Building Sustainable Cities is key to the survival of our species

The critical role played by our towns and cities in resource depletion and the production of greenhouse gases is well-documented. With continued urbanisation across the globe, and without urgent and radical action, this problem can only escalate, accelerating the adverse impacts of climate change.

We believe that building sustainable urban communities is key to the survival of our species. Quintain’s corporate and social philosophy is therefore inextricably linked to inculcating sustainability into the built environment.

We are determined to play our part in finding solutions and our sustainability strategy is based on our commitment to pioneering developments and to fostering joined up thinking in relation to the planning and delivery of sustainable communities.

We believe that our position as the property sector’s thought leader in sustainability is a vital part of our corporate reputation and the long-term success of our business model.

Our Sustainability Report for 2008 will be available both on-line and in print from mid July. If you’d like to receive a printed version please email us at sustainability@quintain-estates.com

Delivering Sustainability

During the course of 2007, we appointed a Head of Sustainability Initiatives and formed a new Board Committee for Sustainability. This Committee is chaired by Chief Executive Adrian Wyatt, who has overall Board responsibility for sustainability matters. As well as representatives of the major business functions and two non-executive directors, the Committee also includes two external members, currently both senior figures in the energy sector, to ensure we capture best practice thinking. A Sustainability Working Group, which reports in to the Sustainability Committee, debates and seeks solutions to operational issues arising in relation to sustainability.

The Sustainable Environment Foundation

The Sustainable Environment Foundation is a charity which was established by Adrian Wyatt in 2007 in recognition of the major role played by the built environment in climate change. The Foundation is dedicated to achieving several fundamental objectives:

- Turning indifference into interest

- Transforming apathy into activity

- Moving acknowledgement into involvement

- Replacing assumptions with insights

- Translating theory into practice

- Shifting monologue to dialogue

The Foundation hosted the second ‘Low Carbon World’ Conference at the Royal Geographical Society in April 2008 and a third conference is planned for 23 April 2009. During the course of 2008 the Foundation is focusing on the production of a ‘green paper’ which will tackle the barriers to and potential solutions to the achievement of the Thames Gateway’s EcoRegion

You can find out more about the Foundation and its activities at www.lowcarbonworld.com