Buildings

The Partnership continues to deliver initiatives that improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across our physical estate. As such, we’re targeting a minimum 10% biodiversity net gain for all new-build construction projects. We're working with landscape architects and ecologists on our build-to-rent schemes on incorporating natural elements, such as biophilic design principles that bring people closer to nature, considering the introduction of habitats for nests and birds and aiming for an Urban Greening Factor (UGF) of 0.3. UGF is an evaluation of green environments in new developments that assigns a score to planning applications. Scores range from 0 for materials such as concrete to 1 for environments such as woodland.


Taken together, these efforts will help reduce our environmental impact while creating more welcoming, natural surroundings for our residents to enjoy. As part of our net zero strategy, we are continuing to switch the heating source in our buildings from fossil fuels to electric heat pumps powered by zero-carbon renewable energy. To support this, we have devised a programme which sets a target for the number of heat pump installations each year, to be aligned to our SBTi targets. In addition, it is policy that any new-build stores are designed and built to be fossil fuel-free in operation (with the exception of unavoidable refrigerant requirements).


We have continued to deploy the pioneering AirDoor™ technology which lessens hot and cold air infiltration into a building, thereby reducing the energy consumption required to regulate temperatures.


To find out more about our energy efficiency progress, see the performance data in our latest Ethics & Sustainability Report.