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RLAM

 

Property net zero carbon pathway

At Royal London Asset Management we have committed to achieve net zero carbon by 2030 for our directly managed property assets and developments and 2040 for our indirectly managed property assets*.

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Net zero carbon for directly managed property assets and developments by 2030*

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Net zero carbon for indirectly managed property assets and developments by 2040*

In setting these targets, we are responding to the demand we see from policymakers, investors and tenants to reimagine the future of the built environment as one that is positive for people and the planet.

Read our Net Zero Carbon Pathway Progress Report

Royal London Asset Management aims to achieve net zero carbon in advance of the deadline set through the Paris Climate Agreement. We are signatories of the Better Buildings Partnership’s Climate Commitment, an industry pledge to deliver net zero buildings by 2050, and are also members of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, which is part of the United Nations-backed Race to Zero campaign.

In order to achieve this ambitious approach, we undertook to:

Evaluate the carbon in our portfolio
Project our emissions out to our target years
Identify target interventions

Net Zero Carbon Pathway Progress Report

We have continued to focus our efforts on decarbonising our properties through implementing new energy efficiency programmes, investigating in innovative technologies and increasing data coverage. Being a responsible investor remains critical to our decision-making process, ensuring compliance with emerging regulation and reporting frameworks, whilst delivering positive outcomes to our stakeholders on our journey to net zero carbon.

Read our Net Zero Carbon Pathway Progress Report

Our pathway to net zero carbon

Royal London Asset Management has committed to achieving net zero carbon:

  • By 2030 for directly managed assets and developments*
  • By 2040 for indirectly managed assets*

To achieve these targets, our pathway to net zero carbon follows seven key steps.

Our seven steps

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Our pathway to net zero carbon in action 

Sustainable Development Brief in action – over a third reduction in upfront embodied carbon

Royal London Asset Management is currently developing an 80-bed care home in Milton Keynes. With the aspiration to be a leader in sustainable healthcare, we undertook a whole life carbon assessment of its proposed design.

This focused on the construction materials used within the initial build, from extraction to installation. Our assessment indicated that the proposed design was achieving an upfront embodied carbon of 636 kgCO2e/m2 (GIA). This was better than the industry standard of 800-1,000 kgCO2e/m2. However, with our Sustainable Development Brief requiring an upfront embodied carbon figure of less than 500 kgCO2e/m2 – and aspiring to get it under 400 kgCO2e/m2 – we decided to review each building element within the design to determine how we could achieve further reductions.

This included the substructure, walls, floors and façade. If the measures recommended by this review are taken forward, it is estimated that the project could achieve upfront embodied carbon of 413 kgCO2e/m2. This would represent a reduction of more than a third from the initial design – and would meet the requirements set out in our Sustainable Development Brief.

We will be exploring this further and putting these learnings into practice across our future healthcare developments, ensuring we remain at the forefront of ESG in the sector.

Focusing on optimising building performance

Identifying opportunities to maximise operational efficiency is crucial to achieving our net zero carbon goals. We believe that smart technology can play a key role in driving down energy demand, lowering costs for our occupiers, and prioritising investment in operational measures ahead of capital expenditure.

In February 2023, we implemented the BMS optimisation software, Hank, at 45 Church Street, a 125,000 sq. ft. multi-let office building in Birmingham. Hank is an artificial intelligence (AI) software that optimises Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems by creating a digital twin and analysing how the equipment operates.

It aims to identify opportunities for reducing energy consumption by making real-time micro-adjustments. Since its installation in February 2023, 45 Church Street reduced electricity use by 348,717 kWh and gas by 970,026 kWh. These combined reductions have resulted in a carbon saving of 247 tonnes.

Most recently, 45 Church Street received a Silver Green Apple Award for this initiative, representing a significant achievement. This success has also led Royal London Asset Management to implement Hank across a further eight multi-let offices to improve their operational performance – a vital step in achieving our net zero carbon goals.

Exploring innovative renewable technologies

Over the past year, we have been exploring innovative options for generating renewable energy onsite across our assets. One Gloucester Place is a 50,000 sq. ft. multi-let office located in Brighton. As it falls within our goal of achieving net zero carbon by 2030, a net zero carbon audit of the property was undertaken in 2022.

This recommended a series of interventions to improve its operational performance, one of which being the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV). However, to maximise onsite renewable energy generation, we are looking to utilise a breakthrough wind turbine system specifically designed for rooftops and wind flow in cities. Installing a three-turbine system at One Gloucester Place is expected to generate 252 MWh – 224 MWh more than solar PV was forecast to produce even with maximised roof space.

Generating onsite renewable energy would reduce the asset’s reliance on the grid, improving its resilience as well as increasing its appeal to occupiers amid rising energy costs. Combined with other energy efficiency improvements, installing the three turbines is projected to reduce the asset’s EUI below the UKGBC’s target of 70 kWh/m2 per annum by 2030 – a key benchmark for achieving net zero carbon.

Having submitted our planning application, we are now in discussions with Brighton & Hove City Council on our proposed scheme. If successful, we will investigate the potential for installing these wind turbines across the wider portfolio, helping us towards our target of generating up to 9.5 GWh of renewable energy onsite per year by 2040.

Read our Net Zero Carbon Pathway Progress Report

*Directly managed property assets are those which Royal London Asset Management has complete operational control, greater than 50% equity share and joint ventures where they would cover the proportionate amount of emissions. Developments are any new development or major refurbishment that comes online from 2030 onwards.

Indirectly managed property assets are either partially managed by Royal London Asset Management or managed wholly by the occupier. 

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