FOOTPRINT+ podcasts

Construction projects have an immense capacity to drive change. As our sector’s interdependency with nature becomes more pronounced, how do we harness that capacity through procurement techniques? We hear from public sector construction stakeholders, who are involved in billions of pounds of construction output, how they use the procurement of construction activities to support the development of nature-based solutions.

According to the Local Government Association, nearly 700,000 direct jobs could be created in the low-carbon and renewable energy economy in England alone by 2030, rising to more than 1.18 million by 2050. The large scale rollout of retrofit and other construction activities necessary to deliver low-carbon real estate is dependant on the development of a skilled workforce. How do we encourage people to train for these roles and what will be needed to make these dreams become reality?

Achieving a net zero economy by 2050 is a significant challenge for the UK. This Breakfast Briefing will delve into the potential benefits of adopting a retrofit-first strategy and its role in advancing our journey towards net zero. 

Retrofitting holds the promise of reducing carbon emissions, energy consumption and utility expenses, but what are the actual reductions being achieved?

A successful retrofit can enhance indoor air quality and thermal comfort, but is this happening in reality?

We know that retrofitting incurs significant costs, but what exactly are our expenditure figures and what financial savings will the client and occupier realise?

Join SRE and Savills Investment Management who aim to answer these questions and more by measuring the impacts of retrofitting the award-winning Cathedral Hill Industrial Estate, Guildford.

This session will cover key factors involved in the retrofit, from initial client objectives, the process itself, outcomes and how what has been learned can apply equally to retrofit and new build projects. 

The UK has the oldest housing stock in Europe with up to 40% homes built before 1946. Decarbonisation of the sector is progressing much slower than on much of the continent. Across the UK 70% of homes are owner occupied, 18% are in some kind of social rent and 12% in private rent.

What solutions work for our older housing stock?

Retrofit Balsall Heath is a project overcoming these hurdles, where 649 houses have been retrofitted using Local Authority Delivery Phase 3 funding at no cost to the homeowners. Harnessing the economies of scale that contractors can offer the backbone of the programme stems from engagement with building owners and occupiers to build understanding and confidence in the scheme. 

Within the social rented sector, the HACT’s Retrofit Credits project presents an alternative approach to solving the funding issue. HACT tracks carbon-emission reduction and measures the social value impact from retrofitting dwellings, certified under the Verified Carbon Standard and sells these to businesses who have taken steps to decarbonise their businesses and wish to further offset their emissions. Currently the funding is used to help housing associations and local authorities retrofit properties alleviating fuel poverty and improving unhealthy and energy inefficient homes. 

With 17% of emissions coming from residential building in the UK, the sector has fallen behind due to a mix of lack of funding and uncertainty that the public feel about what they should do. Come and hear how these two projects are facilitating housing retrofit and what these tools could mean to reduce carbon emissions from the built environment.

Lightweight timber extensions can achieve large increases of accommodation with lower embodied energy and utilising existing foundations.

Engaging a design team to appraise your portfolio for extensions opportunities can be time consuming and costly. 

A new free, open access digital tool is being developed to enable property owners and asset managers to do this for themselves. Hear from the designers of the tool on the objectives and the level of detail needed as input to the tool and watch a live demonstration of the process in action.

In Scotland timber-framing accounts for 83% of the market and in England it is 23% and growing (1). Setting out to bust myths around the difficulty of delivering timber-framed volume housebuilding developers and consultants delivering this will answer:

From extraction to use, stone is a low environmental impact material. Ready to use, affordable, plentiful and easily adapted for reuse, stone is more relevant than ever.

At the heart of stone construction there is a very low carbon footprint, with no heating/cooking process required, very little water needed, with a nose to tail approach including all the wonky bits for a 100% yield of the extracted material.

Chairperson

According to the Local Government Association, nearly 700,000 direct jobs could be created in the low-carbon and renewable energy economy in England alone by 2030, rising to more than 1.18 million by 2050. The large scale rollout of retrofit and other construction activities necessary to deliver low-carbon real estate is dependant on the development of a skilled workforce. How do we encourage people to train for these roles and what will be needed to make these dreams become reality?

In a climate of economic insecurity, is regenerative thinking yet another industry buzzword, or can it materialise into meaningful financial, environmental and social value?

Regenerative thinking goes beyond merely lessening the harm of new development; it strives to leverage design and construction as positive forces that repair natural and human systems. This means transitioning from the traditional sustainability focus on "doing less bad," towards "doing more good".

A key part of this project’s development was to look carefully at how Passivhaus can be achieved sympathetically within a sensitive historic context, striking a balance between conservation principles and energy performance. The project provides high quality accommodation for 128 students with a mixture of new construction, refurbishment, and upgrades to the two Grade II Listed buildings on the site.

To help achieve their goal, the new college buildings utilised Passivhaus design while the refurbishment of the existing Victorian villa employed EnerPhit principles. Join the expert panel as they discuss:

• How do we preserve the character and condition of existing buildings while carrying out deep refurbishments?