Landsec has announced the creation of a £135m net-zero transition investment plan to help accelerate the decarbonisation of its estate.
The fund will be used to finance a series of initiatives over the coming nine years to reduce Landsec’s carbon footprint and drive innovation and best practice across the wider industry.
This will involve retrofitting more solar PV, replacing boilers with air source heat pumps, engaging customers to reduce energy consumption, and optimising building management systems using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies.
The investment equates to around 1% of Landsec’s portfolio value and will enable the developer to stay ahead of the future non-domestic Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) which require an EPC ‘B’ certification by 2030.
It is expected Landsec’s overall programme will see 24,000 tonnes of carbon emissions removed from the Group’s operations – equivalent to over 35,000 transatlantic flights.
Mark Allan, Landsec CEO, said: “Our net zero transition investment plan is a significant commitment to ensure that Landsec delivers against its science-based target to reduce carbon emissions by 70% by 2030.
“We’re investing across our entire estate because we want to remain at the forefront of everything the property sector is doing to respond to the climate crisis.
“Through these actions, we’ll be supporting the current and future needs of our customers, communities and stakeholders as we help them transition to a low carbon world.”
Alongside this investment, Landsec remains committed to designing and building net-zero buildings with The Forge, its first net zero building, on track to complete in October next year having achieved to date a 25% reduction in embodied carbon from the initial design stage.
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