Unlocking Commercial Property to be Safe, Healthy and Sustainable
Lead Participant:
SUSTAINABLE WORKSPACES C.I.C.
Abstract
The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and following containment measures will have a long-lasting impact on the economy, businesses and working lives. In a recent survey conducted by CIPS on 1,000 workers in the UK, almost half (47%) are concerned about catching COVID-19 at work and 44% are anxious about returning to work in a healthy and safe way. Coupled with this, commercial property landlords are facing significant issues with a number of major landlords receiving only 20% of rent expected in Q3\. Unless building user confidence strengthens, significant risks to the $9.6 trillion global market will grow further.
COVID-19 also presents an opportunity to deliver an economic recovery that accelerates the transition to a cleaner, net-zero emissions economy and strengthens the country's resilience to the impacts of climate change. The Government has committed the UK to binding carbon targets to reduce emissions by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050 and London has set a goal of a 60% reduction by 2025\. It is estimated that 70% of existing buildings will still be in use in 2050\. Reducing the carbon emissions of these properties and improving the health/well-being of occupants is therefore vital if we are to meet such challenging targets.
In response, Sustainable Workspaces has developed an innovative system integration platform for use in the retrofitting of operational commercial property. The combination of technologies to monitor people's use of a workspace, control of the environment particularly air quality, and intelligently change and inform users of risks and performance is cutting edge. A highly prominent flagship R&D project in central London, with delivery from Q4 2020 and live operational usage through 2021 will form the test bed to quickly evidence real world action using occupier feedback. The world class partners in the project will be able to exploit the project outcomes across their global commercial property activities, driving commercial growth.
COVID-19 also presents an opportunity to deliver an economic recovery that accelerates the transition to a cleaner, net-zero emissions economy and strengthens the country's resilience to the impacts of climate change. The Government has committed the UK to binding carbon targets to reduce emissions by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050 and London has set a goal of a 60% reduction by 2025\. It is estimated that 70% of existing buildings will still be in use in 2050\. Reducing the carbon emissions of these properties and improving the health/well-being of occupants is therefore vital if we are to meet such challenging targets.
In response, Sustainable Workspaces has developed an innovative system integration platform for use in the retrofitting of operational commercial property. The combination of technologies to monitor people's use of a workspace, control of the environment particularly air quality, and intelligently change and inform users of risks and performance is cutting edge. A highly prominent flagship R&D project in central London, with delivery from Q4 2020 and live operational usage through 2021 will form the test bed to quickly evidence real world action using occupier feedback. The world class partners in the project will be able to exploit the project outcomes across their global commercial property activities, driving commercial growth.
Lead Participant | Project Cost | Grant Offer |
|---|---|---|
| SUSTAINABLE WORKSPACES C.I.C. | £206,517 | £ 165,214 |
Participant |
||
| OPTIMITY LIMITED | £178,603 | £ 142,882 |
| SUSTAINABLE VENTURE DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS LTD | ||
| PLUVO LIMITED |
People |
ORCID iD |
| James Byrne (Project Manager) |