海角视频

海角视频 hosted a dynamic session in collaboration with the Francis Crick Institute and UKGBC to spotlight how Europe鈥檚 largest research facility is tackling their own net zero carbon journey.

With a 21% reduction in operational carbon emissions already achieved, the Crick鈥檚 journey is well underway. This has been successfully delivered through grounding the organisation in strong governance, stakeholder engagement and data driven action in everything they do. Richard Tetlow, Associate Director & Strategic Carbon Lead at 海角视频, emphasised, 鈥淣et zero isn鈥檛 a slogan, it鈥檚 a commitment to re-engineer how your building performs. From plantroom to boardroom, you need clear targets, robust analysis and a roadmap that鈥檚 both technically sound and operationally grounded鈥�. The event featured an overview of the challenges faced by the Crick, how 海角视频 developed the net zero strategy and how the Crick are implementing this roadmap. The panel Q&A session chaired by UKGBC covered a range of topics from importance of setting up robust governance procedures to the evolving role of AI in both data analytics and its impact on a building鈥檚 energy and carbon footprint. For organisations navigating similar journeys, the Crick鈥檚 experience offers a unique insight into delivering net zero in even the most complex environments – without compromising scientific excellence.

What did we learn?

The challenge

As the largest single site laboratory in the UK, the Francis Crick Institute has a large carbon footprint. The target was to deliver a 50% reduction in carbon emissions for Scope 1 & 2 by 2030 without disrupting the science. Challenges include removal of fossil fuel heating, steam and CHP, a constrained site in the centre of London with limited roof area for heat pumps, and CL2, 3, & 4 and Home Office regulated lab environments. For more information on the Crick’s Sustainability strategy, .

Developing the net zero strategy

The Crick鈥檚 net zero strategy includes six key steps: set your net zero definition and targets; undertake performance analysis; identify carbon reduction measures; net zero pathway modelling; cost analysis; and definition and delivery of the net zero roadmap.聽

Implementing the strategy 

The Crick’s Estates team have expanded on an initial set of Carbon Reduction Measures (CRM) identified in the strategy and are in the process of rolling these out throughout the building. The Crick鈥檚 Net Zero roadmap initially focuses on low cost/low disruption optimisation measures before the planned delivery of larger scale technology switches and system electrification. A key tip for the successful delivery of optimisation measures is to gain stakeholder support/ buy-in (e.g. lab managers, scientists etc) through smaller scale pilot studies supported by ongoing energy and environmental performance data.  

Effective governance is also critical, and the Estates team have a clear remit to identify suitable CRMs and roll these out across the building with energy and carbon savings a key priority. The Estates team report quarterly to the Crick鈥檚 Sustainability Programme Board who are responsible for the tracking and reporting of progress, securing the funding and leading the sound governance encompassing the project.  

Stakeholder buy-in, a phased rollout, and robust governance remain pivotal to the successful delivery of the Crick鈥檚 Carbon Reduction Measures. The Estates team has had to employ a range of practical tools and methods to support their roadmap implementation and deploy CRMs across the building. These include detailed energy monitoring dashboards providing live feedback, gamified engagement initiatives to encourage staff participation, and embedding net zero principles into institutional policies and induction processes. This flexible and adaptable approach to CRM delivery with implementation supported by actual data will continue to help the Crick on their net zero journey.

Key takeaways:

Invest in energy metering and data analytic software: accurate energy data is crucial to enable identification of energy reduction opportunities as well as monitoring and reporting progress against your net zero targets. Relying on a BMS to do this for you is unlikely to be sufficient.

Form a strong net zero delivery team with a blend of skills at the project outset: delivering net zero requires a range of skills, from strategic thinking, technical knowledge, and programme and stakeholder management. Set your net zero team up as early as possible providing them a clear remit and roles and responsibilities to deliver energy and carbon savings measures and identify where you need to work with external consultants for support. Continuity in the team is also beneficial; and building consistency across the net zero definition, strategic development, implementation, monitoring and reporting stages will lead to a much better result in the long run.

Don鈥檛 neglect the strategy: setting the net zero definition and developing a technically robust implementation plan underpinned by robust analysis is crucial to ensuring stakeholder buy-in and will lead to a net zero plan that can stand the test of time. Make sure you invest the time upfront to work closely with your consultants and challenge them to develop a robust and technically deliverable strategy which is tailored to your specific context. 

Speakers and Panellists:

• Jake Williams, Director of Net Zero Carbon & Building Performance鈥�鈥媐or 海角视频
• Mark Angus, Head of Facilities & Infrastructure Technical Systems for the Crick
• Richard Tetlow, Associate Director鈥�鈥�& Strategic Carbon Lead鈥� for 海角视频
• Christina Murphy, Sustainability Programme Manager at the Crick
• Yetunde Abdul, Director of Industry Transformation for UKGBC
• Karl Clayden, Senior Building 海角视频 Engineer at the Crick