FOOTPRINT+ podcasts

Scope 3 emissions reporting can be challenging, but could widespread Whole Life Carbon Assessments (WLCAs) make the process easier? With a range of industry voices including UKGBC, Part Z and IStructE calling for regulations to mandate whole life carbon assessments, this session will explore how the industry can utilise and optimise emissions reporting. In particularly, panellists will discuss:

Hear from key stakeholders working to implement these procedures within their businesses and the effects that doing so is having for the wider construction industry.

Chairperson

Simon Joe Portal, Head of Engineering & Sustainability – UK - Drees & Sommer

Social value delivers public benefit while tapping into the skillset of the development industry. What place has social value in property?

With different approaches from three developers, this presentation will discuss both direct and tangential benefits of social value creation. Is social value the new philanthropy and could it signal a change to S106 contributions?

There are growing regulatory and commercial risks associated with older, less energy-efficient buildings. Over 70% of the UK’s commercial stock was built before 2000 so a huge proportion of buildings will require retrofitting to meet Net Zero goals. 

This session will  provide clarity on how to implement net zero retrofit, illustrate the opportunities available from transitioning less-efficient assets towards net zero and show both asset owners and occupiers how to benefit from the process in the short, medium and long-term.

This booming building typology has gone from strength to strength in the last few years, particularly following the pandemic, once everyone's awareness of health and wellbeing was heightened. Hear from some of the leading experts on how to balance the rapid expansion in this sector with the drive for Net Zero performance and wellness requirements for life sciences employees.

Castleforge’s redevelopment in Golden Lane reimagines a heritage asset at the heart of the city.  Sustainability has been a key driver for the client with a variety of certifications undertaken and a desire to get the project recognized as Net Zero in Operation and Construction within the current UKGBC framework.

Using Circular Economy principles has been key to minimising embodied carbon; there have been challenges and successes. A low-carbon timber extension would have significantly increased embodied emissions due to the fire protection measures necessary and over-cladding existing facades was unviable due to the poor structural condition. However, successes have included salvaging steel from the original building, enabling the addition of four storeys without any foundation strengthening and a thorough deconstruction process ensured 96% of the existing structure is retained along with other elements.

Uno also demonstrates the challenge to resolve the demands of NABERS accreditation alongside TM54 and TM65 within a heritage building.  Ultimately these analyses result in an improved building through:

In this session we demonstrate how measuring carbon emissions at each design stage ensures that decisions are taken in an informed manner for the lowest carbon project overall.

Buildings and campus identity are a big consideration for students deciding where to study. Frequently new buildings are proposed, with designers selected through competition competing to develop modern state-of-the-art facilities.

Higher Education is moving on from that model to give existing buildings and campuses a new lease of life. This approach retains and enhances the character of its campuses for generations to come making best use of existing buildings, saving demolition and the embodied carbon burden that entails.

Communities are coming together to change the places where they live for the better and to develop their skills, build their confidence and make new friendships. Enabling businesses to put their corporate responsibility strategies into action helps connect them with communities and helping them build social value into their services.

In this session we hear from the groups, organisations, businesses and landowners creating and developing landscapes and green spaces that boost wellbeing, increase resilience and bring a bit of happiness and joy to those that use them, whilst also delivering biodiversity improvement and help to combat climate change.

• how and where it can be installed

Our economies depend on the resources given to them for ‘free’ by nature and the environment. Construction activities are highly dependent on these resources. Increasingly, the international community is recognising the vital role of nature and biodiversity in tackling the climate challenge in a way that enables communities to thrive. This growing international focus on preserving and restoring natural landscapes is creating new alternative asset classes based on nature itself.

How can we ensure that the complex ecosystems on which life depends are not depleted? How can construction businesses invest in natural capital and what are the some of positive outcomes?

Regenerative construction is an approach to planning, design and construction that aims to create sustainable, resilient, and thriving communities. It goes beyond traditional sustainable development, beyond recycling and reuse, by focusing on restoring and replenishing ecosystems, enhancing social well-being, and fostering economic vitality. Success in regenerative construction is reliant on the value chain working together.

This session will focus on the findings of a novel digital project completed by Morgan Sindall Construction and their partners to re-consider how a secondary school that they completed in 2021 could be re-imagined as a regenerative asset. The project specifically identified the socio-economic impacts arising from renewable processes and products. What are the implications for supply chain, communities, government and individuals?