Environmental challenges for commercial building owners

Are you a business or property owner with increasing pressures of environmental issues? Reducing emissions and working towards becoming Net Zero may now be part of your long term company strategy. Not a straightforward task when there are so many factors to consider. Whatever trade you are in there are always advantages and disadvantages to making significant changes to the workplace.

What is net zero?

Emmisions of greenhouse gases, caused by human activities and the offsetting by removal of these gases creates a balance over a period of time called net zero.

Why is net zero important?

“The science shows clearly that in order to avert the worst impacts of climate change and preserve a livable planet, global temperature increase needs to be limited to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Currently, the Earth is already about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s, and emissions continue to rise. To keep global warming to no more than 1.5°C – as called for in the Paris Agreement – emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.” United Nations (https://www.un.org/)

But how can you help? – By trying to create a net-zero building.

What makes a net-zero building?

Net-zero is really a worldwide goal. Net-zero emissions is the state that scientists convened by the UN have agreed the world needs to reach by 2050 at the latest, to limit global warming to 1.5°C and avert catastrophic climate change. Countries have agreed to work towards the Paris Agreement. Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced to close to zero, and any residual emissions entering the atmosphere would be balanced by the removal of an equivalent amount, either by natural carbon sinks or technologies such as carbon capture and storage. The way we’ll achieve this is by decarbonising all human systems, including buildings.

“The UN’s definition of net-zero is ultimately the goal, so buildings need to follow the same terminology,” says David Leversha, net-zero carbon lead for WSP’s property & buildings division in the UK. “I think we need to be really concise and follow the UN and say that to call a building “net-zero”, we need to have reduced its energy use intensity by at least 70% and carbon emissions by 90% or more.”

What we also know is that there have been debates about whether it is better for the climate to demolish an old energy-hungry building and build a well-insulated replacement. This is now widely considered a serious mistake because of the amount of carbon emitted during the construction of a new building. We need to remember the carbon that’s emitted during the process of constructing a building: extracting the raw materials, processing them and manufacturing building components, transporting all of that to site and assembling it together.

With this thought process, let’s turn to your own property and consider how it can be improved and made more efficient without starting again. This is where we can help, so let’s focus on ways of protecting our existing buildings into the future.

At Cladding Coatings there are various services you can utilise to help.

Wall cladding coating
Includes filling and sealing any holes
Masking up surfaces requiring protection
10 year warranty issued

Window coating
Ensuring the building is watertight
Recoating frames rather than replacing

Masonry Coating
Cheaper option than replacing with new materials
10-year guarantee

Cedral Weatherboard
Installed life expectancy of at least 50 years
Resistant to rot
Immune to attack by pests and insects

Cladding repair
Replacing rather than repairing areas of the façade, can be more disruptive and expensive
10-year guarantee

Roof repair
Work with approved specialist coating systems to repair cut-edge corrosion providing a long lasting quality finish
Specific sections or damage can be targeted and replaced if necessary
Repair minimises risk of replacement later
Minimum 10-year guarantee

Preparation for solar
Help preparing your building for the long term environmental benefits of solar power

By maintaining and protecting your building properly you can keep it watertight and reduce any heat escaping through cracks avoiding wastage to your energy outputs. It is also much more cost effective to refurbish problem areas rather than having to fully replace them.

If you have environmental pressures regarding your building, let us help you protect your facilities with our experienced team and work together towards the net-zero targets.