The built environment can be confusing, especially with all the new words and phrases that come with sustainability and green skills. Even people with years of experience can find it hard to keep up!
Biodiversity Net Gain is the approach to building development that aims to have a net positive impact on biodiversity. To achieve net gain, biodiversity value attributable to a development must exceed the pre-development value by 10%.
Carbon Literacy is a term used to describe an awareness of climate change, and the climate impacts of humankind’s everyday actions. It is now mostly associated with The Carbon Literacy Project where people undertake training to develop ‘an awareness of the carbon costs and impacts of everyday activities and the ability and motivation to reduce emissions on an individual, community and organisational basis.’
A carbon-negative career is one where the job has a net effect of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere rather than adding to it.
A circular economy means moving away from the world’s current economic model of ‘take, make, throw away’, in which resources are extracted, turned into products. It suggests an economic system based on the reuse of materials and products as a means of continuing production in an environmentally sustainable way.
Clean growth means growing our national income while cutting greenhouse gas emissions
Refers to the adjustments in ecological, social or economic systems to limit the negative impacts of climate change. Essentially, climate change mitigation is preventative, adaptation is reactive.
Actions taken to reduce the production of greenhouse gases or removing these gases from the atmosphere to limit climate change.
The ability to prepare for, anticipate and respond to dangerous events or disturbances related to the effects of climate change. E.g., resilient buildings built to withstand floods.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a business process by which companies make a concerted effort to operate in ways that enhance rather than degrade society and the environment. CSR helps both improve various aspects of society as well as promote a positive brand image of companies.
Embodied Carbon or Life Cycle Embodied Carbon emissions of a product are the total GHG emissions and removals associated with its manufacture, transport, installation, maintenance, and end of life treatment
An Environmental Management System (EMS) is used to systematically manage environmental aspects and impacts, fulfil compliance obligations such as legal requirements and the requirements of interested parties, to address risks and opportunities, and to continually improve environmental performance. It is based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle. An EMS can be certified to the international standard ISO14001:2015. Certification is done by an accredited Certification Body. In the UK accreditation is given to the Certification Body’s by the United Kingdom Accreditation Scheme (UKAS)”.
Environmental, social and governance refers to the three main areas of concern that have developed as central factors in measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of an organisation. A correlation has been discovered between good environmental and social performance and financial performance, with companies with strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance outperforming companies with weak ESG performance, as measured in accounting terms.
A green economy is one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcity
A green job is where someone is employed in a role that directly contributes to, or indirectly supports, the achievement of net zero emissions targets and / or other environmental goals such as nature restoration and mitigation against climate change risks. For the Skyline Skills Hub, green jobs are any role involved in delivering any part of a sustainable commercial building.
Green skills are the broad range of technical skills, knowledge, behaviours and capabilities required to tackle the climate and / or nature emergencies. For the Skyline Skills Hub, green skills are any skill, knowledge, behaviour of job role that is involved in delivering any part of a sustainable commercial building.
A concept originating from 1970s USA, a just transition is a concept of moving to a more sustainable and regenerative economy using holistic approaches that are fair to everyone and reaps substantial green economy benefits. In short, it describes both where we are going and how we get there.
A low carbon, or decarbonised economy, is an economy that causes low levels of greenhouse gas emissions, particularly when compared with our current economy which emits high levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. A low carbon economy is one that has decoupled delivery of goods and services from the burning of fossil fuels.
Net Zero means the amount of greenhouse gas emissions going into the atmosphere are balanced by the same amount of greenhouse gases being removed from the atmosphere.
When the amount of carbon emissions associated with a building’s product and construction stages up to practical completion is zero or negative.
Operational Carbon are the GHG emissions arising from all energy consumed by a product in-use, over the product’s whole life cycle.
Social value is the quantification – usually financial – of an organisation’s impact on society. Social value can include a range of outcomes, such as leaving a skills legacy by employing locally and creating sustainable apprenticeships in the area around the scheme, and boosting local small, medium and micro businesses and social enterprise by ensuring they form a core part of the supply chain and that a high proportion of the project spend goes to local suppliers. Reducing air pollution, maximising green space and ensuring the value of materials is optimised through a circular economy.
Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. To pursue sustainability is to create and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future generations.
Often referred to as ‘integrated reporting’ – it integrates strategy, governance and sustainability along with financials. Sustainability reporting is a process that assists organisations in understanding the links between sustainability-related issues and the organisation’s plans and strategy, goal-setting, performance measurement and managing change towards a sustainable global economy – one that combines profitability with social responsibility and environmental care. The final product of this process is a sustainability report where the organisation reports on the most critical (or material) aspects of the organisation’s economic, social and environmental impacts and the relation of those with its performance.
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: organisations all over the world are using them as an easily understood and communicable framework and are adopting their own objectives and targets aligned with the themes of the SDGs. The 17 SDGs provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future, as well as an approach for organisations and governments to frame sustainability issues.
Whole Life Carbon emissions are the sum total of all the associated GHG emissions and removals, for the embodied, operational and disposal of a product through its whole life cycle.
A zero-carbon economy is one where emissions from the commercial and industrial sector are reduced to zero while the economy thrives .
