Sustainability Accounting That Makes Cents: SASB Standards for Real Estate and Home Building

Sep 20, 2023 | ESG, net zero, New Build, Retrofit, Strategy, Sustainability, Uncategorised

As the global community continues to grapple with the urgent need to address environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, standards and frameworks for sustainability reporting have become essential tools for businesses, investors, and regulators alike. The...

Net Zero carbon roadmap – SHIFT roundtable session

Mar 28, 2022 | Carbon, Climate Change, net zero, New Build, Retrofit, Roundtable, Strategy

This SHIFT roundtable session took place on the 15th March 2022 and included social landlords representing tens of thousands of UK homes. The summary focuses primarily on points raised during the roundtable discussion. A more comprehensive guide to decarbonisation can...

Roundtable sessions (and a couple of in-person training events)

Feb 16, 2022 | Climate Change, ESG, Heating, New Build, Retrofit, Supply Chain

We’ve had excellent feedback from our webinars which are helping our SHIFT clients make environmental improvements.  They are also great for connecting with peers. We will be running more sessions over the coming months to help social landlords make even more...

Phew! No more scorchers! New overheating regulations for new build homes

Feb 9, 2022 | Climate Change, New Build

At last, building regulations have been updated with the intention of reducing overheating in residential buildings [1].  There is now a different approach to the previous methodology which used historic summer temperatures instead of projected summer temperatures and...

Hands on in Swindon – practical retrofit

Dec 15, 2021 | New Build, Retrofit

It’s great to have a strategic knowledge of how to get a sustainable housing stock.  At SHIFT we’re also keen to keep up to date with the practical side of retrofit.  How big is a heat pump?  Where does the ducting on MVHR go?  How thick is internal wall insulation?...

8 reasons to do environmental post-occupancy evaluation

Nov 22, 2021 | New Build

Many social landlords and other building owners are carrying out or planning energy efficiency improvement work to their housing and building stock. It’s one thing to make the improvements, but it’s another to ensure that they actually reduce environmental impacts....

Building to EPC A – roundtable review

Oct 11, 2021 | Carbon, New Build, Uncategorised

Building new homes to EPC A rating is an approach we champion at SHIFT and with 25% of our landlords having already built to this standard, the demand for a roundtable to share advice and experiences was high! Across two sessions, 18 social housing providers managing...

Over and above costs of tighter standards in new builds

Mar 30, 2021 | New Build

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) published an “over and above” cost for energy efficient new build of £4,800 [1].  However, many building professionals we speak to cannot replicate this figure when they are planning an EPC A new build.  We took a closer look at...

A Horror Story – Poor environmental performance in new builds

Mar 24, 2021 | New Build, Uncategorised

Following on from our blog on the New Homes Ombudsman, Paul Surin [1], IBM’s Global Lead on the Built Environment and BIM, shared his experience of very poor quality new build.  He thought he was moving into a highly energy efficient performing home, but after moving...