Who we are

We are investors, institutional property owners and managers, leading designers and engineers, academics and civil servants, as well as other professionals all active in the UK property sector. We welcome members and participants from the public and private, large and small organisations who care about advancing sustainability in all areas of our industry.

Events

January 2014 – Can a major event be the catalyst for a more cohesive community? A debate led by Kate Brown, Sir Stuart Lipton, Paul Brickell and Malcolm Smith– read the summary here

May 13, 2014 – Resilient cities in the age of climate change – strategies and priorities. Further information and registration can be found here

June 18, 2014 – Joint UK European Sustainability Council Meeting, London. Further information and registration can be found here

Our Vision

Our vision is to accelerate the rapid uptake of sustainability across the UK real estate sector, and to remove barriers to enable everyone to implement sustainable practice in all aspects of their work.

We will do this by providing inspiration to the UK property industry through high quality presentations of thought leaders, member discussion, select speakers and by sharing examples of best practice locally and internationally.  We participate as a respected voice in the UK industry on sustainability issues and a ‘safe harbour’ where ideas can be discussed among peers, explored and fostered.  We aim to be the first port of call for members in the UK on sustainability issues.

Approach

We will work with industry representatives and the public sector in the UK to establish the national agenda. We also work closely with ULI, Greenprint and the European Council internationally, to ensure that we are sharing best practice and thought leadership here in with our members in the UK.

Areas of Focus

• Existing Buildings – How to meet ambitious UK government targets in existing stock.  Performance and retrofit and implications for secondary locations.  Disconnection between government targets and planning particularly on historic buildings
• Overlaying building performance with productivity: how people behave in buildings – using buildings efficiently, indoor environment quality, productivity and wellbeing.  Picking up on ‘health’ theme that ULI internationally is launching
• Social cohesion – sustainable communities need social cohesion.  Civil unrest has been apparent in many cities during recent austerity.  Focus on promoting strong liveable communities accessible to varying income levels
• Climate Resilience: climate change vulnerability and adaptation.  Work with insurance and reinsurance industries on climate resilience.

Recent ULI Research links

• Investing in Resiliency: Ranking the Most Resilient Cities
• Building for Wellness – explores the business case for healthy development
• After Sandy: Advancing Strategies for Long-Term Resilience and Adaptability
• Greenprint Performance Report: Volume 4
• Sustainability Measured- Gauging the Energy Efficiency of European Warehouses
• Climate Change, Land Use, and Energy 2010: New Tools. New Rules

See the ULI Resource Center for many more reports on various aspects of sustainability. http://americas.uli.org/research/climate-energy/

Council Members

Kate Brown – Grosvenor Global Head of Sustainability – Chair
Malcolm Smith – Fellow, Arup – Vice Chair Content
Simon Sturgis – Managing Director, Sturgis Carbon Profiling – Vice Chair Programming/Events
George Tyler – Founding Partner, Ekistics Capital – Vice Chair Membership
Julie Hirigoyen – Head of Energy and Sustainability Services, Jones Lang LaSalle
Vanessa Harvard-Williams – Partner, Linklaters
Jon Lovell – Director, Deloitte
Hala El Akl – Senior Associate Partner, PLP Architecture

We are a new and growing council. Please contact any of the leaders above to become involved.