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THE LENDER’S ROLE ON THE ROAD TO NET ZERO Specialist development lender Atelier is cutting through the greenwashing noise with a new science-based offering that it hopes will substantially lower the amount of carbon from the biggest emitters in our sector Words by
BETH FISHER
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he UK’s 2050 net zero target is not that far away, and with the built environment responsible for a vast chunk of carbon emissions, the property industry should be speeding down the road to sustainability. However, Chris Gardner, who together with Graham Emmett founded Atelier, is adamant that take-up is nowhere near fast enough. “Residential real estate is not in a good place in terms of its journey to net zero,” he says, pointing to its high level of granularity. Most residential properties are in the hands of individuals and retrofitting them with the measures needed to reach the target is going to be “a huge economic and social challenge”, he warns. Chris gives a hypothetical example of a 2,000-home estate in the Midlands built 25 years ago. “How are you going to get young families to invest in their properties to get them to net zero?” He’s right; it’s a tough ask. Not having a common standard for residential property developers to operate to, including how carbon is measured, is also stifling progress. “That lack of a single focus is going to be a big inhibitor to the residential market,” he asserts. Conversely, the property market is a tale of two halves when it comes to sustainability. According to Chris, the commercial sector is miles ahead of its residential counterpart. “We’re seeing a lot of traction there. Most of the commercial real 58