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Hybrid working: organisational development
Hybrid working: organisational development

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5.2 Redesigning space for sustainability

As organisations review the use of space and services they provide, sustainability should be at the heart of planning. The three sustainability pillars – People/Social, Planet/Environment, and Profit/Economic – are fundamental to good use of space, meeting the needs of users and ensuring organisations can implement change.

As organisations have a commitment to reach net zero by 2050, they need to consider how this will be monitored to provide data that shows the reduction in their carbon footprint. While reducing energy consumption is perhaps one of the biggest challenges for organisations, focusing on sustainability also requires understanding your organisation, how it operates, and its culture and values.

Designing space needs to focus on integration of sustainability, and long-term prevention in your approach as a HEI. Planning needs to not just focus on physical space, but also on how the space is used, the services its users require, their inclusion and wellbeing, and the infrastructure required to operate.

Activity 16: Carbon within your buildings

Timing: 20 minutes

Watch the video in which Dr Alice Moncaster – Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Built Environment at The Open University – explains what organisations need to consider when redesigning physical space. Then read Dr Alice Moncaster’s article Climate change and the built environment [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .

Download this video clip.Video player: hyb_1_2022_sep120_buildings_reuse_of_space_alice_moncaster_compressed.mp4
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You will note in the article that it is estimated:

‘39% of all global greenhouse gas (‘carbon’) emissions. 28% of this is due to the operational carbon from heating, lighting and cooling our existing buildings, while the substantial remainder of the 11% comes from the embodied carbon of constructing new buildings each year.’

Then browse this article, which focuses on the built environment in Wales:

Delivering on the decarbonisation agenda in the built environment in Wales

Take some time to list the factors that might need to be considered when developing a plan to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings now and for the future. What might the key challenges be for your organisation / HEI?

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