January 4, 2008—With the announcement of the British Government’s Climate Change Bill in January, which seeks to cut the UK’s carbon output by 60% by 2050 from 2000 levels, property advisers GVA Grimley has published new research that details the relationship between CO2 emission levels and total commercial property floor space, and ranks the overall carbon footprint impact of ten top UK business centers.
The report, How Green is My City (.pdf file), reveals that Sheffield has the largest overall carbon footprint impact (82 out of 100) and Edinburgh has the lowest (61 out of 100), although Edinburgh actually produces the most amount of CO2 per sq m of commercial floor space (0.42 tons of CO2 per sq m). Bristol produces the least amount at 0.22 tons of CO2 per sq m.
The overall rankings are based on an assessment of the cities’ relative carbon emission levels, waste production, intensity of space use, brownfield land development rates, and quality of new property developments.
Researchers note that space is being used more intensively in Edinburgh than the other cities, which results in less opportunity for it to reduce carbon emissions simply by reducing the amount of space. Conversely Birmingham, Liverpool, and Leeds each have 0.23 tons of carbon emissions per sq m and could improve carbon emission levels further by using their commercial floor space more intensively, ultimately improving their overall ranking relative to other cities. A reduction in these figures would further improve these cities overall sustainability performance, says GVA Grimley.
How Green is My City also studies the pattern between business, domestic, and transport emissions, and highlights how the complex internal operations of cities influence carbon footprints. The report acknowledges that carbon emissions are only a part of the picture, and focuses on the total amount of waste produced per head.
Researchers found that the highest waste levels are in Newcastle, Sheffield, Birmingham, and Leeds which produce over 460kg waste per person. Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Liverpool produce the least amount of waste per person at less than 435kg. However, the cities need to reduce their waste per person to 225kg by 2020, which will be a major challenge, says GVA Grimley.
