It’s not easy being green

If there’s one city in the country that should be leading the way on sustainability and setting an example to others, it’s Brighton. Green issues matter in the seaside city. It is home to the first and still only Green MP, Caroline Lucas. After winning the Brighton Pavilion seat in 2010, she has won four successive general elections, increasing her majority each time. The council is led by the Green Party too.

Issues such as recycling, cutting down on plastic use and increasing cycling are all important and likely to resonate with the bohemian and liberal residents of Brighton and Hove. But the built environment also plays a huge part in the city’s CO₂ emissions, as across the rest of the UK. In Brighton, domestic buildings contribute 40% of the total emissions, industrial and commercial buildings a further 29%.

Our buildings, particularly our homes, can play a huge role in reducing carbon emissions. What’s more, they’ll need to. Brighton and Hove aims to become a zero-carbon city by 2050 and carbon neutral by 2030.

What goes up, must come down

Brighton has delivered relatively little new housing in recent years. Net housing delivery as a proportion of existing stock has averaged just 0.3% since 2016, around a third of the national average. Not only is this holding back economic growth and stretching affordability, it’s also keeping a lid on Brighton’s housing energy efficiency. New homes are much more energy efficient than older homes. The average new build home has an EPC score of 84.0 (B), compared to 62.0 (D) for existing stock. That means energy bills for new build homes are £223 less per year and they generate 2.7 fewer tonnes of CO₂ per year, on average.

Brighton will need to build more, new, energy efficient homes if it wants to continue attracting environmentally minded people to the area. By contrast, most of Brighton’s existing homes were built before 1949: homes built in this period have an average EPC score of 62, firmly in the middle of the D grade. The median efficiency score for a property built since the beginning of 2019 is 82, within the B grade.

Between a rock and a hard place

Land in Brighton is very constrained with the South Downs National Park to the north and the English Channel to the south. This means development will likely have to spread upwards, not outwards, to boost the delivery of housing. This is already taking place with new high-density development along Lewes Road as well as mixed-use schemes by U+I and First Base close to Victoria Gardens.

New build properties emit almost 70% less CO₂ per year than second hand properties. This holds true across all property types. Detached homes emit the most CO₂, with terraced and semi-detached properties emitting similar amounts on average. Flats have the lowest emissions, although second hand flats are only marginally better than new build detached homes.

Newer homes are built to higher efficiency standards and these standards are likely to get higher. For example, new homes will no longer be allowed gas boilers from 2025. On top of this, the government’s Green Homes Grant will help boost the efficiency of existing stock if households in Brighton take the opportunity.

Going the extra mile

If Britain is to become a ‘net zero’ emitter, as it has committed to and enshrined in law, it will have to go much further. That includes investing in district heating systems and further clean energy generation.

When it comes to creating planning policy requirements that will help in reducing carbon emissions and tackling climate change, Brighton and Hove City Council are ahead of most other local authorities. In its emerging City Plan Part 2, they are seeking a minimum EPC rating of C for conversions and changes of use, and a rating of B for all new build development. This is on top of the existing requirement for a 19% enhancement on carbon emissions as set against standard Part L of the building regulations, and a requirement to ensure safeguarded space for future-proofing within flatted schemes whereby blocks could be connected to district heating systems as and when they become available.

Whilst the English Channel may be a constraint for Brighton in finding land for homes, since 2018 it has helped create clean energy. The Rampion offshore wind farm comprises 116 turbines off the Sussex coast which can be seen from Brighton. It generates enough green electricity to power the equivalent of 350,000 UK homes. This is equal to almost half of all homes in Sussex. A further phase to expand the wind farm is also planned.

Living at the office

Many people have been working from home now for the majority of 2020. Brighton is ahead of the curve. At the time of the last Census in 2011, Brighton and Hove had the largest proportion of its workforce working from home across the country at 12%.

As stated previously, 40% of Brighton and Hove’s CO2 emissions are from domestic buildings. Over the course of 2020, that proportion has likely risen as we spend more time indoors working from our living rooms and kitchens. Even after Covid-19 has gone, we anticipate more people will work from home more often. In short, that means more heating, more boiling of kettles and more home cooking. That in turn means more gas and electricity consumption.

Providing new energy-efficient homes and retrofitting existing stock are therefore hugely important in combating climate change. The graph below shows how both new and second hand homes can be made more energy-efficient, with the proportion of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) that have a recommendation for each feature. Those recommendations range from cheap, easy wins such as low energy lighting and cavity wall insulation to higher impact investments such as solar panels.

The chart demonstrates how new build homes often include these energy efficiency measures as standard. However, with more than a third of new build homes not providing low energy lighting, surely the light bulb moment is staring a lot of us and developers in the face.

View all of our latest Brighton Cross Sector research here.