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ESG in real estate: Measuring social value in the UK

January 25, 2022January 25, 2022 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

Real estate has a very real role to play in contributing to social value in the UK. Whether it be public realm enhancements, supporting people into the industry, including social enterprises in supply chains, increasing local spend and so on, there’s an increasing need for developers and asset owners to demonstrate and capture social value. And it goes without saying that social value is a core component of ESG. Social value in major projects Many local authorities are now requiring major projects are able to demonstrate social value. And we’re seeing this in bidding for government contracts more generally. For example, in England, taking account of social value became a requirement in major government contracts including for construction and infrastructure projects from 1 Jan 2021. This is in addition to new and emerging requirements for carbon reduction plans. Capturing social value In this context, demonstrating and capturing social value is critical when developing an approach to Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations. But capturing what...

Addressing housing and health inequalities

September 17, 2021September 21, 2024 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

I had the opportunity to present on Housing and Health Inequalities to the Bureau Local UK Network of the Bureau of Investigate Journalism. My central argument was that health has to be put at the centre of our discussions about the built environment. We know that there are issues with housing in the UK. But it goes far beyond merely building more homes. Eighty percent of the homes we'll be living in in 2050 have already been built. It's critical to public health, to reducing our carbon emissions, that we address the challenges associated with substandard and energy inefficient homes. And it pays dividends. The argument that this is all too expensive is nonsensical given the very real costs associated with doing nothing. Here's a copy of the slides I presented.... Addressing housing and health inequalitiesDownload...

Making the case for PropTech in ESG

May 13, 2021November 17, 2021 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

The trend towards Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations in investment decision-making is accelerating. Nowhere is this more apparent than in real estate. And there are good reasons for this. We know that that the built environment accounts for 39% of global carbon emissions. We also know that our buildings and public spaces can have a dramatic impact on our health, wellbeing and productivity. And we’re starting to see climate change impacting on our communities, towns and cities. Sustainability and resilience are the two key factors at play. Embedding ESG considerations into investment decisions is one mechanism through which we can affect real change. But challenges remain with a lack of common reporting standards and metrics. There is also a lack of reliable, comparable, and realtime data, and this is where PropTech comes in. PropTech and ESG PropTech can be thought of as the application of digital technology to property. Used well, it has the potential to unlock data that can be used to improve...

Responding to COVID-19: The future of intelligent homes

January 4, 2021January 5, 2021 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

In the final of The Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) series on Healthy Living and Housing, our focus was on the future of intelligent homes. You can access the session by clicking here and registering to watch on demand. For this session, I was pleased to be joined by: Dr Chris McGinley, Senior Research Fellow, Leader Age & Diversity Research Space, Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Royal College of Art; and, Dr Ozak Esu, Smart Assets Lead and part of the Construction Innovation Hub, Building Research Establishment (BRE) Homes, health, and inclusive design Chris outlined the role of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. It is a centre for inclusive design covering two main research themes, Age and Diversity, and Healthcare. They work across a number of design areas including strategic, visual, artefact, and the built environment and public spaces. His presentation included two short videos. The first was of an older woman trying to navigate the use of multiple remote controls to...

Smart Home Tech to Support People’s Needs

November 12, 2020June 11, 2021 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

I had the pleasure of chairing the fifth in The Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) series on Healthy Living and Housing. The focus for this session was on smart home tech to support people’s needs. You can access the session by clicking the link here and registering to watch on demand. Speakers for this session included: Alisa Frik, Research Scientist, International Computer Science Institute; Postdoctoral Fellow for Berkeley Laboratory for Usable and Experimental SecurityNuno Almeida, Founder, Nourish CarePhilip Shelton, Principal Advisor (Commercial), Eastern Academic Health Science Network Perspectives on privacy and security Alisa discussed older people’s perspectives on privacy and security. This included reference to how older people make decisions about privacy and security with respect to smart home devices. What we know is that at present, much of the adoption of smart home tech is driven by older people’s children, and care providers, to support care needs. And it remains the case that a high proportion of older adults don’t have access to the internet. Alisa noted that...

Reducing social isolation and loneliness

October 27, 2020January 4, 2021 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

I had the pleasure of chairing the fourth in The Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) series on Healthy Living and Housing. The focus for this session was on reducing social isolation and loneliness. You can access the session by clicking the link here and registering to watch on demand. Speakers for this session included Smriti Kotiyal, Research Assistant, University of Bradford Marianne Wanstall, CEO, The Brendoncare Foundation Heather Claridge, Principal Design Officer, Architecture & Design Scotland COVID-19 and the role of technology Smriti began by discussing the significant role that technology, including communication technologies, has played in managing COVID-19. COVID-19 is often compared to the 1918 Spanish Flu and 2009 H1N1 outbreak. Today we have improved capacity, diagnostic tools and communications. For example, current global internet usage sits at 53.6% compared to 25.8% in 2009. This has very much facilitated improved knowledge sharing and better use of technological advancements. The use of technology to reduce the spread of COVID-19 has not been without controversy. China is one...

Monitoring vulnerable patients and remote diagnostics

October 14, 2020January 4, 2021 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

This was the third webinar in the The Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) series on Healthy Living and Housing. The focus for this session was on monitoring vulnerable patients and remote diagnostics. You can access the session by clicking the link here and registering to watch on demand. Speakers for this session included Jessie Cunnett, Head of Health and Social Care at Traverse Tara Marshall, Clinical Improvement Lead at the Eastern Academic Health Science Network Daniel Casson, Digital Social Care, Digital Transformation Adviser, Care England and Managing Director of Casson Consulting London. The experience of digital care COVID-19 has radically transformed the delivery of health and care with a rapid shift towards virtual consultations. However, little research had been done on understanding the virtual health and care experience, and how this might differ across populations and care requirements. To understand this, Traverse, alongside Healthwatch and National Voices, conducted research on understanding the virtual health and care experience. Jessie discussed the recent report, The Doctor will Zoom you now. The...

Community care and care homes

September 23, 2020January 4, 2021 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

I had the pleasure of chairing the second in a series of webinars for The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) on Healthy Living and Housing. The focus for this session was on care homes and community care. This built on the first session that focused on the links between our lived environments and our health. You can access the session by clicking the link here, and registering to watch on demand. Speakers for this session included Shirley Ayres, Co-Founder, Connected Care Network* Dai Roberts, Senior Programme Innovation Lead, Health Innovation Manchester Shirley Hall, Head of Innovation and Wellbeing, The ExtraCare Charitable Trust Lee Fordham, Associate Director, Architype https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCLAr06knLg Clip from The IET’s EngShorts series covering many of the points raised in this discussion. Creating new living choices for older people Shirley Ayres outlined some of the opportunities and challenges in the care sector, calling for a radically different approach. For Shirley, it’s time we had a long term care revolution. To put in today’s context, this is clearly a...

Healthy Living and Housing

July 29, 2020January 4, 2021 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

I had the pleasure of chairing a webinar for The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) on Healthy Living and Housing. This was the first of a six part series looking at the interplay between our lived environments and our health. You can access the session by clicking the link here, and registering. The next session is on 16 September and examines health and home in the context of care homes and community care. Speakers for this session included Julie Godefroy, Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers Dr Richard Miller, Connected Places Catapult Annalise Johns, Connected Places Catapult Dr Helen Crampin, InnovateUK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxDnI9pWYbA Clip from The IET's EngShorts series covering many of the points raised in this discussion. What we know and don’t know about the impact of the built environment Julie provided an overview of the role of CIBSE and their recent guidance, Health and wellbeing in building services. The focus of the guidance is on the effects of the built environment on health, comfort...

The impact of housing on health (Part 2)

July 27, 2020November 16, 2020 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

In the previous article I touched on some of the evidence emerging of the impact of housing on health during lockdown. The issues with poor housing stock are certainly not new and follow years of a lack of investment. This issue has become all the more acute during lockdown and could provide real impetus for change. Moving forward, there are real opportunities to affect positive change – at both the local and national levels. There is strong local case to be made for urgent community engagement, action and investment, as we move from the national to regional and local lockdowns. I also want to provide a few reflections on just some of the recent government announcements with regards to the property sector. Local considerations There are clear indications that the negative physical and mental health impacts for those living in homes that fail to meet decent housing standards, coupled with factors such as overcrowding or isolation, have been exacerbated by the closure of many...