CarbonSense, with offices in London and Teignmouth, Devon, was established in 2003 to "promote a wider understanding of climate change and inspire creative solutions from people and businesses around the globe."

Antony Turner is the company's founder and Managing Director. He believes that a core reason human society is so slow in reacting to the climate change challenge is that we don't see the 80 million tonnes of CO2 we are releasing into the atmosphere every day. His passion is finding ways to "make carbon visible".

His career before starting CarbonSense was principally in engineering where he built a successful track record launching innovative technologies worldwide. He helped set up and managed the world-renowned 'Business & Sustainability' courses at Schumacher College (at Dartington, Devon) with teachers such as Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute.

In 2000 he wrote the UK industry submission on wave and tidal power for the House of Commons Science & Technology Committee.

Antony lives with his wife Mary by the sea in the west of England in a 150-year-old house with sustainable wood and solar heating. He believes most tough questions in life can be answered by asking "what would nature do?"

Why did you form the company?

"Because I realised that climate change was not being communicated in a way that people and businesses could fully understand. And with my background of helping engineers get across complex technical issues, combined with my own growing environmental awareness, well it's something I thought I should have a crack at.

"I was intrigued by the fact that when I looked into the science of climate change and I found the problem to be real and pretty terrifying and then when I looked into who was communicating about this and how, I thought: 'It 'aint working, they 'aint getting through.'"

What kind of services do you provide for clients?

"Our work for clients ranges from strategic 'think pieces' and strategy development to carbon footprinting of companies and products and employee engagement programmes.

"We have led the way on building board level commitment to action on climate change and in harnessing employees' motivations to really make a difference. Our workshops and training programmes achieve remarkable success and our technical carbon analysis creates a springboard for positive plans.

"Our entrepreneurial approach often opens up unexpected business opportunities which help our clients move towards a low carbon future with renewed confidence and clarity."

And what kind of clients have you worked with?

"Since 2003 CarbonSense has provided strategic thinking, board and management engagement and training, and carbon analysis for leading corporations including BT, Thames Water, HSBC, TNT, Honda Formula One Racing, Belgacom and Telenor.

"CarbonSense has also been involved with numerous climate change initiatives with local communities, local government and government departments in the UK. In 2005 I organised an event at the UK's HM Treasury entitled 'Carbon as Currency'. The company has recently completed a project for the Carbon Disclosure Project as lead report writer for their Public Procurement 2008 Report, and is currently working on their US Cities Report."

What makes CarbonSense unique?

"Unlike conventional, shall we say mainstream, business consultants, we don't go into a business and say 'We'll help you find the business case'. What we say is: 'We think you should know about this story - which is kind of the biggest story around - called climate change. We can do that really powerfully, so that you and all your colleagues can understand it.'

"We actually think that everybody and anybody - whether a chief executive or a financial director of a global corporation - needs to feel this issue personally and then go on to look at how this is going to affect their business and how can they can show leadership and be proactive for the benefit of the business, making everyone feel that it's the right thing to do from all aspects.

"An NGO approach would be to shout about the fact that we're killing polar bears and the like and 'just what are you going to do about it?' So our approach is the combination of the personal and the business that probably makes us a bit unique, together with the way we get our messages across."

Is business or government taking the lead in tackling climate change?

"Well it's everybody at different levels, isn't it?

"One of the things that shaped my thinking on this is what EF Schumacher, author of Small is Beautiful, said which is that there is an appropriate scale for any human activity. And I think that there are things that one can do personally and locally, and regionally, etc, as you work your way up the chain but what is critical is to understand your sphere of influence.

"Even an individual has much more influence than they often think they have. They can influence others, and communities around them, and so on. And particularly companies have massive influence over stakeholders and any others that they interact with. So we very much like tracking sphere of influence around the carbon issue."

What is the company's attitude to carbon offsetting?

"We did a lot of thinking around carbon neutrality and offsetting three or four years ago when we were working with BT, trying to find out what a genuinely carbon-neutral BT would look like. At the time we thought that offsetting could be a part of a strategy but soon after that we pretty quickly realised that it didn't really make sense.

"We don't believe it makes sense for a business to put money into external, offsetting projects. It's much smarter to utilise those resources for bringing your staff up to speed, engaging with things that can be done internally and aligning the business with a low carbon future.

"The danger with offsetting is that it allows you to say 'well, we've done our bit' and what we've seen is that it stops creativity within a business. Whereas, if you say that your goal is zero carbon and we don't know how we're going to get there, but we sure as hell are going to use the creativity of all our employees, we think that's a much smarter way.

"Anyway, my colleague Peter Martin has written an eight-page think-piece called Beyond Carbon Neutrality and that's on our website."

What are the links between the credit crunch and global warming?

"There is a critical symmetry with the credit crunch as I see it. I read a piece recently which argued that what has happened with the banking system is that they thought they were packaging up risk in all these collateral derivatives and the like in a way that was smart and, taken product by product, it looked smart but systemically, if everybody was doing the same thing, it was crazy.

"And to my mind, that's exactly what's happening with the atmosphere: you might think something individually is a good idea, or at least a necessary evil - to put a power station here to meet a need, and so on - but if everybody does it then its systemically crazy and damaging and at this level, I think there are some lessons to be learned.

"I believe we are now entering a new phase of political awareness, the 'monetization' of carbon emissions and there are huge opportunities for decarbonising products and services.

"Certainly, monetizing carbon emissions is one of the two core solutions at a top level. I don't see why any entity should be allowed to put carbon dioxide into the atmosphere without paying a penalty for that. We know how to meter it. The scientists are telling us how we should be ramping down carbon emissions. Well, we can take the numbers the scientists are giving us, create a number of emission permits globally and then those permits get auctioned. It's not bloody rocket science to imagine a system that could do that. It's the political barriers in the way."

Tell us please about the CarbonSense Foundation

"It's essentially a not-for-profit arm of designed to carry out projects that aren't necessarily financially viable.

"Although our primary focus is now in the corporate world, CarbonSense has, in the past, given time to long-term thinking, and has been involved in a number of pivotal events that have shaped climate change thinking.

"As part of this we have produced a number of key reports, advised government department and agencies, and launched the groundbreaking 'Carbon as Currency' initiative which featured at HM Treasury in 2005, and was later rolled out further at the 2006 UNFCC in Nairobi.

"In light of this we launched The CarbonSense Foundation to build on this valuable work, and develop new projects. It was set up to influence global policy; to produce targeted research in order to help develop new solutions to climate-related issues; to make use of CarbonSense's past work and experience with business, in order to re-evaluate and explore the effectiveness of the methods currently being employed by businesses to combat climate change and to develop individual climate engagement campaigns in partnership with other organisations."

What is your proudest low-carbon achievement?

"Probably being in the boardroom at TNT and helping, in a session there, the top people in the company to 'get' what climate change really means."

What's top of your in-tray?

"We'll shortly be launching a global carbon visualisation tool that I believe will help revolutionise the way we 'see' carbon in our lives. We've found a way to make sense of the term 'carbon footprint' which is scientifically accurate and we believe - and there is good evidence to show - that making carbon visible is extraordinarily powerful and necessary.

"We've done it in the past with arguments, presentations, tubes, and bubbles and workshops, and through theatre (with Folkbeard) and film and animation. Now we've come up with a concept that we're all very excited about. It could be both a universal education tool and also a tool for policy-makers in a negotiating context."

Any advice for fellow low-carbon practitioners?

"Make carbon visible!!!"

CarbonSense: http://carbonsense.com/index.htm

Property & Climate Change - Energy Efficiency Challenge

Even though the current economic environment may be difficult for the property sector, it is important to be mindful that policies and legislation relating to climate change and energy consumption will continue to advance. When the economic situation improves, property companies that have addressed the challenges of energy efficiency may find themselves better placed to take advantage of an eventual upturn in the property market.

The Climate Change Act 2008 became law on 26th November 2008. It outlines the Government’s intended objectives by legally binding the UK to reductions in greenhouse gases by at least 80% by 2050, and reductions in carbon dioxide of at least 26% by 2020 against a 1990 baseline. While not specifically targeting the property sector, it is nevertheless relevant because the Government considers buildings to be accountable for approximately 50% of the UK’s total carbon emissions.

Rising expectations of new-build projects

To date, the focus has largely been on new-build schemes and most developers will be familiar with the requirements of the Code for Sustainable Homes, BREEAM as well as the Merton Rule and other local authority carbon reduction targets.

Adherence to a determined level against the standards is generally a requirement of the planning process or funding and in March 2008, the Government announced that all new housing would require a mandatory assessment against sustainability criteria or a written statement that the property has not been assessed.

The intended effect of these initiatives is to improve the quality and energy efficiency of developments for the benefit of the occupants and the environment. However, development costs typically increase as a result. In the current market it can be difficult for these costs to be passed on to the ultimate purchaser – therefore achieving the gains in the most cost-effective manner has become fundamental to the design process. Many of the credits within the Code and BREEAM standards are site specific – and this necessitates a greater deployment of highly innovative design.

The pace of the design process has also been affected, particularly with regards to energy, and it is now normal to consider building fabric and systems from the outset as this has a bearing on the effectiveness and affordability of the proposed solutions.

Energy efficiency in existing stock

New developments represent only a small percentage of the building stock in the UK and so any effective actions to reduce energy consumption and emissions from buildings will need to target the existing stock. Presently, the principal mechanism for doing this is with Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), which use a software tool to generate a rating for the building based on the buildings dimensions, fabric and systems.

The purpose of EPCs can sometimes be misunderstood. They are not necessarily intended as an accurate prediction of the energy that the building will use – as this almost entirely depends on the behaviour of the occupants – but instead use typical energy demand patterns for existing similar developments to estimate a likely energy demand pattern. Therefore, by resorting to a consistent dataset of assumed demand characteristics, an EPC allows prospective purchasers or tenants the ability to compare the relative efficiencies of similar properties.

Recommendation reports are also produced with the certificate. These reports are generated by the software tool and list the factors which most affect the outcome of the EPC assessment. While the information within the reports is useful when planning energy efficiency improvements, it is important to remember that the EPC process relies upon a number of assumptions, including assumptions about energy usage. Designing systems to achieve actual efficiencies also benefit from knowledge about the actual consumption.

EPCs are now mandatory for almost all property transactions in the UK and while the penalties for not having an assessment are usually relatively small in the context of the overall transaction, the absence of a certificate can potentially cause transactions to stall, or even fall through.

Towards behavioural change

While energy-efficient building design will help the occupants reduce their energy consumption, the actual usage of energy is still largely dependent upon the aggregate of individuals’ behaviour within the building. This can be difficult to control within a commercial environment because overall energy consumption is not always easy to allocate to individuals or building areas.

Although improved monitoring, procedures and management systems can significantly reduce consumption, behaviour of individuals is often driven by an organisation’s ethics rather than by an awareness of the economics or environmental impact of energy consumption.

Control of energy use within the home is potentially easier because responsibilities are clearer – and there are some quick gains to be made by changing behaviour or upgrading the efficiency of some of the building elements. However, many of the more substantial savings require larger investments. Payback periods can be long – and potentially extend beyond the intended occupancy of the resident. Furthermore, domestic properties are ‘homes’ and decisions are often based upon personal preference rather than efficient functionality.

There are, however, signs of a new emphasis. The introduction of Display Energy Certificates as a mandatory requirement for the public sector, whereby actual energy usage is reviewed and presented, suggests that stakeholder interest has been recognised as potentially the most potent motivator for control of energy – at an organisational level, at least.

Blueprints for an energy efficient future

Future initiatives will continue to test the property sector and the Government has already indicated its intention within its Strategy for Sustainable Construction (June 2008) for all new homes to be zero-carbon by 2016; locking in step-changes to the Building Regulations in 2010 and 2013.

The short to medium-term significance of this will, of course, depend upon the extent of the step-changes. However, in the longer-term, the inclusion of systems to satisfy these requirements could increase construction costs by up to £40K per dwelling according to English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation, although it is acknowledged that these costs will likely reduce as technologies evolve and uptake rates increase.

On the operational side, the forthcoming Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) will shortly be undergoing a period of consultation. The intention of CRC is to encourage a behavioural shift amongst certain types of building occupants whereby large organisations will be required to reduce and trade carbon.

Designing buildings that are highly energy-efficient is challenging – and the financial benefits are often reaped by the occupant rather than the investing organisation. However, the Government has recently introduced a range of measures which serve to increase the profile of energy efficiency during transactions and amongst stakeholders.

With further regulation proposed, and in the context of the Government’s stated aims, it is likely that the value – both perceived and actual – of energy-efficient design will increase and, once the current economic turbulence has subsided, property developers and owners may find themselves at a competitive advantage through early consideration of these factors.

Peter Jeavons – Principal Consultant – RPS Group

Peter Howson – Environmental Consultant – RPS Group

RPS Group is an international consultancy providing advice on the responsible development of natural resources, land and property, the management of the environment and the health and safety of people.

http://www.rpsgroup.com/