Today, 1^st September, the Scottish property industry will call for positive action and engagement, not just regulation, to promote energy efficiency in existing commercial buildings. 

Unlike elsewhere in the UK currently, the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Act holds regulations that may be used to enforce reductions in carbon emissions from existing commercial buildings, not just new developments.Industry leaders will also ask how much more can be achieved cost-effectively via the building standards regulations and whether a 42%-46% reduction in net carbon emissions from the non-domestic property sector by 2020 is in fact possible.

Ken Ross OBE, Chairman of the Scottish Property Federation & CEO of major Scottish property group Elphinstone Holdings said:‘The property industry is playing a key role in supplying better quality, low carbon buildings.  Scottish Government research shows that modern offices have reduced their carbon emissions by 70% compared to the 1990 benchmark.  Yet at best this will replace 1-2% of the stock a year and we will get no way near meeting the government’s wider aspirations for the sector for reducing net carbon emissions’.

‘The Scottish Government is looking for the non-domestic sector to reduce net carbon emissions by between 42% and 46% to meet its 2020 targets.  In the 16 years from 1990 to 2006 we achieved a reduction of about 12%.  If the 2020 target is to be feasible then incentives to meet the additional cost of promoting energy efficiency building improvements to existing properties becomes the critical factor.’ 

Phil Miller, CEO of major UK developer Miller Developments and SPF Vice-chairman added‘Policy makers need to realise that regulation changes have already inflated building costs for some new developments in Scotland by at least 10 per cent and compliance with forthcoming targets could add up to 60 per cent to the cost of new buildings which simply won't be built unless the industry is offered incentives - a carrot and stick approach is needed. To date all we are seeing are the sticks’.‘With development finance now under severe pressure this level of new cost may well deter new development and inadvertently undermine the government’s intentions to ‘green’ the commercial property stock’

David Melhuish, Director at SPF added:‘We have to question if without some form of assistance, we can support additional property replacement costs that are likely to add significant costs to property owners and occupiers over the next decade if we are to have mandatory energy efficiency improvements on commercial property combined with ever higher building costs.’

The Scottish commercial property industry is expecting new climate change-related measures for the property industry to be applied from the European Union, UK Government and Scottish Government levels of government in the next few years.

The full press release may be seen here.

The SPF conference brings together speakers from the European Commission, national and local levels of government as well as key contributors from the private sector.  Full details may be found on the events site.