With climate change at the forefront of almost every country on earth’s agenda, sustainability and the goal of net zero carbon emissions has to be everyone’s responsibility, not least the real estate sector!

We at Prime Phenix recognise this is not just the responsibility of policy makers, national or even global real estate companies but one that must be shared by us all. Since our inception in 2016, we have made sustainability and decarbonisation a focus and consideration at every stage of our developments. We employ the latest build methodologies and technology to reduce the carbon footprint of each of our developments.

From design to delivery, we go the extra mile so ensure that the owners of our newly built properties can enjoy energy efficient homes that are a better fit for the future, to not only maintain their value but most importantly limit their impact on the environment.

A glimpse into future UK policy for property…

The UK Green Buildings Council (UKGBC) released its Whole Life Carbon Roadmap, coinciding with the COP26 conference. The report includes the carbon footprint of the property industry, recommended policy interventions for central and local government, and stakeholder action plans for key industry stakeholders including developers, landlords, occupiers and others.

The report summarises that in theory the built environment directly contributes to 25% of UK emissions and 42% when including transport elements. To achieve net zero by 2050 they outline five suggested areas for action:

    • Nation-wide retrofitting of existing homes 

    • Energy performance disclosure for non-domestic buildings 

    • Adoption of a design for performance approach 

    • Whole life carbon measurements and agreed limits 

    • National infrastructure investment based on net emissions impact

The UKGBC have put forward a number of incentives to help retrofit 97% of homes by 2040 such as: variable stamp-duty adjusted in line with EPC, removal of VAT on refurbishment, council tax reform, government grants, incentivising banks and lenders to offer low interest and mortgage extensions and loans for retrofit, and adjust the gas and electricity tax regime.

Currently emissions generated as a result of construction (embodied carbon) remain unregulated. The UKGBC have recommended legislation to first measure such emissions by 2023 – as part of the Whole Life Cycle – and then introduce targets from 2025.

Did you know the global real estate sector is responsible for around 40% of annual CO2 emissions, consumes 40% of energy annually and uses 40% of raw materials? (Fifth Wall)

UN Climate Change Conference, known as COP26 has made the real estate sector sit up and make climate change and the related non-financial factors an integral part of their business strategies. 

Whilst COP26 is a great start on the journey of decarbonisation in the real estate industry, policy is often slow to trickle down to company practice. Such policy also faces a fight with commercial viability and the cost faced by real estate companies to make the shift to truly sustainable building.

It has been argued that further R&D and investment needs to be made in carbon cutting technology. Research has found that existing technologies will not resolve even half of the C02 emissions from the real estate industry (Fifth Wall).

Whilst COP26 have aimed to bring the industry to net zero by 2050, JLL have warned that companies may need to act sooner. Companies without plans in place to make their assets net zero carbon could struggle to secure debt against them within as little as two years.

“I would say most companies at the moment are not putting these practices in place because they have costed it and it doesn’t make immediate financial sense. My question then is, how will you maintain liquidity and resilience in your business? Is this an asset that will still be liquid in three years’ time if you do nothing? “If acting now means you can still get debt and you still have a liquid asset, there is your return on invested capital. Otherwise, you are up a creek and you don’t have a paddle.”  (Guy Grainger – JLL)

You can find out more about how we build luxury homes, without compromising our commitment to sustainability and the environment. https://www.primephenix.com/about/ 

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