01 / Introduction

Sustainability has always been framed in terms of the three tenets of social, economic, and environmental considerations – or people, profit and planet, to use its alliterative reference. In recent years the “people” aspect has firmly entered our collective conscience, and health and wellbeing have been pushed up project agendas through guidance such as the WELL Building Standard.

Economics will always be a fundamental element in any business transaction, but that bottom line is now influenced not only by a longer outlook, which accounts for operational costs, but also by an increasingly nuanced view of value.

Climate change is the area that will arguably continue to receive the most attention, as real estate looks to genuinely reduce its carbon footprint and adverse environmental impacts, with much more focus on whole-life low carbon design, backed by a plethora of guidance and corporations’ environmental social and governance (ESG) commitments.

This sharper focus is prompting a wider and deeper assessment of buildings, over a longer time frame – a view described well by the term “social value”. This shift encourages sustainable buildings (through low carbon materials, low energy installations, generous communal spaces, biophilia and passive design) and asks us to consider how we can make positive impacts beyond a project, in the spaces between buildings as well as those within them, and to society.

Such a range of parameters will inevitably include some values that appear subjective, but that should not prevent their quantification, because putting numbers to the metrics is the only way to determine their true value.

Read more…