MORE EFFICIENT Investing for a greener future Being as sustainable as we can is hugely important to us as an organisation, and increasingly so, as the cost of living – and cost of energy – is rising.
We reported on the progress of our environmental, social and governance sustainability in our recent annual Sustainability Report. It included an update on our actions to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions for our existing properties, such as our programme of Cavity Wall Insulation funded by E.ON that’s already insulated nearly 8,000 residents’ homes. Grant-funded opportunities like this make the most of ‘fabric-first’ opportunities for reducing energy use, such as ‘fabric’ measures like insulation and windows. Our new developments now also include solar panels and our new Wharfeside care home has been built to be carbon-neutral and is a great example of just how energy- efficient our homes can be – see page 8.
We’re also developing plans to reduce our climate footprint further. Liz Davenport, our Property Sustainability Director, has been working on the development of our new Sustainability Strategy. “When it launches in 2023, the strategy will set out how we’ll contribute further to the net-zero carbon 2050 agenda, by setting ourselves challenging targets to deliver energy and water savings and increase biodiversity, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions.” “We know colleagues and residents are keen to help too, so work’s underway to run pilots across 2023 for electric vehicle charging at a number of our housing locations. Introducing charging points at thousands of
locations poses many challenges and these pilots will really help inform how we approach any wider introduction. We’re also bidding for funding from the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. If successful, we’ll pilot new approaches to retrofitting a range of energy efficiency measures at some of our locations over the next two years.”
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