There is so much worth listening to in this Bisnow webinar, Leading the BTR Sustainability Charge.  A few key themes emerge, including: (1) the importance of capturing operational data, (2) the need to empower and educate residents (or “customers”) to decrease base consumption and (3) the challenges of embodied carbon (is timber, rather than concrete, the way forward?).

However, as someone who follows regulatory change in energy efficiency closely, it was a comment from Dan Batterton (Fund Manager, LGIM) that stood out the most. Why not calculate SDLT on the basis of an EPC rating, rather than value? It crystallises the link between a green building and its value. On one hand, minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES) is currently the government’s “stick” to drive forward change in the built environment. Yet perhaps it is more financial, value driven ”carrots” that the industry needs to further accelerate industry change?