This World Earth Day, we’re looking back at the key steps we’ve taken over the past year to reduce our impact on the environment. They are as follows:
- 82% of our homes had a BER A2 rating in 2021 – up to 50% estimated to be A1 in 2022
- We achieved ISO14001 Certification
- We reduced our direct emissions (scope 1 & 2) by 25% from 2020 on an intensity basis
- We started our move towards electric vehicles replacing 16 diesel vehicles with Electric Vehicles
- We constructed 77% of units sold in 2021 using off-site manufacturing methods which reduces waste and emission
Building on this strong foundation, our key focus in 2022 will be the development of our plan to transition to net zero, which we will publish during the year. Read more on our other sustainability initiatives in our 2021 Annual Report.
Net zero means reducing the emissions we add to the atmosphere whilst increasing the amount we remove. This will allow us to become carbon neutral overall.
By building A-rated homes, we're also helping our residents to live more sustainably. The Building Energy Rating (BER) is a good indicator of how much a home will spend on energy (like heat and light) and how much carbon it will produce to heat the dwelling to a comfortable level. Energy-efficient homes are more comfortable, they're cheaper to heat and cool and they reduce the carbon footprint of the household.
It's important to us to help our customers to live more sustainably. We install air-to-water heat pumps in all our new homes so that residents wont need to rely on fossil fuels for heating. We pre-wire our homes for an EV charge point so that residents can choose an electric option when it comes to buying a new car.
We sponsor Biodiversity workshops in schools in the areas where we build and we're committed to supporting pollinators and biodiversity in our landscaping. At Glenveagh we strive to create not only sustainable homes but sustainable communities.