Pathway to Net Zero 2050 | Making Money While Making a Change | What is ESG Investing?

Posted on: November 20th, 2024 by Jason Antill

NET ZERO CARBON – SCOPE AND DEFINITION

UK Green Building Council:

“Carbon emissions from its operation, including occupant activity, are net zero on an annual basis. A net zero carbon building is highly energy efficient and powered from on-site and off-site renewable energy sources, with any remaining carbon balance offset”.

This Framework, as shown below, outlines a hierarchy to minimise energy demand and carbon emissions. The asset has been assessed under Net Zero Carbon – Operational Energy scope. The scope of the assessment is defined as “all areas under operational control that have been used to demonstrate a net zero balance”.

The four main stages of the Framework (operational) are as follows:

As a priority, the building needs to reduce the operational energy demand as far as possible through a fabric first approach.
The building also needs to incorporate efficient services and low carbon systems including HVAC and lighting.
Where feasible and space allows, on-site renewable energy should be maximised, such as through on-site solar PVs.
As a last resort, minimum carbon offsets can be used for the remaining carbon to achieve NZC. Offsetting schemes need to be procured directly or via recognised schemes including Gold standard to demonstrate additionality.

Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor (CRREM)

“Reducing the EU carbon footprint will require refurbishment in the existing buildings, but some of the assets retrofitting will not be financially viable”

The European Union intends to decarbonize the building sector by 2050. Investment in retrofit could benefit the EU by up to EUR 175 bn per year. One of the biggest challenges for the reduction of GHG emissions results from the poor energy efficiency of existing buildings and still too low refurbishment rates in virtually all member states of the European Union. The reduction of the EU carbon footprint requires a significant increase of energetic retrofits in the existing property stock. The reduction of carbon-risk factors associated with premature obsolescence and potential depreciation due to changing market expectations and legal regulations are key objectives of the EU-funded research project CRREM (Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor). CRREM aims at supporting the industry to tackle these risks and foster investments in energy efficiency as many assets will become ‘stranded’ properties that will not meet future energy efficiency standards and whose energy upgrade will not be financially viable

‘Stranding diagram’: The figure above provides a summary of the fundamental principle of CRREM’s stranding risk analysis approach for single properties:

● Black line: The black line represents a building’s baseline and future carbon performance in terms of the so- called greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity, which is calculated as the amount of annual greenhouse gas emissions per building floor area. Emission figures include those directly generated by the on-site combustion of fossil fuels for heating and indirect emissions (caused by the use of district heating and/or electricity consumption).

● Green curve: The green curve represents the target decarbonisation pathway of a specific building type in a specific country that aligns with a certain climate target (1.5°C/2°C) and must not be exceeded if a property intends to be “Paris-proof”. If the emission intensity is above the target value, “stranding” occurs. In that case the asset would have a carbon-footprint that is above the fair-share derived by downscaling the carbon budget to property level.

In the illustration above, the exemplary building fulfils the requirements only at the very beginning and faces stranding far before the end of the observation period (in 2050). Only appropriate retrofit measures reducing the GHG emissions can ensure that the building will meet the future emission ceilings. This might include changing the energy source (to renewables), decarbonization of the electricity grid and/or simply reducing consumption due to lower demand or due to higher insulation.

The property industry is accountable for about 38% of energy consumption and 29% of all GHG emissions in the EU and therefore plays a crucial role in EU decarbonization efforts stated in INDCs (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions). Ambitious renovation policies could reduce the demand by up to 46% between 2021 and 2030 (European Commission, 2014). For improving the energy consumption of properties, the real estate industry has to increasingly address the mitigation of direct and indirect emissions resulting from the construction phase of new buildings or refurbishments, and where applicable, from the dismantling at the end of the economic useful life. Due to the low refurbishment rates in the existing European stock and the specific requirements due to climate change, any increase of energy efficiency requires more energetic retrofits in the existing property stock to reduce the carbon footprint.

“Climate change will affect the building sector because of the reduction of their quality and value”

Climate change poses serious threats to sustained economic growth and poverty reduction, quality of life and political stability in the world. It is considered that the warming process will affect sea levels and the existence of more frequent natural disasters such as floods, storm or tornadoes, which impact on the quality and maintenance of buildings and infrastructures. The higher temperature levels will change the way of life, commerce and the configuration of urban areas. Climate change and strengthened regulation will require particular retrofitting measures that have an effect on current investment decisions. Risks and uncertainties must be adequately understood, and measures are taken to identify incentives to markets that are clear, long-term and credible, given the relevance of the private sector in the process of stopping climate change

“Offer to the Real Estate companies a tool to measure the risk and viability of retrofitting their assets”

Climate change might endanger the business case of real estate companies if no measures to transform the property stock under management are taken. Therefore, a stronger focus on climate change risk management is essential. A company strategy and risk management must ensure that individual efforts to mitigate CO₂ within their portfolio must be sufficient to fulfill EU targets – otherwise the market participant might face a situation where properties do not meet future market expectations and therefore will be exposed to write-downs (we call this the risk of “Stranded assets”). CRREM aims at developing a tool that allows investors and property owners to assess the exposition of their assets to stranding risks based on energy and emission data and the analysis of regulatory requirements. By setting science-based carbon reduction pathways, CRREM faces the challenge to estimate risk and uncertainty associated to commercial real estate de-carbonization, building a methodological body and empirically quantify the different scenarios and their impact on the investor portfolios.

Classifying Funds

Article 8/9 funds and what it all means for your assets.

Is the property asset net zero ready or MEES compliant? If no, what will the associated costs be to retrofit, this cost+ will then be deducted from offer price for additional risk to the new buyer meaning your clients sale price will likely be impacted.
Since March 2021, asset managers (as well as players in the financial markets) must classify their funds (or other investment products) depending on their sustainability purpose, in order to ascertain which reporting obligations to fulfil under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.
If the building asset has robust ESG information in place, this will help an ESG focused purchaser to access cheaper ESG linked debt or equity facilities. Cheaper funding as a result of ESG performance means the investor can afford to pay higher multiplier for the building and have their fund investment committee approve the acquisition easier (as it complies with their ESG agenda such as SFDR Article 8 or 9 green funds).
An Article 8 Fund under SFDR is defined as “a Fund which promotes, among other characteristics, environmental or social characteristics, or a combination of those characteristics, provided that the companies in which the investments are made follow good governance practices.”
An Article 9 Fund under SFDR is defined as “a Fund that has sustainable investment as its objective or a reduction in carbon emissions as its objective.” There are a number of different requirements for Funds that promote a sustainable investment objective

7 Key Actions

1.Keeping up with the latest changes in ESG: Helping you make sense of ESG acronyms

TCFD, SFDR, Eu Taxonomy, Climate Risk Assessment, Green Finance, Article 8/9 funds and what it all means for your assets.

2. Health and wellbeing in real estate

Humans spend 90% of our time indoors. Buildings should promote health and wellbeing. Certifications like WELL and Fitwel can support human health indoors and add value to your real estate.

3.Net Zero Carbon: futureproofing your commercial assets

Provide advice on key considerations to make and features to incorporate when designing and refurbishing your commercial assets to achieve net zero carbon.

4.Developing your ESG strategy: through acquisition and beyond

Understanding key options for Net Zero Carbon at the technical due diligence stage when buying or selling assets.

5.An overview of net zero, BREEAM, WELL, LEED, Fitwel and EPCs

There are various sustainability certifications you can look to achieve and help you to understand which can work best for portfolio, fund and your assets.

6.Getting EPCs right

We take you through the governance that matter and the items that don’t when you need to refurbish and improve your EPC to achieve value for money.

7.ESG audit reports at purchase and sale

Since March 2021, asset managers (as well as investors in the financial markets) must classify their funds (or other investment products) depending on their sustainability purpose, in order to ascertain which reporting obligations to fulfil under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.

Further Information & Client CPD

Should you need me to come into your offices and provide an updated CPD or teams call CPD on this important topic or provide a competitive proposal for EPC+1 Budget Costings & Net Zero Carbon Pathway Reports please do contact by email [email protected] or phone +44 (0) 7855520223

Palladium House | An architectural slice of the Big Apple in London’s Soho

Posted on: January 7th, 2024 by Jason Antill

Palladium House, formerly known as Ideal House, is a grade II listed Art Deco office building located on the corner of Great Marlborough Street and Argyll Street in London. 1-4 Argyll Street, London W1F 7LD

The history behind the Art Deco building on the corner of Great Marlborough Street and Argyll Street.

The building was designed in by architects Raymond Hood and Gordon Jeeves in the art deco style as the London headquarters of the National Radiator Company (European subsidiary of the American Radiator Company). Its design was a scaled down version of the American Radiator Building, New York.

Built 1928–9, the building is a seven-storey office block, with black granite facing decorated with an inlaid champlevé design with Egyptian influences. The building was extended in 1935.

Standing across the road from the Tudor-style Liberty department store is a striking building which couldn’t look more different in Soho Central London. Palladium House is a Grade II listed Art Deco office block on the corner of Great Marlborough Street and Argyll Street. With its Egyptian detailing and black granite, the building wouldn’t look out-of-place in Manhattan, New York, USA. It was built as a smaller twin to another skyscraper by an American architect for an American company. Located at 40 West 40th Street, in midtown Manhattan, New York City. its stands 103 m/338 feet tall over 23 floors. In 1998, the building was sold to Philip Pilevsky for $15 million. Three years afterwards, the American Radiator Building was converted into The Bryant Park Hotel with 130 rooms and a theatre in the basement.

Great Marlborough Street dates back to the early 18th century when the road was named in honour of the Duke of Marlborough’s victory at Blenheim in 1704. The Duke of Argyll then added Argyll Street in 1736. Various buildings came and went over the remaining centuries, with the site becoming empty and ready for Palladium House in the early 20th century.

The central heating we have today stems back to the mid 19th century thanks to inventors like Franz San Galli, Joseph Nason and Robert Briggs. In 1902, the National Radiator Company (NRC) was formed in Pennsylvania, USA, with the hopes of bringing this technology to homes across America and beyond. By the 1920s, the NRC’s business was going so well they bought a plot of land in Bryant Park area of Manhattan, New York City. American architect Raymond Hood (1881-1934) and French architect Jacques André Fouilhoux (1879–1945) co-designed the American Radiator Building with a combination of Art Deco and Gothic styles in 1924. Today, the building is one of Manhattan’s iconic skyscrapers and is now home to the Bryant Park Hotel.

Despite their success in the US, the ARC had global dreams. They had already had a factory in Hull since 1906, and had subsidiaries in France and Germany. A few years after erecting the American Radiator Building in the Big Apple, they bought a plot of land in London’s West End for their UK headquarters. They brought Hood over from America to design their new building and enlisted British architect Stanley Gordon Jeeves (1888-1964). Their design was in the Art Deco style and a scaled down version of its New York counterpart. Palladium House is the only European building by Hood, who also designed or co-designed Chicago’s Tribune Tower and New York City’s Rockefeller Center and New York Daily News buildings. Meanwhile, Jeeves went on to create the Earls Court Exhibition Centre and Dolphin Square flats in Pimlico.

Built between 1928 and 1929, Palladium House is a seven storey office block with a black granite façade. The upper storey of the building is decorated with a gold, yellow, orange and green, Egyptian-inspired enamel frieze and cornice. The ground floor features wide windows, originally designed to showcase the company’s radiators. The windows and doorways are decorated with ornate, bronze enamelled plates featuring lotus and jazz-modern geometric patterns. While several colours were used, it’s really the black and gold which stands out to the onlooker, which happen to be the official colours of the NRC. When the building first opened, the ground floor contained the showroom, while the floors above contained office space. By 1934, the British division of the NRC became Ideal Boilers and Radiators, with the building being renamed Ideal House. In 1935 the building was extended further along Argyll Street – you can seen the divide as there is a wider space between groups of four and seven windows.

The heating company moved out years ago and were replaced by new businesses as a multi let office with reception.

Monmouth Dean are the letting agents for the offices.

In the 1970s, the former showroom was home to two restaurants – Argus Steak House and Tennessee Pancake House. Now home of Spaghetti House Italian and Marugame Udon Japanses Noodles & Tampura restaurant on the ground floor with modernised north and south side offices suites on the upper floors but keeping its Art Deco character.

The building has since been renamed Palladium House after its neighbour, the Palladium Theatre. In 1981, it was declared a Grade II listed building by Historic England. On the ground floor are two restaurants, while the other floors feature office space. Although the enamel surround still exists on the Great Marlborough Street entrance, the Argyll St one has been removed in the late ’60s or early ’70s and is currently in the Victoria & Albert Museum. (Check out a photo of the original Argyll Street door in a London Metropolitan Archives photo from 1962).

© Mr Anthony Rau. Source: Historic England Archive

Is it really worth the extra money?

Posted on: February 29th, 2020 by Jason Antill

Ever since 3D scanners become more portable and affordable PRE have been at the forefront of providing clients with an option of 3D Revit architectural as built surveys, also know as Scan2BIM over the old school 2D, and nearly every time we get asked – is it really worth the extra time and money?

Take a recent project, such as 88 Wood Street, City of London. This is a good example where the client wanted to refurbish the reception and common parts of a large multi let office.

The main objective of our client was to obtain for the designers / architects an accurate and quick workable as built drawings. We gave both costs with the 3D Revit model being around 25% more money and approximately a week or so longer to provide after the inspection the model versus 2D. However when the architects received the 3D drawings they could immediately start working on the project on day one.

Visually you can see all breakdowns of parts which make up the fabric of the reception. Furthermore each item, also know as families are broken down into detail to include size, type, material and any item you wish to describe the condition. These can be exported into other formats such as excel or word which Mechanical and Electrical, Project Managers, Costs consultants and structural engineers can collaborate one piece of work.

So yes its really worth the extra money and time.

PRE services play a key role in the Building Information Modelling (BIM) process, particularly within the built environment. Our collaborative approach and 3D laser scanning expertise has allowed us to develop a process which delivers fast and accurate survey information in a BIM-ready model.

Improved understanding of planned versus actual
Reduced errors and increase productivity
Design integrated into existing built environment
Linked to survey data and control framework
High-accuracy as-built survey data

Castle House, 75-76 Wells Street, London – Project Management for CAT A Refurbishment

Posted on: December 5th, 2019 by Jason Antill

PRE Chartered Surveyors were instructed to oversee a full category A refurbishment on Fourth and Fifth floors at Castle House, including complete refurbishment of the HVAC system and associated statutory approvals from Westminster City Council. We worked with our client to tailor a bespoke management solution that was able to fully address their individual needs and requirements so that they were able to secure a new lease on each of the floors respectively.

PRE Chartered Surveyors were able to identify the appropriate solution using our high levels of market knowledge and expertise to ensure that works could begin on schedule and to specific requirements.

We received the following testimonial from our client:

“PRE Chartered Surveyors put together an office refurbishment scheme over two floors and project managed the operation. They were quick to adapt the scheme based on our changing requirements throughout the course of the project. Matt and Mike were easy to work with and made the refurbishment run as smoothly as possible. They kept me fully updated with every step and ensured that time lines and budget costs were met. I’d highly recommend their services and look forward to working with them on future projects”

At PRE Chartered Surveyors we pride ourselves in having the ability to allow our 24 services to work harmoniously and bring together projects to the required standards, within budget and on time.

If you need to discuss Project Management with us please get in touch with one of the team:

Tara French
Director of Operations

M: +44 (0) 7387 267 800
DL: +44 (0) 20 8406 3000
E: [email protected]

Charlotte Fearnley
Operations & Accounts Manager

DL: +44 (0) 2084063000
E: [email protected]

Matt McGettigan BSc (Hons) MRICS MCIOB
Associate Director
Building Surveying and Project Management

Switchboard: +44 (0) 20 8406 3000
M: +44 (0) 7903 167907
E: [email protected]

Architectural Features on Buildings

Posted on: November 21st, 2019 by Jason Antill

PRE recently completed a survey on 86 Brook Street, Mayfair. Upon inspection we noticed interesting details to the building façade. The first of these was a pediment consisting of a snake entwined rod inside a wreath located above the main entrance to the building. It would be easy to assume this serves no more purpose than decoration, however with further investigation it can be found that the snake entwined rod is actually a significant symbol known as ‘The Rod of Asclepius’. The symbol takes its name from Asclepius the Greek God of medicine thus the presence of it on the building may very well indicate that it was built to serve a medical purpose. This theory is supported in an article by British-History.ac.uk which states that the building was reconstructed in 1922 to provide consulting rooms for a group of ‘distinguished doctors’, in addition to this the architect C. H. Biddulph Pinchard later went on to be the architect of the London Clinic on Marylebone Road.

Another sculpture on the building façade is a small owl on Binney Street located close to the corner of Brook Street. In Greek Mythology the owl was a symbol for Athena the Goddess of wisdom and strategy. It is possible that the owl is a tribute to these traits, however after noticing the plaque containing ‘Bird Street 1725’ as shown, may the owl be a reference to the previous name of the street?

Although speculative at times, it is always interesting to discover history and meanings through these memorials and they have a great impact on personifying buildings. We look forward to exploring more of these features and discovering significance and meanings to buildings.

Units 1, 2 and 3 Clarendon Road – Photographic Schedule of Condition

Posted on: November 20th, 2019 by Jason Antill

PRE Chartered Surveyors were instructed to carry out a full internal and external Schedule of Condition at Units 1, 2 and 3 Clarendon Road, Haringey.

The single storey units currently sit vacant and have been recently refurbished for new leases. We provided a highly detailed schedule of condition for our client so that they can monitor the condition of the property through any leases and also to help with dilapidations claims in the future.

A schedule of condition is important for landlords and occupiers in a number of situations which include limiting future dilapidations liabilities, addressing tenant alterations and party wall matters. A highly detailed schedule of condition of a property is used to benchmark and record the condition of a property on a particular date, against which the condition can be monitored and assessed in the future.

We received the following testimonial from our client:

“Working with [Matt / PRE] was a pleasure; operating within a demanding timeline the team provided the College with an accurate, comprehensive schedule of condition for its new premises. We look forward to working with them further”

If you need to record a property’s state of repair and defects at any point, we can deliver within 24 hours of inspection. Please get in touch with one of the team here at PRE:

Tara French
Director of Operations

M: +44 (0) 7387 267 800
DL: +44 (0) 20 8406 3000
E: [email protected]

Charlotte Fearnley
Operations & Accounts Manager

DL: +44 (0) 2084063000
E: [email protected]

Matt McGettigan BSc (Hons) MRICS MCIOB
Associate Director
Building Surveying and Project Management

Switchboard: +44 (0) 20 8406 3000
M: +44 (0) 7903 167907
E: [email protected]

Fulham Town Hall – Scan2BIM

Posted on: October 24th, 2019 by Jason Antill

Fulham Town Hall is going to be refurbished and its use changed, therefore our client needed our specialist team to produce a 3D Revit model of the building. Our technical team worked with a Global Positioning System, as this way the model is referenced to a worldwide system and can be positioned in its exact position. The execution of the 3D model has been done with a high level of accuracy, counting with the latest equipment to gather the data: a new Leica scanner, which allowed us to scan in colour, and also a drone survey, which provided us with precise data of the roof.

During the process of the 3D survey the team had to face different challenges, being Fulham Town Hall an historical building with complicated floors and structure, and with heavily ornated walls and ceilings.

Overcoming those challenges our team managed to undertake an excellent survey of the entire building, from the basement to the roof. All permanent and existing parts of the building have been modelled and coordinated to give a professional and accurate result. External walls, internal partitions, beams, columns and roof void form the enclosure, to which additional integral parts of the premises like staircases, windows, doors, ceiling moulding, etc. have been added.

Highlight: the Roof Void of the building, above the Main Hall of the Town Hall. This part was one of the most complicated and complexes the team had to model, due to the challenging way to merge the data, and also because of the amount of detail present in the void. This was overcome with hard work and team work, two of the core ideas present in our PRE team.

This is a colour Point Cloud created from a drone survey. To get this data a drone pilot went on site and took pictures from the premises at a safe height. After this, the data is processed in the office with a software that converts the pictures into a 3D point cloud that we can then use in Revit. The drone survey was fundamental for us to be able to model the roof of the project.

This is the inside of the Grand Hall of the town hall. This room had quite a lot of detail that we had to model in our project, like the domes of the ceiling or the columns. Also, not visible from the hall, but still as important, this ceiling that we see in the picture is being held by a wood structure that is located between the ceiling and the roof. This structure was one of the most complicated parts that we modelled in this building and it was key for the restoration and design of the building.

Picture of one of the main staircases. This staircase goes from the reception area of the Fulham Road side on the Ground Floor, to the First Floor. Using this staircase we have access to the side doors of the Main Hall on the First Floor. The richness of the space can be seen in this picture, on the columns, mouldings and natural light from the windows.

Render image of the Main Hall stage. The ceiling was the most complicated part in this room. As it can be seen in the image, this was formed of domes and curved parts, and it also had mouldings surrounding the walls. The scale of the space can be appreciated when we compare the size of the doors and windows with the height of the room.

Façade of the building facing Harwood Road. Even though this entrance is not the main one of the town hall, it still has plenty of detail and decoration. In addition to the stone details in wall mouldings and columns, we can also see the town hall clock in the middle top of the elevation. This clock was modelled in the project for its restoration and preservation.

Image of a 3D section through the south wing of the building. This is very interesting as different heights of the floors and the rooms can be seen. The rooms with lower height area offices and utility rooms, and the ones with higher height are halls and similar rooms. One of the main staircases can also be seen in this image, that goes from the entrance on Harwood Road to the First Floor.

Image of a 3D section through the north wing of the building. The most interesting thing that can be seen in this section is the Main Hall, with the stage, the seating area and the dome/ceiling structure. This structure, as it has been mentioned before, has been one of the most complicated parts of the project as it is formed of hundreds of structural pieces in different directions and positions.

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