Search Results for: sustainability

November 26, 2020

Leading universities lag behind on sustainability teaching, research claims

Research conducted by EIT InnoEnergy, sustainable energy accelerator, claims that the world’s top ten universities including the University of Cambridge and Harvard University offer, on average, 2.8 courses focusing on sustainability and energy. This is compared to a global average of 5.6, as the accelerator calls for a more robust and comprehensive decarbonisation outlook by all major education players. More →

November 20, 2020

The future of workplace will be shaped by sustainability

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News, Working culture

Dr Leyla Acaroglu, and intranet provider, Unily, have launched the Future of Workplace Sustainability Report, which explores how sustainability, climate change and COVID-19 are shaping the future of the workplace. We are living in a time of great and immediate change, and COVID-19 and climate change are just two of the most obvious forces impacting our way of life. More →

October 20, 2020

Future of the workplace: Sustainability, climate change and COVID-19

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News, Working culture

Environmental and sustainability professional, Dr Leyla Acaroglu, and next generation employee experience platform and intranet provider, Unily, have launched the Future of Workplace Sustainability Report, which explores how sustainability, climate change and COVID-19 are shaping the future of the workplace. More →

November 28, 2019

Surface Design Show 2020 to focus on sustainability and regional differences

by Freddie Steele • Company news

The Surface Design Show, which runs from 11-13 February, has announced its theme for 2020: Close to Home. Held at the Business Design Centre in Islington and celebrating its fifteenth edition, the show’s theme addresses the current climate emergency debate in the context of the surface and materials sector, for both the UK and international markets.

Close to Home will look at a wholly sustainable approach to design. Innovative and thought- provoking products will be highlighted at Surface Spotlight Live, a section of the show curated by trend expert Sally Angharad and forecasters Colour Hive. The theme will look beyond aesthetics and into manufacturers’ impact on the environment, from the processes used in mining or manufacture, through to the carbon footprint sustained during sales and distribution. Designing with a conscience will also be examined, from reusing waste materials to looking at what happens at the end of a product’s life cycle.

There will be a number of home-grown products on display including textiles from the North of England from exhibitors such as New Talent’s The Monkey Puzzle Tree and porcelain in the Midlands from H+E Smith. Several areas worldwide which are renowned for specific materials, will also be represented, from Italian marble to Spanish tiles from Tile of Spain and ceramics from Portugal’s Viúva Lamego. Other issues examined through the theme include why these areas have become market-leaders in their respective material markets, what benefits a project brings to the local area in terms of employment, preserving skills and sustaining the local community, and what challenges there are in continuing to serve the global marketplace.

Further questions to consider include can we ever return to buying locally, with particular reference to the UK post-Brexit, given the fact that we’re so used to being global consumers? Should manufacturers use local designers, as opposed to those based hundreds or even thousands of miles away?

Over the 2½ days, Surface Design Show will host approximately 30 presentations from 50 speakers, including panel discussions and talks centred around this highly topical theme, including Jo Roan, associate strategy director at PriestmanGoode talking sustainability through ‘Get Onboard: Reduce. Reuse. Rethink’ on the Main Stage on from 1:45pm – 2:30pm on Thursday 13 February. Also featured on the Main Stage on Wednesday 12 February is ‘Close to Home: Consciously Creating Spaces from Concept to Completion’ with Nicola Keenan from Boxx Creative ( 3:15pm – 3:45pm) and Hotel

Designs’ editor Hamish Kilburn who highlights the importance of close to home in his presentation entitled ‘Biophilic Materials in Surface Design’ from 12:30pm – 1:00pm on Thursday 13 February.

Tickets are free to professional and trade visitors. Register at https://www.surfacedesignshow.com/register

May 9, 2019

Workers value employers with right approach to sustainability

by George Eltringham • Environment, News

HP has published a new study underscoring the importance of sustainable business practices in recruiting, hiring and retaining top talent. It suggests that employees are more productive, motivated and engaged when working for an employer who is leading the charge in social responsibility. The global, 20,000-participant survey suggests that 61 percent believe sustainability is mandatory for businesses. Of those interviewed, 56 percent believe that ignoring environmental impact in the workplace is as bad as ignoring diversity and inclusion. More →

April 16, 2019

UK architectural firm claims global sustainability first

by George Eltringham • Environment, News

UK-based Bennetts Associates is the first architecture practice in the world to achieve approved Science Based Targets and commit to the UN’s Climate Neutral Now campaign. This commitment builds on the practice’s track record of sustainability within the built environment by taking a leadership position on climate change.

Climate Neutral Now is an initiative launched by the UN Climate Change in 2015 to encourage and support all levels of society to take climate action to achieve a climate neutral world by mid-century, as enshrined in the Paris Agreement. The scheme requires companies to measure and offset carbon footprints across three elements of the business. More →

February 28, 2019

UKGBC claims built environment members are leading the way in sustainability

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

Many built environment businesses are adopting increasingly ambitious sustainability commitments reports the UK Green Building Council in its third annual report ‘Leading the Way’. This presents trends and analysis from research conducted as part of UKGBC’s annual Sustainability 360 Reviews, which look at sustainability trends and insights amongst UKGBC’s 50 industry-leading Gold Leaf member businesses.

December 14, 2018

New Deloitte London office: a world-leading building for sustainability and wellbeing

by Neil Franklin • Company news, Environment, Workplace design

Deloitte’s new UK and North West Europe headquarters at 1 New Street Square, EC4, is claimed to be the largest office in the world to achieve leading certifications for being both an exemplar green building and one designed to enhance the wellbeing of its people. The new 270,000 sq ft HQ, which Deloitte occupied in July, is the culmination of a four year programme redefining the workplace of the future for the firm’s people and clients. The space was designed by ID:SR with furniture supplied by Sketch Studios.

November 28, 2018

New report puts the case for FM contribution to sustainability

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News

A new report has been published which argues that FM has the power, and responsibility to contribute towards social, economic and political betterment, but to do so the sector needs to be more explicit in the value it offers. Sustainability in facilities management: A Holistic View’ from Active Workplace Solutions claims to explore sustainability within the built environment, analyses how the facilities management (FM) sector can impact wider environmental, social and economic goals and build a holistic strategic picture of sustainability. More →

April 24, 2017

Commercial property lenders should drive sustainability through financial innovation ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, News, Property

The commercial real estate finance sector is witnessing a dramatic shift in attitudes towards the issue of sustainability, according to a new report from the Better Buildings Partnership. It claims that major commercial property lenders are already exploring new opportunities that go well beyond traditional risk management through sustainability initiatives that ‘drive new business, strengthen customer relationships and improve the data they hold on the buildings in which they have underwritten’. The report, Beyond Risk Management: How sustainability is driving innovation in commercial real estate finance, is sponsored by CREFC Europe, GeoPhy, ING Bank and Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, and claims to reveal pioneering examples of how lenders are incorporating sustainability into their core business activities.

September 10, 2016

Home working myths + Millennial’s needs + Global sustainability ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Property, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s Newsletter; Mark Eltringham finds some global patterns in office design, but many local differences; suggests we stop treating Generation Y as an alien species; and shares a new report which suggests that younger people are in fact people after all. A new study finds that the perceived benefits of working from home disappear over time; Germans now work significantly longer hours than twenty years ago; and two thirds of those who have worked as an independent contractor in the US would choose not to do so again. The commercial office sector leads the global property market in sustainability; Mothers with young children are a third less likely to be in work than fathers; and we round up the latest post-Brexit news. Download our new Briefing, produced in partnership with Boss Design on the link between culture and workplace strategy and design; visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

September 9, 2016

Office property sector leads global real estate market in sustainability ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property, Wellbeing

The global real estate market is showing signs of improvement across all areas of environmental, social and governance performance (ESG) including a 1.2 percent reduction in energy consumption, 2 percent reduction in GHG emissions and close to 1 percent reduction in water use. It is also placing greater focus on occupant health and well-being. This is according to the latest data compiled by GRESB, a benchmarking organisation for real estate companies and funds which evaluates sustainability practices in the global real estate sector. In the results for the 2016 GRESB Real Estate, Developer and Debt assessments, which analyses the sustainability performance of more than 1,100 real estate portfolios of both private equity and listed companies, Australian entities outperformed all other regions with an average score of 74, which is 14 points above the global average; and office companies and funds outperformed other property types with an average score of 66.