non-domestic building stock and the challenges shared by many businesses when considering net zero initiatives.
These findings will be extended to the entire building stock in Phase II. An article outlining the key findings from Phase I can be found here and the full published report is here.
These findings will be extended to the entire building stock in Phase II….
The results of this work will provide an invaluable resource to government, industry and sector organisations. Individual building owners, occupiers and managers will be able to place their buildings in a broader context and benefit from more accurate, up-to-date and relevant energy and carbon benchmarks. Success will depend on adequate levels of participation from all sectors. We hope that those contacted will recognise the benefits of this research and be willing to take part.
Data will be collected from 15 non-domestic building sectors and we would welcome interest from organisations representing building owners or users in any of these sectors:
- Offices
- Shops
- Factories
- Warehouses
- Education
- Health
- Arts and Leisure
- Hospitality
- Community
- Sport
- Agriculture
- Emergency Services
- Defence
- Transport
- Utilities