.st0 { fill: #C4D600; } .style0 { fill: #C4D600; } .style1 { fill: white; } What matters Menu Changing sustainability standards from the inside Home » News » Changing sustainability standards from the inside Buro Happold has been appointed by the real assets business at Aviva Investors to help embed sustainability standards throughout its development portfolio and help the organisation achieve its own ambition of becoming net zero carbon by 2040. Aviva Investors (AI) is the investment arm of Aviva plc, a large financial services company that provides a range of insurance and investments. AI’s Real Assets business offers finance in the form of loans against a range of assets, including more than 400 buildings which they hold equity in and actively own. At the beginning of 2021, Buro Happold was commissioned to support and advise the organisation on transitioning to a low carbon economy. Buro Happold’s Sustainability Associate Director Trevor Keeling has been seconded to the organisation. By embedding directly into the client’s business, we are able to fully understand its internal process and how it operates. Our experts have produced a set of Sustainable Design Standards (SDS), which have been benchmarked against industry performance. We have now begun the process of embedding those standards throughout the organisation’s processes; acquisition, property development, investment reviews and tenant leasing. Buro Happold has also acted client-side to ensure that developments (new build, refurb and key CAPEX projects) are fully aligned with the SDS. Image: Adobe stock Transformational outcomes The brief also includes ensuring all new acquisitions and developments meet BREEAM ‘Excellent’ standards and can show a route towards reaching ‘Outstanding’. The standards include operational energy targets, including in-use energy of 100kWh/m2, fossil fuel free and meeting EPC A standards. There has also been a drive from the organisation to ensure it fully understands the embodied carbon within its portfolio. With standards determining that the group should work towards achieving embodied carbon of less than 600kgCO2/m2. In terms of wellbeing and social standards, the portfolio also now needs to report against Aviva social value metrics and reference the WELL Standard. Trevor Keeling, says: “We are changing the way an institutional investor operates. This is literally changing the system from the inside. We do this in a pragmatic way informed by deep technical expertise and a compassion and understanding of our client’s goals and ways of operating. By doing this we help to create a future where our pensions and investments are resilient to the stresses and strains of climate change. The next 10-20 years is going to be crucial. But then Aviva can trace its history back 325 years. I suspect they’d like to reach 1,000.” In the short term, Buro Happold’s work is helping them transition their portfolio of buildings. This helps them attract investments from investors interested in climate change. It also helps them increase resilience to the expected impact of climate change over the next 30 years. Trevor Keeling, Sustainability Associate Director, Buro Happold Image: Getty images Expert guidance Being seconded to the organisation means Keeling is on hand at any time to feed into every stage of the organisation’s transformation. The client has also benefitted from having access to Buro Happold’s broad range of expertise through its multidisciplinary teams across different specialisms. “We’re already seeing examples of the organisation making different decisions on its portfolio, and also examples of where the Sustainability Design Standards are driving real changes,” Keeling adds. For example, industrial units that have gone from using gas boilers to heat the attached office spaces, to be replaced by more environmentally sustainable heat pump systems. There have also already been examples of developers changing their sustainability standards because they want to work with the portfolio. So, there is a clear knock-on effect to big organisations like Aviva Investors driving positive change in this way. Trevor Keeling, Sustainability Associate Director, Buro Happold Written by David Clensy Date published 26/10/21 Share .st0 { fill: #C4D600; } .style0 { fill: #C4D600; } .style1 { fill: white; } Let's keep in touch Subscribe to our newsletter Sign me up What we do Projects Specialisms Sectors Quick links Find an office Find a specialist Social media Legal Policies and terms Buro Happold standard Ts&Cs Modern Slavery Policy Cookies Policy Cookies settings © 2021 Buro Happold