25 years ago we were founded with a commitment to provide workspaces with a positive social and environmental impact. Today we have come far in our goal to create places that unlock the potential of people and communities to achieve a more just, equitable and sustainable society.
Our pathway to Net Zero has been quite a journey - one with many twists and turns, learning curves, but most importantly, it has been one of steady and consistent progress.
We are pleased to publish an update summary of our environmental strategy, where we are committed to making changes in three areas; our buildings, our business and ourselves. You can find a snapshot into these activities here:
Our buildings
We are working to decarbonise all direct and indirect use of energy for our centres! We are doing this by progressively replacing all gas boilers across our property portfolio with renewably-powered alternatives, as well as engaging with the managers of district heating systems linked to our properties, to encourage them to move away from gas.
We're also excited to be able to start reporting on the specific resource use per centre, meaning that our individual tenants will be able to calculate exactly what it is they are using for their day to day activities.
We are sticking to our core strategy of renovating and refurbishing existing properties, meaning that we are retaining the embodied carbon of buildings and avoiding the huge carbon footprint of using new materials.
To optimise opportunities for our centres to support and increase biodiversity, we are working with specialist organisations who can help us to identify ways to achieve this, as well as with local authorities with biodiversity action plans for the surrounding areas.
Our business
To ensure that we are promoting sustainable business inside and out, we are instituting a procurement policy that gives priority to suppliers who have a Net Zero plan in place, as well as sustainable products. Our policy will support a robust process of monitoring and reporting on major parts of our supply chain.
From 2023 we will also start reporting on the indirect emissions related to our business travel and commuting. We have many plans to reduce these, including investing in ‘end of trip’ facilities such as showers and changing spaces at our centres, as well as potentially installing electric vehicle charging points.
In order to reduce the CO2 emissions related to waste, it’s our goal to put in place as many commercially available recycling streams as is practicable at each centre. We are looking forward to partnering with waste contractors to measure and report on the waste collected from each building.
Ourselves
A crucial part of our strategy is how we engage with our colleagues, tenants, investors and suppliers. We aim to educate, consult and inspire on all matters environmental, promoting sustainability and championing our environmental approach.
Read our full, in-depth environmental strategy here.