News

As part of the UK PropTech Association’s monthly property breakfast roundtable series, we were delighted to co-host a discussion on ‘The power of data and technology for sustainable development’.

Director for Sustainability & ESG, Elisabetta Li Destri Nicosia, will represent Amro Partners as part of the UK Green Building Council’s (UKGBC) brand new Embodied Carbon Task Group, launching today

Real estate is undergoing a transformation and with ESG at the forefront of everybody’s mind there’s a greater need for granularity, more information flows and more collaboration according to Ami Kotecha, who is chair of the UK PropTech Association as well as being co-founder and president at Amro Partners.

We’re proud to announce that Amro’s student housing projects in Madrid and Pamplona have been awarded the coveted WiredScore Platinum rating for digital connectivity. Along with Amro Seville and Valencia, these are the only four residential buildings in Europe to achieve the highest possible certification.

Amro Partners has embarked on a three-year partnership with Croydon youth charity, Legacy Youth Zone.

As a Gold Supporter, pledging support over three years, we will help fund the charity’s activities at its multi-purpose facility and engage young people in the borough with the redevelopment of the Croydon Park Hotel, including the creation of dedicated community spaces.

Legacy Youth Zone is an easily accessible, state-of-the-art facility located in the centre of Croydon, providing local young people with the space and opportunity to discover their full potential. They are supported in a wide range of skills-based activities and new experiences, supported by expert Youth Workers, including boxing, climbing, cooking, music and performing arts. The charity costs £1.5 million each year to run, which is funded through voluntary donations, business partnerships, local trusts and fundraising activities.

At a workshop earlier this month hosted by Amro Partners and HTA Architects, design ideas were presented to Legacy members who provided feedback on features they liked and disliked, proposed names for the building and ideas for maximising use of the 83 sqm shared community space on Altyre Road, as part of a lasting legacy for local people. The sustainability theme proved popular and ‘Botanical House’ was chosen as the new name for the project, which is currently awaiting planning approval.

Highly energy-efficient buildings are at the top of the list for institutional investors when it comes to selecting opportunities, particularly pension funds who are acutely focused on future proofing portfolios, given their long-term hold play. The macro-economic energy crisis pushing up the price of utilities has served only to heighten capital focus on energy performance and the push for developers to bring forward those opportunities presenting the highest possible ESG credentials.

 

But designing and building a market-leading energy efficient building is one thing; operating it to its optimum performance is quite another. Its ultimate success requires the operator and residents to be fully educated and aligned in how to use the building effectively. This will rely on the use of technology, to minimise energy use and optimise performance. So how can we identify and rectify the inevitable gaps between stakeholders (capital, developers, contractors, professional team, operators, and residents) and successfully influence behaviour to not only create highly energy efficient buildings, but maximise their potential for in-use energy performance?

 

This was the topic I and my co-panellists, Polly Simpson (Head of Multifamily Development at Savills), Sam Winnard (BTR Operations Head at PIC) and Simon Bayliss (Managing Partner at HTA) tackled at the recent UKAA Conference. We agreed there has long been a perception that creating “green” buildings has a significant impact on the financial viability of a project, but if embedded within the strategy early and incorporated into design at the outset, then the cost impact can be limited. In fact, it will be financially accretive given the capital’s move towards a “green premium” / “brown discount” mentality.

 

By creating an air-tight building and incorporating passive measures, with highly efficient energy systems and maximum on-site renewable capacities for generation and storage, operational energy requirements are immediately reduced, making the challenge of operator and resident collaboration more manageable.

 

But from that point forward, it takes a combination of technology, clear information and education to drive meaningful long-term change in resident behaviour. Smart BMS systems and sensors that monitor in-use energy and provide KPIs to the operator and residents, must be used alongside resident education, providing clear, jargon-free information about personal energy usage patterns. Friendly competition can help, as can bonus systems to reward responsible energy usage, but the key is providing solid information that gives residents a simple overview of their carbon footprint and helpful recommendations for reducing it.