Welcome to the latest edition of Sustainability Matters, a regular wrap from EG to ensure that you and your business is up to date with the latest news, views and opinion on all that is important in the world of ESG and the built environment.
Across the built environment, different firms and sectors are putting sustainability and a social agenda at the centre of their businesses. The sector as a whole has one of the most powerful roles to play in creating a planet where people can live healthily, happily and safely – and is encouragingly waking up to its responsibility to do so.
But true power to change will come through collaboration. With each other, and with government.
Writing in EG this week, Julia Barfield, of Marks Barfield Architects and Architects Declare, calls on the whole industry to unite on climate action.
“As an industry we pride ourselves on our excellent understanding of project risk and costs. Now is the time to put those skills to good use and look at a bigger picture,” she says. “The long-term risks of not re-evaluating our wider goals, radically changing what we do and how we do it could not be higher. The costs of inaction now will be exponentially greater in years to come.”
Architects Declare, with Construction Declares and a number of other organisations, has written to prime minister Boris Johnson to offer their expertise to make sure the UK is put on a path of sustainable green recovery.
Helical became one of those firms putting ESG front and centre this week, saying sustainability was “imperative” to its business.
The developer has committed to making all new schemes net zero by 2025, reducing the embodied carbon in all new projects by 20%, and reducing the operational carbon emissions of its existing portfolio by 25% over the next five years.
Matthew Bonning-Snook, property director and chair of Helical’s sustainability committee, says: “It is imperative that sustainability is at the core of all activities at Helical. As owners and creators of exciting design-led buildings, we acknowledge that our activities have a direct and indirect environmental, social and economic impact.”
The business has set itself a number of key targets to help it deliver on its long-term vision for sustainability, including ensuring that all new developments and refurbishments above a contract value of £5m achieve a minimum BREEAM Excellent rating, that at least 90% of construction and demolition waste is diverted from landfill with all new developments and major refurbishments aiming for a minimum 50% recycling target, and that landlord-purchased water consumption is reduced by 2% from its 2019 baseline.
You can find out more about them in Helical’s Built for the Future sustainability plan.
And as more and more firms do make ESG part of the running of their business, there is an increasing need for data and information to place a value on ESG activities and on the risks associated with climate change.
The team at MSCI have this week launched a tool enabling investors to value climate risk to real estate.
By calculating financial risks from changing legislation due to climate action and the extreme weather impacts caused by climate change, per real estate asset and per scenario, MSCI says the new tool will provide a framework for investors – including investment managers, asset owners, banks and insurers – to improve portfolio performance, risk management, regulatory reporting, and progress towards broader sustainability goals.
“Private real estate, as a long-term asset class, is particularly vulnerable to climate-related events,” says Jay McNamara, head of real estate at MSCI. “Our research has shown that the potential impact for real estate investors from climate events is far reaching and spans assets and geographies.
“As more global investors are increasing allocations to real estate and other private assets, there is a growing need to identify and understand financial risks from climate change and take necessary action for risk management, portfolio performance optimisation and regulatory reporting purposes.”
Hungry for more information? Make sure to visit EG’s Sustainability Hub to keep up with all things ESG.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@egi.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @estatesgazette
