British Land has completed the offset of residual embodied carbon at 100 Liverpool Street which becomes the company's first net zero carbon building.
50% of the existing structure was retained so embodied carbon was low at 390kg CO2e per m2, already below our 2030 target of 500kg CO2e per m2. This approach also enabled faster completion and was more cost-effective than building from new. Low carbon choices were made throughout and smart technologies adopted to enhance operational efficiency as well as the customer experience, for example by optimising light and heat.
Nigel Webb, Head of Developments at British Land, commented: “We are thrilled with what we’ve achieved at 100 Liverpool Street which serves as a blueprint for future sustainable development at British Land. We will never eliminate all carbon in development but with the right schemes, we can balance our emissions by supporting projects which truly absorb carbon from the atmosphere and have a positive local impact.”
The developer used nature based solutions to absorb carbon through growth rather than carbon avoidance or renewable energy projects. Certified schemes in the UK and overseas were preferred and projects with a positive impact on the communities were chosen. At 100 Liverpool Street, the offset was split equally between a project restoring 30,000 hectares of land on the Tibetan plateau and a teak afforestation project in Mexico. British Land has fully offset embodied carbon emissions today and mirrored that with an additional commitment in the UK, supporting the planting of 150,000 trees in Cumbria and Scotland which is forecast to double the total offset already purchased over the development lifecycle of the building.
Saskia Feast, Managing Director Global Client Solutions at Natural Capital Partners, added: “We are delighted to work with British Land as it demonstrates the critical role that business must play in achieving a net zero transformation across the world. In this critical decade of climate action, we need to use all the solutions available to deliver the change we need. British Land’s offset strategy is a showcase for going beyond business as usual and committing to making that change.”