FOOTPRINT+ podcasts

With the goal to achieve carbon neutrality across their UK portfolio of projects by 2045, Skanska have developed practical data driven tools that allow for timely interventions both in construction projects and within their facilities management activities.

The carbon impact of a building from design to operation relies heavily on the plant and equipment installed and maintained as part of a project. 

Recognising the urgency to provide comprehensive carbon and energy information for achieving sustainability aspirations and future-proofing assets, Skanska is leveraging digital technology using their own smart building platform and advanced carbon calculation methods for plant and equipment. An expert panel will discuss:

The reuse focused strip out has been successfully delivered by KpH, which by the time of conference will have been followed by comprehensive deconstruction and enabling works phase with the main works commencing this summer.

Utilising Orms’ materials passports research, the team have developed a reuse methodology for the development which has led to immense success in recovering materials for reuse and high-grade recycling. This includes recovery of 15,000 ceiling tiles, 72t stone and over 8,500 lights, every element of the building has been considered for reuse.

Building on the learnings from earlier projects has enable and created:

Working closely with City of London Council and participating in the ROMULUS research project, the project has so far facilitated reuse of 702t of materials removed from the original building. This is a true retrofit led building.

District East is an ambitious, nature-led life sciences development in Cambridge. The mission is to attract world-class innovation by designing a masterplan that inspires researchers and entrepreneurs, while ensuring that it remains open to the surrounding community. This contaminated brownfield site will be healed using regenerative landscapes designed as places for human interaction. The vision is to allow science to be seen and celebrated and to inspire and benefit local communities. With no formal edges, all of the buildings – from labs to cafes – will be placed in a landscape that respects existing neighbourhood routes. 

The team will describe key goals of the project which include:

Developed as a platform for experimentation and industry collaboration, Hilson Moran's Living Lab in Hays Galleria has been testing new innovations in the industry for nearly a year, one of which is the Artus AR75 unit. 

The expert panel share insights into the operational performance and user experience of: 

Implementing material reuse requires the construction industry to learn new ways of collaborating, pushing boundaries of the traditional project structures. Effective collaboration, following practical steps, is essential to identify and implement reuse opportunities.

Resolving onsite reuse strategies should be the first objective for project teams, but when reuse on-site isn’t feasible, how do we work across projects to enable the circular economy? Can competitors become collaborators to deliver greater value for all and improve efficiencies beyond the project scope?

Developers face numerous uphill challenges when faced with retrofit. In order to create the conditions that encourage the reuse of buildings, rather than demolish and build new, it needs to be simpler and more profitable. The reuse of existing buildings has the potential to stimulate economic growth, meet our housing targets, create jobs, improve public health, reduce waste, all whilst working towards a net zero property industry.

There are currently numerous disincentives to retrofit such as VAT, lack of regulation of embodied carbon and/or tax on carbon emissions through. What mechanisms should be employed to remove these obstacles, and whose job is it to do so? How can we have a profitable net zero property industry?

Urbanest Battersea is the largest student living building designed to Passivhaus standards in Europe, the largest Passivhaus building in the UK and the eight largest in the world. Providing high-quality, energy efficient accommodation for 853 students it represents a significant achievement for client, design team and contractor. Passivhaus principles promise lower operational costs despite slightly higher capital cost and improved comfort for the students. For building operators in PBSA and BTR these costs can very quickly be offset.

Having received certification this February the building has yet to be in operation a full year but there have been significant learnings to share:

Learn how the team behind Britain’s first skyscraper lab is working towards achieving ambitious embodied carbon budgets. Currently under construction, One North Quay is 76,500m2 , >130m tower, which is set to become Europe’s largest commercial laboratory. Join the Client and the Design Team as they reflect on the project’s embodied carbon sustainability ambitions; how they have been realised to date; and the lessons learnt from this process that can be applied to future projects.

The Team will explore how they worked with the brief and the massing on site to embed sustainable principles from the early days of the project. They will deep dive into the systematic carbon reduction procedure used throughout the project's design stages, resulting in the structural upfront embodied carbon (A1-A5) being reduced by nearly 50%, achieving a SCORS rating of C, beating the project targets for a typical low-carbon lab and saving ~20,000 tCO2e. And they will share their innovative approach to the construction stages of the project, implementing technologies such as turning demolished concrete from site into recycled aggregate and bathing it in liquid CO2 to sequester carbon into the slabs.

Explore how the Building Safety Act offers an unparalleled opportunity to deliver value and enhance social housing, particularly across the country’s 12,500 higher-risk buildings. Our expert speakers will delve into leveraging the Act to ensure best-practice fire and structural, while in parallel retrofitting to enable sustainable living standards that meet modern housing needs. Attendees will gain insights into adapting existing buildings for housing while aligning with sustainability goals and long-term maintenance strategies.

For communities to embrace net zero, they need to feel the direct benefits, and trust that the transition will have a positive impact on the places they live, work and play. UKGBC’s new Regenerative Places programme takes a place-based approach that explores how local stakeholders can co-create their own retrofit strategies, delivering broad 'regenerative' benefits to communities, strengthening climate resilience and improving people's health & wellbeing.

The LARA initiative is a collaboration where 4 pilot local authorities are working towards Local Retrofit Action Plans setting a blueprint for bespoke retrofit strategies that address the unique challenges and opportunities of each region.

Hear from UKGBC, MCS Foundation and CIVIC SQUARE as they explore: