Hill Group has committed to achieving net-zero carbon in its Scope 1 and 2 business operations by 2030 and net zero operational carbon in the homes they build by 2030, twenty years ahead of the UK’s broad 2050 net-zero carbon target.
Additionally, Hill has committed to achieving biodiversity net gain on all its future land-led developments. Hill has already modelled a range of house types and apartment layouts to interrogate CO2 reduction performance standards required for delivering future homes. This will see the phasing out of fossil fuels, with electricity becoming the primary low-carbon energy source powering air source heat pumps. Photovoltaics and battery storage are likely to be part of the optimal solution too.
Hill's solutions will include improved building fabric performance, reduced embodied carbon of materials, increased offsite manufacture, increased airtightness, better thermal bridging and supply chain deliverability. In addition, increased reliance on electricity as the primary energy source, and increased need for electricity for car charging points, is already causing Hill to look at grid capacity and planning additional sub-stations into development layouts.
Brendan Ritchie, Head of Sustainability at Hill Group, said: “We are always keen to be at the forefront of any industry changes, and we already have live projects at design and early construction stage featuring a range of house and apartment types which will meet the expected Future Homes Standard and deliver ‘net-zero ready’ homes several years ahead of the anticipated regulatory timescale.
“But our solutions must ensure that homes remain affordable to run. We must avoid fuel poverty as an unintended consequence of the drive towards zero carbon homes. We have lots to do to be Future Homes and zero-carbon ready as a sector.
However, at Hill, we are confident that our pioneering approach alongside the national background of continual de-carbonisation of the electricity grid will help us find optimal solutions".
Two of Hill's most recent developments, Knights Park and Agar Grove, have raised the bar in terms of placing emphasis on sustainable living and placemaking. The homes at Agar Grove are certified to a gold Passivhaus standard, and the overall development is the largest Passivhaus regeneration development in the UK.
Source: www.hill.co.uk
