BedZED case study for social housing providers

About the report

This report introduces the BedZED development as a case study to show how sustainable development can be achieved by social housing providers. It is aimed at housing association staff involved in development, investment and refurbishment in relation to social housing provision.

Published December 2002
Pages 16

This report was funded by The Housing Corporation.
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Introduction

Our planetary means
If everyone on the planet consumed as much as the average person in the UK, we'd need three planets to support us. It takes around 6.3 hectares of biologically productive land to support each person in the UK, whereas the actual available productive area on Earth is only 2.2 hectares per person. This footprint includes the amount of forest required to absorb the CO2 emissions attributed to a person's lifestyle and activities. Ecological footprinting informs us that the UK needs to reduce its consumption of fossil fuels and virgin materials by two-thirds to live within the means of one planet. To achieve this reduction we must develop sustainable ways of living. Only by meeting more of our everyday needs from local, renewable and reclaimed resources can we hope to achieve this target.

The role of construction
Over half of all of the resources consumed across the world are used in the construction and running of buildings. 5% of energy generated globally is used to construct buildings and 45% is used to heat, light and ventilate them.

Addressing the environmental sustainability of the construction and occupancy of buildings is fundamental to meeting our two-thirds eco-footprint reduction target. However, for a development to be truly sustainable it must offer more than reduced environmental impact alone. Developments must address the social amenity, creating sustainable communities with spaces people want to live and work in. Developments must also offer financially sustainable solutions which are viable within a market economy.

The importance of housing
The environmental, social and financial issues surrounding sustainable development are particularly important in the housing sector. Housing contributes approximately 27% of all CO2 emissions in the UK.

The Government's National Strategy for Sustainable Development sets out 10 key principles and 147 indicators to measure progress towards achieving their sustainable development objectives. 70 of these indicators can be linked to housing and community issues, illustrating the importance of housing to sustainability.

The Housing Corporation's approach
The Housing Corporation is committed to integrating Government policy on sustainable development into its ethos. The Corporation aims to provide a better quality of life for residents by encouraging housing associations to adopt sustainable development principles.

The Housing Corporation invests in and regulates a sector that owns and manages more than 1.45 million homes (approximately 7% of total Englishhousing stock) , housing at least twice that number people. If investment levels are maintained and the transfer of former local authority stock continues, housing associations will own and manage around 4 million homes in 10 years time. This would make the sector the largest provider of social housing in England. Housing associations are already the largest provider of new social housing.

The Corporation expects housing associations to foster environmental, economic and social sustainability issues, as indicated in their strategy document, Building on Success (2001-04). Tools to help associations do this are being developed with the support of the Innovation and Good Practice Unit at the Housing Corporation.

This report introduces the BedZED development as a case study to show how sustainable development can be achieved by social housing providers. The leaflet is targeted at housing association staff involved in development, investment and refurbishment in relation to social housing provision. Environmentally sustainable design and investment in energy efficiency can reduce running costs for tenants with any extra initial capital costs being recouped through lifecycle savings.

This report was funded by The Housing Corporation.
Download report PDF