In our latest EV Leaders piece, we spoke to Liz McKillop Paley, Partner at Shoosmiths, to find out more about her work, and the synergy between real estate and the EV and energy industry.
Tell us more about your role at Shoosmiths. What made you choose to focus specifically on sustainability within real estate?
“I am a partner in the Real Estate team in London. I head up the national Real Estate Energy and Infrastructure team and I am an investment lawyer. The synergies between these two areas are remarkable as we all continue our journey of net zero and decarbonisation. I have worked on the sustainability aspects of real estate throughout my 20 year career which has developed alongside the growing regulatory landscape.
I have always been interested in this sector and I have been involved in transactions in the sustainability or E&I space since I qualified, allowing me to feel like I was making a difference. I also made it a specialism I had as a differentiator to my peer group. It is my absolute privilege to now be leading this group of experts at Shoosmiths.”
Looking into the future, which sustainable technologies do you believe will make the most significant impact on the real estate sector?
“Looking ahead, several sustainable technologies are poised to transform the real estate sector by reducing carbon emissions, improving energy efficiency, and enhancing occupant well-being.
Anything which reduces the reliance on grid electricity and lowers operational carbon will be key, so building integrated technologies will play a significant part – for example, solar PV and solar thermal systems integrated into façades, windows, and roofs.
Heat Networks can decarbonise heating at scale with the use of waste heat. The introduction of heat network zones and regulation will encourage the adoption of these, and we are working on some significant district heating projects at the moment.
Technology that can enhance performance monitoring around operational carbon and scenario planning will better inform design, operation and investment decisions, as well as buildings which allow for reuse and recycling of construction materials, cutting embodied carbon.”
Do the UK’s Part S Building Regulations (which dictate a certain level of EV charging in new developments) go far enough to encourage EV adoption?
“I think the answer to that has to be ‘not quite’. While it mandates that all new residential buildings with associated parking must have one EV charger per dwelling, major renovations (10+ dwellings) must include either charge points or cable routes for future installation and new commercial buildings with more than 10 parking spaces must install at least one charge point and cable routes for 20% of spaces and is therefore considered to be a solid foundation, it needs to be more ambitious in retrofitting existing stock, aligned with net-zero goals by mandating smart charging and be better integrated with local transport and energy strategies.”
Do you believe any challenges remain for current and would-be EV drivers who live in areas with no off-street parking? How can these be addressed?
“Yes, significant challenges remain for drivers of EVs who live in areas without off-street parking.
I would like to see on-street charging infrastructure being addressed, for example lamp post chargers and bollard chargers integrated into existing street furniture, and cable gulleys to safely run cables across pavements. Where individual charging is not a possibility I’d like to see Community Charging Hubs which would provide shared fast-charging stations in residential areas, which could be co-located with car clubs or mobility hubs, for example.
There is always more that can be done around policy & planning support. Local authorities can mandate EV infrastructure in planning applications as they are doing with other initiatives, and there could be Government grants for retrofitting public streets with chargers to make this more accessible and drive forwards our net zero journey (pun intended).
In the future I am sure there will be innovation in mobile charging, such as companies offering mobile EV charging vans or battery swap stations to make charging quicker and easier and therefore more mainstream and accessible.”
How do you see increasing demand for EV infrastructure impacting the design and planning of real estate developments, both residential and commercial?
“The growing demand for EV infrastructure is already reshaping how residential and commercial real estate developments are designed and planned.
From a residential development angle, as mentioned above Part S is mandating EV charging points in new homes and shared charging bays in apartment blocks. Access to the grid has always been a development consideration, but now developers must upgrade grid connections and plan for load balancing. Developments must also be future-proofed for flexibility including cable routes, and modular infrastructure to allow future expansion and EV-ready parking bays even if chargers aren’t installed immediately.
From a commercial aspect, office parks and retail centres are adding fast chargers for staff and customers to utilise during business hours. We have a number of logistics clients developing and planning for EV fleet charging infrastructure which feeds into their own net zero strategy. This will be particularly important from a supply chain/scope 3 emission perspective for example. From an investor/landlord point of view, commercial landlords can in theory commercialise this by charging through pay-per-use models. What we are seeing is EV readiness playing to investors sustainability strategy and investment ESG appraisals as EV readiness or provision contributes to green building certifications. Data is key, and as buildings become more digitally connected, EV usage data may feed into the BMS.”
Are you an EV driver? If so, which model, and do you prefer it to your previous petrol or diesel cars?
“I am! I drive a Volkswagen ID.4 and I love it. I am lucky to have installed a charger at home, so it is very easy for me to manage charging and it is so much cheaper to run than my old car. It cost me about £50 in electricity for 3 months charging – my old car would take about £75 to fill a tank! It is fondly known as the ‘warm car’ – as you can set a timer to defrost it in the mornings before the school run. It is nippy and has plenty of acceleration and has a distinctive ‘spaceship’ floating sound which makes it. For around town journeys, I definitely prefer it. And as charging is becoming easier and more rapid for longer journeys, that is allowing me to travel further distances in it too.”
Many thanks to Liz for taking part in our EV Leaders series. You can find out more about the work Shoosmiths do, here.
