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UKRI Medical Research Council Net Zero Pathway

London, Cambridge and Harwell, UK

º£½ÇÊÓƵ supported the UKRI Medical Research Council to develop a robust and attainable pathway for the decarbonisation of its building assets.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a public body that directs research and innovation funding on behalf of the UK government. The organisation has committed to a net zero carbon target for 2040. The Medical Research Council (MRC), part of UKRI, commissioned º£½ÇÊÓƵ to develop a net zero carbon road map to demonstrate how this target could be achieved across its estate. This includes multiple research facilities in Harwell, Cambridge and London.

The Medical Research Council (MRC), part of UKRI, commissioned º£½ÇÊÓƵ to develop a net zero carbon road map for its assets.

The organisation has committed to a net zero carbon target for 2040.

Life sciences research facilities are characterised by high energy loads, stringent conditioning requirements and power-hungry scientific equipment.

The study included an analysis of the climate resiliency of the MEP systems for the laboratory buildings.

Challenge

The road map needed to consider the technical and financial implications for decarbonising the estate, as well the potential impact on operations and research continuity.

The net zero transition is a major global undertaking and a challenge for organisations generally. However, life sciences research facilities present a set of circumstances that make the challenges even greater than those faced by other organisations. Life sciences research facilities are characterised by high energy loads, stringent conditioning requirements (including Home Office regulated areas) and power-hungry scientific equipment.

Resilience and operational continuity to protect research is critical and therefore any decarbonisation works must be carefully considered and implemented.

Solution

The principal outcome of the study was the identification of key strategic moves that need to be made to decarbonise the MRC estate and achieve the organisation’s overall net zero target.

Developing a holistic and coherent net zero carbon strategy requires a multidisciplinary approach. Our team made a thorough review of the MRC’s assets around the country and provided operational carbon emissions analysis and proposed interventions, combined with an assessment of broader topics such as climate adaption, sustainable travel, biodiversity, efficient use of water, and good health and wellbeing, which also link back to the objectives in UKRI’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy.

Climate adaptation considerations included guarding against storm floodwater, but also maintaining environmental controls in often sensitive and sometimes regulated laboratory conditions – particularly during heatwaves.

The study considered three separate decarbonisation scenarios, which represented different levels of ambition and capital expenditure. These were termed ‘Do Nothing’, ‘Incremental’ and ‘Optimal’. Each scenario consisted of a range of packages of decarbonisation measures deployed across different timelines. The future scientific requirements and the expected growth of MRC’s estate were also considered in collaboration with Hawkins\Brown, which undertook multiple stakeholder engagement sessions.

One particularly innovative approach included in this study was the analysis of the climate resiliency of the MEP systems for the laboratory buildings. The team used future weather predictions to assess the potential cooling demands for the labs in the future. This helped to demonstrate whether the current systems were fit for purpose and ensured that the suggested deep retrofit strategies could achieve the net zero carbon target whilst also providing robust climate resilience.

Value

Our solutions provided the client with a clear road map for decarbonising each of their facilities whilst simultaneously considering biodiversity impacts, climate resilience, and the health and wellbeing of staff and visitors. The Helios building on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus has successfully received BREEAM certificate ‘Excellent’ rating.

Based on the detailed strategy that we have developed alongside Hawkins\Brown, MRC has a clear, prioritised, and costed strategy for decarbonising its estate, while fully meeting future growth and research needs.