March 6, 2024
Employees are more likely to make donations and willingly volunteer outside of work if their employers engage in environmentally-conscious activities, finds new research from Mannheim Business School (MBS). The findings have been published in the Journal of Business Ethics. More →
March 5, 2024
The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has launched new guidance on Scope 3 embodied carbon measurement and reporting, for stakeholders across the built environment. Scope 3 represents a proportion of an organisation’s indirect embodied carbon emissions that can constitute up to 80-95 percent of its total value chain footprint. Setting out a way to coherently align embodied carbon assessments, the guidance reframes Scope 3 reporting as a singular methodology rather than siloed efforts. More →
March 4, 2024
With almost 70 percent of the world’s population predicted to live in cities by 2050, major built environment professional institutes, including architects, planners, structural engineers and landscape practitioners, have renewed their joint pledge to collaborate to tackle urgent global challenges. Members of the UK Built Environment Advisory Group (UKBEAG), a group first launched in 2016 comprising the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) and the Landscape Institute (LI), have committed to work together for at least another 5 years. More →
March 1, 2024
The new issue of IN Magazine has been published online today. In this issue: we ask why firms are so reluctant to change what they do; a dream of the past and future of work; Andy Lake talks about his new, visionary book; how AI might make cities worse; what inclusive design means; a panel of experts discuss what changing work practices mean for major business districts; why we must rethink how we light our streets and squares; how to strike the right balance when it comes to creating meetings in offices; and we take a grand tour through the Bucharest HQ of the world’s biggest travel group. More →
February 22, 2024
As well as the delights of daytime, cities around the world have long been defined by how their iconic landmarks come to life at night. Think of London’s illuminated riverside or Amsterdam’s canals lit up after dark. These vistas almost come to be synonymous with these places’ very identities. Aston Woodward, co-founder of asset management firm Oxygen also brings one of Australia’s best-known destinations into the mix. “Well-lit buildings at night in any city are attractive. Sydney is a good example and at night is dramatic. Many tourists as well as residents sit and admire a variety of size and colour and interactions generated from the buildings’ lighting.” More →
February 9, 2024
Office buildings with the highest efficiency and sustainability ratings tend to have higher than average service charges, a report from accountancy and business advisory firm BDO claims. The firm’s latest benchmarking report suggests that offices with an ‘outstanding’ or ‘excellent’ Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM) certification had total service charge costs that were 26 percent higher than the other offices it surveyed. Meanwhile, total service charge costs were 6 percent higher for sustainable offices with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of A or B compared to all other offices. More →
February 7, 2024
The London Assembly Planning and Regeneration Committee has published a new report called Retrofit vs Rebuild? which asks how decisions are made to either retrofit or rebuild properties and the carbon implications for both. In London, buildings account for an estimated 68 per cent of the city’s carbon emissions. These emissions arise from the construction, operation, and demolition of buildings. The report claims that, if London is to meet the Mayor’s 2030 net zero target, there is an urgent need to reduce emissions from buildings and to retrofit both housing and commercial stock. More →
January 24, 2024
The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has launched new guidance on retrofitting large office buildings. Setting out the most cost- and carbon-effective retrofit measures in the immediate and longer term, the guidance reframes retrofit as an iterative process rather than a standalone project. UKGBC has found that significant opportunities are being missed by office investors, owners, and occupiers who do not have clear strategies to retrofit offices in place. Firstly, through missing the “easy wins” –low cost, low disruption measures that reduce energy consumption – and secondly, through missing key “trigger points” in lease and maintenance cycles that facilitate easier, more efficient retrofit. More →
January 23, 2024
Progress on the decarbonisation of real estate portfolios is being held back by a lack of understanding and collaboration between property owners and occupiers, according to a new report from the Urban Land Institute C Change programme. If better alignment between the two parties is not prioritised, it has the potential to increase total emissions from the built environment over the medium to long-term as real estate decisions are often medium to long-term commitments, according to the authors. More →
January 23, 2024
The City of Salford is now home to Eden, one of the UK’s most sustainable office buildings, containing Europe’s largest living wall. From the site of a derelict surface car park with no benefits to the people of Salford, English Cities Fund (ECF) has created a 115,000 sq ft development that will transform this neglected urban area into a diverse mixed-use destination and form a key part of ECF’s £1bn regeneration of the Salford Central area. More →
January 18, 2024
The Sustainable Design Collective (SDC) – a think tank of leading design professionals working in the office workplace sector – has opened entries for its annual awards. The announcement follows confirmation of the dates for the second SD Forum to be held on 25th April at the Crypt on the Green in Clerkenwell, London. Free to enter, the Awards are designed to champion ‘best practice’ and highlight innovations leading to greater sustainability within the office workplace. There are three categories: New build and retrofit projects; New products and materials; Innovation including new services or IT solutions as well as collaborations with not-for-profit organisations. More →
January 31, 2024
The three biggest disruptors of our time
by Jennifer Bryan • AI, Business, Comment, Environment, JB, Technology