Celebrating a decade of green achievements
We are proud to have achieved the ‘Green Award’ accreditation from Investors in the Environment (iiE) for the tenth consecutive year.
As the region’s largest provider of social and affordable housing and care, we recognise our responsibility to the environment and the people in our communities and we have set testing targets in order to reduce our carbon footprint and so protect the planet for future generations. Thus, we have been accredited to iiE since 2011, having first achieved its highest level Green Award accreditation in 2015.
We have adopted the UN Sustainable Development Goals for our environmental strategy, which allows us to reduce our external impact and ensure the continual improvement of our performance. We are also monitoring our performance against the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing.
Despite the ongoing challenges facing the housing sector, and the need to provide extra support to our residents and communities in light of the cost of living crisis, we have remained committed to reducing our carbon footprint and doing all we can to tackle the climate emergency.
We have seen a year on year reduction in our carbon footprint, and worked hard to improve the energy efficiency of our homes, to the benefit of residents and the planet alike. We also support a wide range of community activities, including two community gardens, in Westwood and Dogsthorpe, which help urban biodiversity and give local people opportunities to learn gardening skills and enjoy some time in green space.
Our Chief Executive, Claire Higgins said: “Our position, as a commercial organisation, with a social heart, gives us both a responsibility, but also a great opportunity, to make a huge difference to the environments in which we work. We are committed to improving the lives of our residents and all those who live in our communities, both in the here and now and for the future. From supporting our residents to have affordable green heating and energy efficient homes, to developing community gardens and planting projects in our communities, as well as the practical ways we can make peoples lives better, we are totally committed to doing all we can. At the same time, the pressures on the planet and people are immense, and we all need to play our part in relieving them in any way we can. Achieving this accreditation for the tenth year gives us renewed determination to continue to do all we can to seek new ways to make our communities vibrant, supportive, green places for all to live in and enjoy.”