Insider Media: Birmingham Net Zero Carbon Roundtable
In February 2022, Victoria Turnbull, Joint Managing Director, took part in Insider Media’s ‘Birmingham Net Zero Carbon Roundtable’.
Birmingham is aiming is become net zero carbon by 2030. How can the property sector help to achieve this? What are the challenges for the real estate industry when it comes to sustainability and how are they being addressed?
Insider’s roundtable found that data, transparency and funding were the key issues when it came to developers seeking to cut their carbon footprint. Also, more needs to be done to take advantage of the ‘green premium’ which comes from repurposing existing buildings to modern standards.
Victoria Turnbull commented “We have to be ambitious when it comes to reducing carbon in property and construction. It’s great that Birmingham has a target of 2030 to be net zero carbon. We all need to be moving towards this as a common goal. In the construction industry we have to transform. Concrete is the second most used material in the world after water, and it uses a lot of carbon. But there are other ways of making concrete, it’s just that there hasn’t been enough investment into this.”
“The investors we work with have targets on carbon neutral. The construction industry has always been slow to evolve but we are going to be forced to evolve. Everyone talks abut a green premium, there will also be a brown discount for buildings which don’t have green credentials. Yes, it’s expensive to develop sustainable buildings, but costs will come down as more people do it. But we need legislation to force those who aren’t doing it.”
To read the key takeaways from each of the participants, click here.
Opus Land and Savills Investment Management purchased a brownfield site, which was formerly a Ford Factory car park and obtained planning for a 60,000 sq. ft retail space, located just 0.5 miles from the town centre and 15 minutes’ walk from the train station.
Together with their joint venture partner, Manse LLP, and on behalf of Rolls-Royce, Opus Land are delivering more than 2 million sq. ft of space at Prospero, Ansty, starting with a 490,000 sq. ft manufacturing facility for Meggitt PLC.
Opus Land and Bridges completed an 153,800 sq. ft unit with 16 loading doors at the Kingwood Lakeside Business Park in Cannock.
A 160,950 sq. ft multi-let office, three miles from Birmingham city centre which underwent a comprehensive refurbishment programme by Opus Land and was sold for £24.25m.
