UK based practice behind Facebook's new pioneering London HQ confirms plan to slash emissions 21 per cent by 2022
Leading architects practice Bennetts Associates has become the latest high profile firm to secure independent approval for its emissions reduction strategy from the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).
The group confirmed the practice's package of 20 sustainability targets is in line with the Paris Agreement's goal to keep global temperature increases 'well below' 2C, making Bennetts Associates the first architecture firm to have its emissions targets approved by the international scheme.
Bennetts is working to deliver on a raft of targets for 2022, including pledges to reduce energy related greenhouse gas emissions by at least 21 per cent by 2022 against a 2016 baseline year, source all energy from renewable sources, reduce travel emissions by 7.5 per cent, and ensure "ambitious sustainability agendas" arte embedded in its projects.
The company said it will also work towards becoming a single-use plastic-free office by 2022, set policies that work towards incorporating the circular economy within office practices, and assist staff in switching their home energy to 100 per cent renewable sources.
In addition to securing approval for its targets from SBTi, the practice also announced it is to join the UN's Climate Neutral Now campaign.
The commitment was welcomed by Miguel Naranjo, head of the relationship management team of United Nations Climate Change Secretariat, UNFCC. "Bennetts Associates is an example of integration of sustainability and climate action in business, through their commitment to set a science-based target, procure sustainable energy, and include sustainability considerations in their designs," he said. "Their work contributes to moving us closer, faster to global climate neutrality."
The move was similarly welcomed by Julie Hirigoyen, chief executive at the UK Green Building Council, of which Bennetts Associates is a member. "It is fantastic to see Bennetts Associates showing international leadership by becoming the first architecture practice to set itself an approved science-based target, amongst several other ambitious goals to 2022," she said. "These ambitious targets will ensure the practice is playing its role in mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change as well as signalling to the whole industry that architects can and must be part of the solution."
Peter Fisher, Director at Bennetts Associates, said the targets further underlined the firm's sustainability credentials and its commitment to including environmental innovations in the buildings it designs.
"Bennetts Associates has been at the vanguard of sustainable architecture for over 30 years," he said. "We were among the first architects to pioneer sustainability in large projects, bringing it to the mainstream. More recently projects such as 5 Pancras Square for the London Borough of Camden have acted as exemplars for urban and highly economical sustainability. Its BREEAM Rating of 97.6 per cent being the highest ever achieved at the time of its completion."
He added that the plans for Facebook's new London HQ in Kings Cross would similarly "push the boundaries of embodied energy and well-being".
"We place a high level of importance on our long-term environmental, social and economic sustainability as a business," Fisher said. "We are therefore pleased to announce that we are the first firm of architects in the world (and first SME in the UK) to commit to approved Science Based Targets and to sign up to the UN's Climate Neutral Now campaign."
The news forms part of a busy week for corporate emissions reduction announcements, as a number of companies used Earth Day to unveil new sustainability goals.
RBS, Landsec, Thomson Reuters, and Verizon all announced new targets this week, while software giant Intuit also secured approval for its targets from the SBTi.