The housing sector has many pressures, but there is one issue that affects us all…how do we reduce our impact on carbon emissions? For many this topic has been sat in the “too difficult” tray. Time is running out; we need to be net zero by 2050 or ideally earlier. But how and where do we start?
The carbon reduction challenge for many is daunting. Where do you start? What information do we have? How do we collect and use the data?
There is also the issue of language. What do we mean by “carbon reduction”?
For many of us working in this area for a long time, a key lesson is that the conversation needs to be wider than just carbon and climate change. It should be about “sustainability” looking at the three pillars/themes of environmental, economic and social. To unwrap this complex topic, which consists of many competing challenges, organisations need to understand how they perform across the three themes. This involves not only knowing how your properties perform, but also understanding the benefits of adopting more sustainable investment/practices to help your customers.
We are gradually seeing improvements in the energy consumption and efficiency of our new homes. The development industry is also learning that we don’t need to fill new homes full of complex kit. Taking a Fabric First approach (insulating the homes and pointing them the right way) is far better than simply adding on solar panels.
However, the UK’s housing stock is old. It is also in relatively poor condition. We need to consider new ways to significantly invest and improve the condition of our stock.
Sustainability strategy
By adapting a wider sustainability strategy across the business organisations can map out their own route map for adopting a sustainable approach to everything they do. It enables them to plan stock improvements which will lengthen the life of many homes, enable customers to benefit from lower bills and healthier homes all while contributing to lowering your organisation’s impact on our fragile climate.
With a new government and some opposition parties focused on delivering a better society based on renewable energy and significantly improved water services supporting a more bio diverse natural environment, the time is now to make the step change.
Yes, like everything there are costs. Lord Stern said many years ago that the later we adopt a sustainable business approach, the greater the costs and more likely that we will fail. The likelihood is that business legislation will follow and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) reporting will be mandatory and critical to securing private funds. There will be a point when there is no excuse.
Lord Stern said many years ago that the later we adopt a sustainable business approach, the greater the costs and more likely that we will fail.
Anyway, why wouldn’t you want to work in a business that protects the environment, reduces waste, recycles, supports local business, helps their customers to reduce their cost of living and protects its investment for the future?
Those in charge of governance, Boards in registered providers and elected members in local authorities have a huge role to play in progressing an organisation’s work on sustainability. It is crucial that Board members are enabled and supported to take an active role in making things better. The relative newness of the subject can reduce the number of people actively engaging on the subject and/or the quality of the debate. We are running a free webinar focused on enabling those in governance to make more of an impact on the subject of sustainability.
Webinar: A guide to navigating sustainability for Boards
Our webinar on 18 September highlighted why there is still time to address this global issue in your organisation and what tips we recommend you consider. To help us we brought together some of the sector’s leading experts outlined:
- What they have done
- How they did it
- Where they are at
- What’s still to do
We also unpacked this complex subject to make the case for a wider intervention of sustainability.
Further reading on sustainability
Read more from Campbell Tickell and guest writers, on navigating the sustainability challenge and reducing carbon emissions:
- How should boards and elected members react to the government’s watering-down of the UK’s net zero policies? Read Jon Slade’s article from CT Brief – Issue 70, December 2023.
- Addressing sustainability issues requires innovation, practical solutions, and cooperation across the housing sector. Read Keith Carter’s article in CT Brief – Issue 71.
- The future of Sustainability-Linked Loans. As featured in CT Brief – Issue 71. Written by guest authors, Imran Mubeen, Director of Treasury Bromford Group and Chris Evans, Director, Newbridge Advisors.
- Retrofitting London’s housing stock across all tenures is a project of a such scale that makes it a nationally important infrastructure programme, so how do we implement it? Read our report for London Councils.
- Sustainability and Net Zero: Turning targets into actions. Listen to the podcast episode.
To discuss any issues raised in this article or for any sustainability consultancy enquiries, please email, Campbell Tickell Director, Jon.Slade@campbelltickell.com
This article first appeared on Unlock Net Zero’s site.
For any event enquiries, email: events@campbelltickell.com
