Grosvenor sets out £90m RetroFirst strategy

Grosvenor Britain & Ireland, the Duke of Westminster’s £5 billion estate which directly or indirectly controls 1,500 listed buildings in Mayfair and Belgravia, is committed to become a net zero business by 2030 and last year became one of 25 leading UK property companies that made a commitment to reporting annually against this pathway.

Grosvenor’s sustainability and innovation director Tor Burrows told the AJ: ‘Adapting our properties and places to ensure they are fit for the future is at the heart of our 300 year old business.

‘If we are to prevent catastrophic climate change, the built environment sector needs to urgently respond. And that means more emphasis on, and appreciation for, the intelligent repurposing of buildings – not less.

‘RetroFirst is bringing this issue to the top of the agenda, stimulating the critical policy debate beyond the industry that’s needed to support change.’

Grosvenor’s ‘pathway’ to net zero focuses on reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from its estate in Mayfair and Belgravia by over 70 per cent, reducing emissions from its supply chain and, crucially, lowering embodied carbon in construction schemes to a maximum of 500kgCO₂e/m² from 2025 and developing buildings that are operationally net zero.

While global emissions from the built environment at around 40 per cent, the GLA estimates the figure for London is 78 per cent and even higher in Westminster at 85 per cent.

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