Climate change is the phrase on everyone's lips these days - but for Keepmoat it has long been a central business concern. The built environment alone is responsible for approximately half of all carbon emissions across the UK.
Keepmoat therefore fully accepts the Group has a responsibility to help reduce emissions, protect future generations and safeguard our planet. That's why we are fully committed to sustainable community development. It is good for our environment - and it is good for our business.
The Stern Report in 2006 for the first time calculated the economic costs of acting - or not acting - to tackle climate change. Doing nothing is a price we cannot pay.
As energy prices rise, the series of policy initiatives from the Government to encourage and promote energy efficiency and conservation, as well as zero carbon homes, have spurred on this Group commitment.
Our customers and our partners also want to work with companies that have internationally accredited environmental management systems in place. We are currently carrying out a thorough overview of current performance across the Keepmoat Group to identify existing best practice and key areas for improvement.
The review will show our present carbon footprint, from the vehicles we drive to the buildings we work in, and set a benchmark which introduces challenging but realistic targets for improvement. This continues a commitment which began at the beginning of the decade when, Bramall Construction and Frank Haslam Milan, were amongst the first to reach the ISO14001 environmental standard.
Early in 2008, at Illingworth near Halifax, Bramall Construction built the most environmentally friendly habitable homes in Britain - the first builder to reach Level 4 under the Code We are also working on two more developments which will take sustainability to the next level.
These include the Sherburn Hill Community Centre in Durham which will be the most advanced eco building we have produced, with an almost zero carbon footprint. And at South Kirkby in West Yorkshire, Bramall are also planning to build sustainable homes for Chevin Housing with a minimum Level 5 CSH, but aiming for zero carbon Code 6.
If this is achieved we will be one of the first in the country to achieve a zero rating for habitable homes, which will be compulsory by 2016 for all new private homes and by 2013 for all new social housing.
We are also working with partners to refurbish existing homes with cost effective sustainability measures at three pilot projects in Altrincham, Warrington & Lymm and Wirral. The aim is to make environmental considerations mainstream in the refurbishment of existing social housing projects throughout the country.
Keepmoat has also continued its commitment to the environment by becoming one of the first construction companies in the country to appoint a Director of Sustainable Development, charged with entrenching this approach into the Group's mainstream thinking.
Keepmoat's ambition is to help raise both Group and community awareness of environmental issues and to lead the way in sustainable development by continually identifying ways in which we can reduce carbon footprint and environmental impact.
This is because we are committed to sustainable community development.
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