FOOTPRINT podcasts

Promoting the positives in timber-framed housing

In Scotland timber-framing accounts for 83% of the market and in England it is 23% and growing (1). Setting out to bust myths around the difficulty of delivering timber-framed volume housebuilding developers and consultants delivering this will answer:

• What are the factors that have expanded the use of timber-framing for housing in Scotland? Are they replicable throughout the UK?
• What are the implications for decarbonisation of the overall housebuilding industry?
• What are the options for multi-family apartment buildings available today?
• How can we regulate to support low-carbon structure for new build housing?

Alex Ely, Founder Director - Mae

 

Simon Vernon-Harcourt, Design & Planning Director - City & Country

Theo Michell, Principal - Bywater Properties

Gordon Megahy, Director - Clancy Consulting

Hero Bennett, Sustainability Director - Max Fordham LLP

Building in Stone: A perpetual virtuous cycle

From extraction to use, stone is a low environmental impact material. Ready to use, affordable, plentiful and easily adapted for reuse, stone is more relevant than ever.

At the heart of stone construction there is a very low carbon footprint, with no heating/cooking process required, very little water needed, with a nose to tail approach including all the wonky bits for a 100% yield of the extracted material.

Chairperson

Valerie Bergeron, Business Development Director - Polycor

Robert Greer, Director - PAYE Stonework and Restoration Ltd

Marcus Paine, Managing Director - Hutton Stone

Thor-Anders Lundh Håkestad, CEO - Lundhs

Breakfast Briefing with White Arkitekter: The role of timber in sustainable city transformation

According to the Local Government Association, nearly 700,000 direct jobs could be created in the low-carbon and renewable energy economy in England alone by 2030, rising to more than 1.18 million by 2050. The large scale rollout of retrofit and other construction activities necessary to deliver low-carbon real estate is dependant on the development of a skilled workforce. How do we encourage people to train for these roles and what will be needed to make these dreams become reality?

Speakers

Mark Richardson, Partner - Troup Bywater + Anders LLP

Nathan Fall, Woodland Manager - Nicholsons Forestry & Landscapes

Richard Bull, Deputy Dean - Nottingham Trent University

Tabitha Binding, Timber Knowledge, Skills and Training

Duncan Brown, Assistant Director of Regeneration & Economic Recovery - Royal Borough of Kingston Council

Can Regenerative Thinking unlock commercial returns?

In a climate of economic insecurity, is regenerative thinking yet another industry buzzword, or can it materialise into meaningful financial, environmental and social value?

Regenerative thinking goes beyond merely lessening the harm of new development; it strives to leverage design and construction as positive forces that repair natural and human systems. This means transitioning from the traditional sustainability focus on "doing less bad," towards "doing more good".

Chairperson

Lora Brill, Head of Sustainability - Buildings - Ramboll

Speakers

Bev Taylor, Energy & Environment Director - Bruntwood

Matt Webster, Head of Environmental sustainability - British Land

Sally Monson, Investment Manager - Norges Bank Investment Management

Samantha Deacon, Biodiversity & Ecosystems Global Strategy Leader - Ramboll

St Edmund’s Hall: Passivhaus in a heritage context

A key part of this project’s development was to look carefully at how Passivhaus can be achieved sympathetically within a sensitive historic context, striking a balance between conservation principles and energy performance. The project provides high quality accommodation for 128 students with a mixture of new construction, refurbishment, and upgrades to the two Grade II Listed buildings on the site.

To help achieve their goal, the new college buildings utilised Passivhaus design while the refurbishment of the existing Victorian villa employed EnerPhit principles. Join the expert panel as they discuss:

• How do we preserve the character and condition of existing buildings while carrying out deep refurbishments?
• How do we build high-density accommodation on a heavily constrained site while limiting embodied carbon and optimising building form?
• What does a new Passivhaus building look like in a conservation area?
• What modern materials and methods of construction can be used to ensure low carbon outcomes?
• How do we achieve a significant biodiversity net-gain on a restricted and already bio-diverse site?

A key part of this project’s development was to look carefully at how Passivhaus can be achieved sympathetically within a sensitive historic context, striking a balance between conservation principles and energy performance. The project provides high quality accommodation for 128 students with a mixture of new construction, refurbishment, and upgrades to the two Grade II Listed buildings on the site.

Speakers

Ronan Morris, Director & Passivhaus Designer - Wright & Wright Architecture

Charlotte Garven, Structural Engineer - Price & Myers

Gwilym Still, Director and Partner - Max Fordham

Climate change adaptation

Climate change resilience is therefore a recurring theme within all global new and emerging ESG disclosure frameworks, including the SFDR and EU Taxonomy. Born off the back of the insurance industry’s recent losses due to the physical impacts of climate change, there is a growing emphasis on mitigation and evaluation of physical risks to individual assets and portfolios. It is expected that all buildings will require bespoke physical risk assessments and adaptation strategies within the next three years, or risk insurance premium rises and asset devaluation.

This session will introduce the definition of Climate change resilience and adaptation including the SFDR and the EU Taxonomy, requirements including:

•  to review the risks to individual assets or entire funds for their physical, reputation and transitional risks associated with climate change in accordance with TFCD and IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures
• to produce risk reduction plans and implementation strategies to future proof assets, funds, and portfolios

Simon Wyatt, Partner, Sustainability - Cundall

Laura Thrower, Senior Responsible Property Investment Analyst - Royal London Asset Management

Elisabeth Marlow, Principal Consultant, Sustainability - Cundall

Bernadette Middleton, Climate Change Risk Engineer - Zurich Insurance

Breakfast Briefing with Polycor, Albion Stone and Hutton Stone: Mayfield School: Redefining construction norms

 

Mayfield School's Health & Wellbeing Centre integrates natural materials such as stone and timber in an innovative and sustainable way, with a special focus on the revolutionary use of low-carbon stone brick. Addressing not only the physical and psychological needs of students the building serves as an educational tool on sustainability. Spatial and material considerations result in a design that is warm, protective, and conducive to mental well-being.

Substituting traditional fired clay brick with stone brick delivers an 86% reduction in carbon emissions. The stone brick's cutting process, powered by renewable electricity, offers flexibility in size and shape. Strength and size advantages open doors to larger format units, enabling the use of single stone blocks for lintels and monumental slabs for entrance portals.

Chairperson

Valerie Bergeron, Business Development Director - Polycor

Speakers

Joe Chilvers, Associate - Adam Richards Architects

Marcus Paine, Managing Director - Hutton Stone

Michael Poultney, Managing Director - Albion Stone

3 Sheldon Square: Accelerating low carbon retrofit

3 Sheldon Square sits in British Land & GIC's Paddington Central campus, adjacent to Paddington Station. 3 Sheldon Square was originally constructed c2000, and with all office tenants vacating in 2022, British Land explored a multitude of development and refurbishment options. 

Retention and reposition of the existing building was the preferred scheme option taken forward, and the project achieves Practical Completion in Q1 2024. This session looks to explore the rationale behind the preferred scheme option, sustainability success and how this fed into attracting a significant anchor letting to compete with new build office product in the vicinity. 

Luke Kelly, Project Director - British Land

Hannah Poole, Senior Leasing Manager - British Land

Joe Morris, Founding Director - Morris+Company

Mohamad Yassine, Associate Director - Rambol