Climate Change and Net Carbon Zero – A Journey for Us All

Guest article by Graeme Keillor, Project Manager, Property

In recent years there’s been a lot of research, a lot of talk and debate and a lot of political lobbying, but most recently COP26 in Glasgow highlighted the scale of the climate emergency that is unfolding.

The Scottish Government has set an ambitious target of zero carbon emissions by 2045, however much of the hard work has to be completed by around 2033 if we are going to meet this target. By 2030, both energy consumption and carbon emissions have to be reduced by around 70%.

In partnership with local authorities, we are committed to driving forward on several key fronts over the next decade:

• We’ll ensure all new properties from 2024 have a reduced need for energy and utilise low carbon forms of heating.

• We’ll review our Hillcrest housing stock to see where improvements can be made to deliver savings in both energy consumption and emissions.

• We’ll adopt a low-carbon strategy for the Hillcrest Maintenance fleet, moving to hybrid and electric vans where possible. We’ll also encourage the use of local car club membership for shared car use, and will promote public transport and active travel initiatives.

• Many large cities are likely to be working in partnership with the private sector to install area-wide low-carbon district heating systems and it is hoped that some of these cover Hillcrest stock in years to come.

• We’ll continue to provide advice and training to ensure you know how to keep energy bills as low as possible.