An expert opinion of our progress

Camco has been working with Crest Nicholson for 4 years to help the company understand and manage the implications of climate change for its business. Here Jeff Kenna, Vice Chairman of Camco and founder of ESD gives his assessment of the company's progress towards becoming a low carbon business.

Climate change presents a unique and complex set of risks and opportunities for business with sector leaders generating real economic, social and environmental value as environmental costs become internalised through Government regulation and cap and trade markets.

As a UK-based housebuilder, Crest Nicholson's actions bear influence on the 27% of UK emissions from homes and the industry as a whole has been set the unprecedented challenge of achieving a net zero impact on the UK's carbon emissions from 2016 from its products.

This will require a paradigm shift away from current business practices and is set to place carbon reduction at the forefront of every major business decision for the next decade. Whilst regulatory driven, this stimulus for change also presents Crest Nicholson with an opportunity to adopt a holistic approach, where the focus of thinking is how to influence sustainable lifestyles, minimise whole life emissions, and ensure the adaptability of homes for the future.

Whilst Crest Nicholson should be praised for its efforts to-date in developing and acting on the corporate Climate Change Policy with continued investment throughout the recession, the challenges facing this market are an order of magnitude more difficult than the current corporate targets for CO₂ emissions reduction and the bar should be raised accordingly.

By engaging in leading Government and industry forums and research on low carbon housing, Crest Nicholson has consolidated its position amongst the sector leaders in low carbon housebuilding and sustainability. Having realised the leverage that can be achieved by housebuilders in enabling low carbon lifestyles, there should be no limit in the company's ambition to increase this leverage with suppliers, partners, and house buyers as zero carbon homes start to enter the mainstream.

Jeff Kenna
Vice-Chairman Camco

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Progress & Targets