Decarbonising our operational properties and housing estates
Under our Climate Action Strategy, we are committed to achieving net zero by 2027 across the City of London Corporation’s own operations. This includes emissions generated from the operation and use of buildings that we control; our housing estates and operational (corporate) properties. We have established a project to look at this with the main focus on our top 15 emitting buildings, including buildings such as the Guildhall complex, the Barbican Arts Centre and York Way Housing Estate.
These measures can help us reduce building emissions:
- LED lighting
- Insulation and draft proofing
- Renewable energy from measures such as solar panels
- Improvements to heating and cooling systems
- Upgrades to building controls
- Increased energy efficiency
- Grid decarbonisation
We have conducted building surveys to consider aspects such as the impacts from operating buildings, scale of energy consumption and returned cost, energy and carbon savings. The results contributed to the development of a five-year capital programme running from 2022 to 2027 consisting of capital projects, meaning improvement works, for buildings earmarked through the surveys.
Capital projects are often large-scale interventions we have established such as energy efficiency upgrades, building improvements, lighting, ventilation, heating, cooling, and humidification. These projects are all aimed at reducing emissions through each stage of a building’s life cycle.
Metering and control systems have also been upgraded to help monitor and manage data to provide deeper insights into areas such as energy consumption during the operation and use of a building.
Grid decarbonisation refers to reducing the amount of emissions generated through energy production and distribution by the National Grid. While it is largely out of the City Corporation’s control, we have planned interventions to factor in any shortfalls in grid decarbonisation that are out of our control. This means that some of our interventions will make up the difference if the Grid does not decarbonise at a rate needed to help us meet our net zero ambition by 2027.
Here in the City, Citigen district network supplies heating, power and cooling to several key City Corporation sites such as Smithfield Market and the Barbican Centre. The Citigen power station has introduced new heat pumps beneath the Square Mile which is becoming one of the UK’s largest low carbon heating and cooling systems. Our supply agreements with Citigen currently run to 2027, with Citigen obliged to deliver a 20% reduction in carbon during that period.
In 2020, the City Corporation signed its own Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with international energy provider Voltalia. A PPA is a long-term contract between an electricity generator and a customer to negotiate a fixed price contract for receiving energy. In our case, this energy is renewable and is generated by a solar farm in Dorset.
In 2023, the renewable energy generated by the solar farm, began to power our operations and sites such as Tower Bridge. Today, this accounts for more than half of our own electricity consumption.
You can learn more about our experience in our South Farm Solar Park video that will take you through the solar farm in Dorset.