Design &

Deliver

Responsibly

What we’re doing about our future developments.

Reductions from deductions

The science of delivering sustainable buildings is advancing with every year. And, as the projects in this section demonstrate our understanding of how to reduce the embodied carbon and energy consumption in the realisation of new buildings is moving on with each iteration.
‍
You can also find out more about our latest progress in offsetting the carbon we generate, and in developing our very own source of renewable energy, on our Scottish land. In addition, we use our Green Finance Framework to support our new developments in achieving our net zero carbon ambition.

Download our latest update on our green finance expenditure and assurance statement.

Read Full

Read Less

Embodied

carbon

We are striving to reduce the carbon footprint generated by our buildings before they become operational: their embodied carbon. This is made up of the total carbon dioxide equivalent emissions generated at every stage of construction, including the materials, manufacturing and transport of all components, down to the last door hinge.

You can explore the embodied carbon intensity of our refurbishment and development projects here.

We’ll continue to innovate and learn to achieve the lowest possible levels in our future buildings.

DEEPER UNDERSTANDING

The construction industry is increasing its understanding all the time of how to measure the embodied carbon of everything that goes into new and refurbished buildings. The more we understand, the more we can reduce.
01/02

Francis House

On our Francis House SW1 project, a 38,000 square feet warehouse refurbishment in Victoria, we’ve worked hand-in-hand with a smaller contractor and their supply chain to learn more, together, about the embodied carbon of mechanical and electrical (M&E) equipment such as air-source heat pumps and chillers.
Following industry guidance and with the support of our sustainability consultant, the contractor made great strides in gaining data from its supply chain that enabled a much more accurate estimate of embodied carbon than the benchmark figure typically provided for M&E plant. Generally, industry guidelines suggest building services make up 15% of upfront embodied carbon however, this work found embodied carbon for building services was actually 21% for Francis House. We now have our next area of focus for reducing emissions on future projects. And we’ve been able to submit our findings back to the industry for use in future guidance.
‍
Soho Place W1 We also carried out an analysis to estimate the impact a Cat A fit-out – and its associated strip-out – has on embodied carbon. For our occupiers at Soho Place this equated to between 10 kgCO2e/m2 – 40 kgCO2e/m2, which could increase the embodied carbon footprint by up to 4%. This analysis has influenced our procurement route for future projects to reduce avoidable carbon.
02/02
01/02

A deeper understanding

The construction industry is increasing its understanding all the time of how to measure the embodied carbon of everything that goes into new and refurbished buildings. The more we understand, the more we can reduce.
01/04

Francis House

On our Francis House SW1 project, a 38,000 square feet warehouse refurbishment in Victoria, we’ve worked hand-in-hand with a smaller contractor and their supply chain to learn more, together, about the embodied carbon of mechanical and electrical (M&E) equipment such as air-source heat pumps and chillers.
02/04

Francis House

Following industry guidance and with the support of our sustainability consultant, the contractor made great strides in gaining data from its supply chain that enabled a much more accurate estimate of embodied carbon than the benchmark figure typically provided for M&E plant. Generally, industry guidelines suggest building services make up 15% of upfront embodied carbon however this work found embodied carbon for building services was actually 21% for Francis House.

We now have our next area of focus for reducing emissions on future projects. And we’ve been able to submit our findings back to industry for use in future guidance.
‍
03/04

Francis House

Soho Place W1 We also carried out an analysis to estimate the impact a Cat A fit-out – and its associated strip-out – has on embodied carbon. For our occupiers at Soho Place this equated to between 10 kgCO2e/m2 – 40 kgCO2e/m2, which could increase the embodied carbon footprint by up to 4%. This analysis has influenced our procurement route for future projects to reduce avoidable carbon.
04/04
01/02

CIRCULAR ECONOMICS:
‍PUTTING VALUE BACK 

Every project offers chances to reduce embodied carbon by applying circular economy principles: reusing materials and components that might otherwise head for recycling or, worse, landfill.
03
02
01
03
/03
What’s important is getting a full, early picture, via a pre-redevelopment audit, of everything in a building that could be reused or repurposed – not as a box-ticking exercise, but as one that influences and benefits the design.
Defining the disposal pathways for materials that can’t be reused on site needs to be done long before strip-out or demolition takes place. Drawing on the expertise of our contractors and supply chains early on in projects means we can map possible circular routes for materials leaving the site and avoid delays further down the line.
At Network W1, our new-build project on Tottenham Court Road, we’ve partnered with a specialist company to remove and recondition the raised access floors from the existing building and purchase refurbished ones for use in the new building. Approaches like this for significantly reducing waste and embodied carbon will help achieve our ambitious low-carbon targets for Network, and other properties.

MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE, MINIMUM ENERGY

Who needs a Formula One car to make the school drop-off?

And who needs buildings that are designed for a maximum of demand that will never be reached? Historically, top-flight commercial buildings have been designed and specified to deal with never-seen conditions: maximum occupancy, maximum demand, extreme temperatures and so on.
‍‍
That age has passed. For the projects in our development pipeline, we’re focusing on designing and refurbishing buildings to deliver maximum performance for real levels of demand and to meet our net zero carbon requirements.

With our sustainability and engineering consultants, we’ve developed the Operational Net Zero Carbon Brief: a standard document that will be issued to all consultants on future projects, setting out our objectives, augmented by assumptions about occupancy and targets for heating, cooling, ventilation and other building services that better mirror tomorrow’s real-world conditions. The work to create this brief has had a major influence on the recently updated Guide for Specification, published by the British Council for Offices in early 2023.

Read Full

Read Less

Good wood:

CARBON OFFSETTING

Part of our Net Zero Carbon Pathway is an ongoing programme of carbon offsetting. We’ve continued to work with Climate Impact Partners and community-based reforestation programmes in Kenya and Uganda to offset the embodied carbon of our developments. Get the data.
01/02
Good wood

Carbon offsetting

We have also been exploring opportunities to set up a carbon offsetting scheme of our own. Such a scheme would give us more control and oversight than we have with any overseas programme.
Our plan for a 100-acre 18.4 MW solar park, at Lochaulds Farm on our Scottish portfolio, received a ‘minded-to-grant’ decision from Glasgow City Council. Full planning permission is expected in H1 2023 and will provide the green light for a facility that would meet almost half of the electricity needs of our managed portfolio.
‍
In 2022, we continued to use the carbon credits we’ve purchased to offset the carbon of all buildings completed in the year, making them all net zero carbon in construction. Get the data.
‍
Our current tree-planting scheme on our Scottish land near Glasgow yielded its first carbon credits in 2021 and, following consultation, archaeological surveys and bird surveys, we plan to plant a further 85 hectares of woodland over 2023 and 2024. This is projected to provide around 100 tCO2e by 2030, and 37,000 tCO2e across the woodland’s 100-year life cycle.
‍
In addition to planting trees, we commissioned a natural capital audit of our land to help us understand the options there beyond new woodland for sequestering carbon – by making changes in forestry management, drainage management and farming methods, for example. We’re exploring ways to align these with community projects, working alongside occupiers.
02/02
01/02
Good wood:

Carbon offsetting

Part of our Net Zero Carbon Pathway is an ongoing programme of carbon offsetting. We’ve continued to work with Climate Impact Partners and community-based reforestation programmes in Kenya and Uganda to offset the embodied carbon of our developments. In 2022, we continued to use the carbon credits we’ve purchased to offset the carbon of all buildings completed in the year, making them all net zero carbon in construction. Get the data
01/04
Good wood:

Carbon offsetting

We have also been exploring opportunities to set up a carbon offsetting scheme of our own. Such a scheme would give us more control and oversight than we have with any overseas programme.
02/04
Good wood:

Carbon offsetting

Our current tree-planting scheme on our Scottish land near Glasgow yielded its first carbon credits in 2021 and, following consultation, archaeological surveys and bird surveys, we plan to plant a further 85 hectares of woodland over 2023 and 2024.

This is projected to provide around 100 tCO2e by 2030, and 37,000 tCO2e across the woodland’s 100-year life cycle.
‍
03/04
Good wood:

Carbon offsetting

In addition to planting trees, we commissioned a natural capital audit of our land to help us understand the options there beyond new woodland for sequestering carbon – by making changes in forestry management, drainage management and farming methods, for example. We’re exploring ways to align these with community projects, working alongside tenants. (Link to section on Scotland in Community section)
04/04
01/02
Power on:

Renewable energy

We’re not simply relying on the market for the renewable energy we need to become a net zero carbon business. In 2022, we took a step closer to becoming a producer of clean energy.
01/02
Power on:

Renewable energy

As our plans for our Scottish land take shape, we’re converting a former barn into a new office that will include its own photovoltaic array of around 200 solar panels. Once in use, the array will render the building net zero carbon both in construction and operation.
In 2021 and 2022, we procured 97% (restated for additional data capture) and 98% Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) backed electricity respectively. Following a comprehensive contract review in 2022, 100% of contracts up for renewal were switched to a Renewable Green Gas Origin (RGGO) tariff and 79% of gas used in 2022 was procured on these tariffs. Together, 92% of energy (electricity and gas combined) purchased was in 2022 on green contracts.

Our Sustainability team is having a much wider influence on the way the sector procures energy than just our own property portfolio. Derwent London is part of a UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) task group of industry experts, from developers and energy consultants to legal specialists, looking at how to accelerate green electricity procurement and with it, the decarbonisation of the built environment’s energy.
02/02
01/02
Power on:

Renewable energy

We’re not simply relying on the market for the renewable energy we need to become a net zero carbon business. In 2022, we took a step closer to becoming a producer of clean energy.
01/03
Power on:

Renewable energy

As our plans for our Scottish land take shape, we’re converting a former barn into a new office that will include its own photovoltaic array of around 200 solar panels. Once in use, the array will render the building net zero carbon both in construction and operation.
02/03
Power on:

Renewable energy

In 2021 and 2022, we procured 97% (restated for additional data capture) and 98% Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) backed electricity respectively. Following a comprehensive contract review in 2022, 100% of contracts up for renewal were switched to a Renewable Green Gas Origin (RGGO) tariff and 79% of gas used in 2022 was procured on these tariffs. Together, 92% of energy (electricity and gas combined) purchased was in 2022 on green contracts.

Our Sustainability team is having a much wider influence on the way the sector procures energy than just our own property portfolio. Derwent London is part of a UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) task group of industry experts, from developers and energy consultants to legal specialists, looking at how to accelerate green electricity procurement and with it, the decarbonisation of the built environment’s energy.
03/03
01/02