The UK housebuilder Thakeham Group announced on Wednesday 11 January that they have achieved carbon-neutral status in partnership with Planet Mark and Ecology. IEMA's Digital Journalist Tom Pashby reports.

Rob Boughton, chief executive officer of Thakeham Group, said:

“It’s great to have achieved one of our three industry-leading commitments to net zero by 2025, two years early.

“Most important to us in this journey is to make sure we reach these milestones in a way where everyone: our customers, clients, employees, and our supply chain can all see the projects we fund. We are committed to demonstrating the art of the possible and to openly share our approach across the industry to create change.”

Josie Cadwallader-Hughes PIEMA, sustainability director at Thakeham Group, said:

“The carbon neutrality we have achieved relates to the operation of our business – including the fuel used by our construction sites, the electricity used by our offices, and the business mileage by our employees.

“In the future, we aspire to be a zero carbon business without carbon offsets, but we are not blind to the scale of energy, distribution, and technology changes that would be required across multiple industries to enable that aspiration. In the meantime, we remain committed to carbon reduction.

“Our whole sustainability team are IEMA members, and the person in our team responsible for reporting our carbon data has recently achieved their AIEMA membership status, supporting their transition from a non-green job.”

The company explained their approach to carbon offsetting by saying that, through their partnership with Ecologist, their offsets support “nature-based projects” and said that “natural carbon stores must be protected if we are to slow climate change, and these projects should also help local communities to thrive.”

A spokesperson for HBF (the Home Builders Federation), said:

“In recent years, homebuilders have made considerable progress towards the net zero ambition as new technology and more environmentally friendly building materials have come to the fore. As a result, today’s new homes are significantly more energy efficient than their predecessors and therefore deliver substantial benefits to the environment and homebuyers.

“Our analysis of Government data on the energy efficiency of new build and existing homes found 84% of new build homes were rated with an EPC of B or above, while less than 4% of existing dwellings reached the same standard. The impact of this is significant with the average new home using approximately 60% less energy a year - saving occupiers an average of £2,000 per year in rising energy costs.”

Thakeham said their carbon neutral status “is just part of a wider sustainability strategy” and that their “net zero ambitions will see all Thakeham homes net zero in operation and carbon neutral in production by 2025”.

Subscribe

Subscribe to IEMA's newsletters to receive timely articles, expert opinions, event announcements, and much more, directly in your inbox.