Scottish Housing Day: housing associations join forces to take action to reduce carbon footprint and aim for net zero

A group of housing associations across Scotland, The G8 group, having been working together to play their part in tackling climate change.   

The first collaboration was an innovative carbon literacy training programme where a bespoke course with Keep Scotland Beautiful was established. This involved the leadership teams of each G8 member receiving certificated training which helped each organisation begin to understand how to tackle the climate emergency. This was followed by a plan with a climate change consultancy (Carbon Change Ltd) to help measure their carbon footprint and advise on what actions the group could take collectively and individually to reduce their footprint. 

One of the first tasks for the G8 members was to determine the operational and organisational carbon footprint boundaries and decide which emission sources would be in and out of scope. It was agreed to focus on direct corporate operations and office spaces and exclude indirect, tenant properties. Each organisation was then asked to gather and submit information based on usage (kWh, litres, etc.) and costs to help form the baseline footprint.  

In July 2022, Carbon Change Ltd produced a summary report on behalf of the G8 Group to complement their production of each individual organisation’s carbon footprint and action plan reports.  

The summary report highlighted best practice examples and encouraged further collaborative work towards improved data collection, reduced carbon operations and creating positive impact across the communities each member is part of. 

The reports created for each member consisted of establishing a carbon footprint baseline, identifying carbon reduction opportunities, and creating a net zero pathway and action plan aligned with existing strategies. The process began by setting out the ‘carbon footprint boundary’ based on the available data sources and appetite for reporting in a pre-pandemic operational year (financial year 2019/20).  

Energy audits of main office facilities then provided the foundation for carbon reduction opportunities to incorporate alongside the data analysis and forecasting. Lastly, the findings were integrated with post-pandemic operational updates such as hybrid/flexible working and mapped out against each organisation’s published strategies and net-zero carbon reduction targets. 

Going forward, the G8 have agreed that they will monitor progress with these carbon reduction plans on a three-year cycle.