Fit-outs need to fit in (with green agenda)
All eyes are on Glasgow this week, with COP26 putting environmental concerns centre stage. While world leaders are wrestling with emissions targets at a national level, I’ve been considering what the property industry can do at a more practical level.
For concerned occupiers and investors then, the ball right now is very much in their court. So where should they start?
As lockdown restrictions eased during the year, I’ve been fortunate enough to get back on site in a variety of development schemes, both in the UK and further afield, where I’ve been struck by the sheer volume of materials used in the fit-out of new retail and leisure units.
What happens, I wondered, to the considerable amount of packaging involved? And perhaps even more importantly, what happens to the fit-out itself, ie the plethora of ceiling, wall, floor and electrical fittings, not to mention all of the furniture, when a unit changes occupiers in the future? Does it all just go in a skip and to landfill, as the incoming occupier specifies a completely new set of fittings and furniture?
To help answer these questions I turned to our friends at interior design specialist Object Space Place. Director David Chenery is quick to point out that at present there are no statistics relating specifically to commercial property fit-outs. In other words – and I confess I’m slightly taken aback by this – we simply have no data to provide answers to my questions at an industry level.
Surely, I can take solace from the knowledge there is some kind of governance in place here? But, no, it turns out that regulation in this sector is similarly absent – there are few rules stipulating what should/shouldn’t be done when fitting out a unit, other than building regulations (which are mainly concerned with thermal performance).
For concerned occupiers and investors then, the ball right now is very much in their court. So where should they start? David suggests that anyone serious about reducing emissions and waste in relation to fit-outs needs to focus on embodied carbon. Unlike operational carbon, which has attracted the most attention from property industry initiatives so far, and considers how on-going energy consumption can be reduced, embodied carbon is the sum of the energy and materials used to create finished products. In the case of commercial property fit-outs this covers all of the items mentioned above – from lampshades to tables.
Reducing embodied carbon means changing as little as possible, by retaining and reusing as much as possible. David notes that a good rule of thumb is that a reclaimed item is always better than a new item. One statistic that is relevant here is think tank Circle Economy’s 2020 calculation that of the 100 billion tonnes of raw materials consumed globally each year, less than 9% are recycled. David believes that to truly achieve sustainability, our currently linear economy, where so much of what we produce is simply discarded after a single use, must give way to a circular economy, where natural resources are kept in use for the longest possible time.
I’m beginning to get a sense of the magnitude of change needed to make fit-outs more environmentally friendly and I’m also realising that it will require a different way of thinking – such as the ‘fit-out-lite’ model P-THREE suggested earlier this year. Until supply chains move away from the linear economy, fitting out in a sustainable way will require considerable thought and effort.
Some occupiers – like H&M and Wahaca – are already doing this, but for now they appear to be the exception rather than the rule. However, I’m optimistic that more will follow – not least because their customers are becoming ever more discerning about their chosen brands’ environmental credentials. Regulation will undoubtedly follow at some stage – there is already substantial industry support for the recognition of embodied carbon in UK building regulations.
As the green spotlight, powered by events like COP26, moves into little-seen areas like property fit-out, as it surely will, those who have anticipated change will undoubtedly benefit. The good news is the kind of change we’ve highlighted above doesn’t necessarily cost more. David believes that carefully thought through sustainable fit-outs could even save cash in the long term.
While world leaders might struggle to deliver some of the promises made at COP26, it seems to me that sustainable fit-out is an area where significant change is not only possible, but actually achievable.
Article by Justin Taylor, Co-founder P-THREE
Photo credits: Unsplash
