‘The environment is important to both our business and personal futures and as a conscientious employer it is only right that Gentoo should consider and look to limit its impact on the environment. Subsequently we have recently developed an Environmental Strategy, Policy and Action Plan setting out our main aims and objectives and how we’re going to achieve them.’ Sally Hancox, director of Gentoo Green
The basic underlying premise of Gentoo Green’s work is: we need an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. Since 27% of carbon emissions is from housing stock, energy saving in this area needs to be an essential element of working towards this goal. Add this to the current rise in fuel costs and increasing fuel poverty among those on benefits or low incomes, then the strategies used by Gentoo should make perfect sense to everybody.
Gentoo is currently working to reduce the energy impact of its housing stock, and is also involved in raising awareness of carbon footprints among both staff and tenants. Saving energy is partly about retro-fitting older housing to make it more energy efficient, thus reducing the costs to tenants, and also about building new homes to the highest ecological standards. However, it is also crucially about changing minds and attitudes, with the result that behaviour changes. Creating a culture of environmental awareness is not easy, but it is an essential part of changing the way people think about the consequences of what they do and buy.
Gentoo has contributed to the research of two PhD students, one of whom has been looking at the extent to which changing people’s home environment, with added solar panels, new boilers and double glazing, has an impact on their attitudes to broader green issues, and on their everyday habits in relation to, for example, recycling and transport. The prospect of saving money on energy bills is a real motivator, and this may well also lead to a broader understanding of the costs to the planet of unconsidered energy use. ‘We are trying to change the habits of a lifetime,’ says Paul Burns.
As well as retrofitting 139 homes in Sunderland, Gentoo is also involved in other schemes, one of which, PAYS Pay As You Save) asks Gentoo customers if they would be prepared to accept an increased cost in exchange for improvements to their homes that would reduce energy bills. Gentoo is also building 25 new bungalows to the German Passivhaus eco standard, adapted for the UK. Innovative construction methods should cut carbon emissions by 80% and energy consumption by 85%, compared with a typical home.
Gentoo is also organising eco-teams, who work at the local level to get people thinking about broad environmental issues. The aim is to get people to feel more empowered in this area, rather than overwhelmed, and to change their own lives to be more environmentally aware. This might involve, for example, organised trips to wind farms or managed woodlands, to see what these initiatives are all about.
In relation to employment issues, Gentoo works with a number of subcontractors, including those from the construction industry, who increasingly have to comply with better environmental standards. Working for Gentoo also gives people the opportunity to extend their skills and experience in improving housing to make it more energy efficient. They are also creating new posts for trainees, both technical and broader project management roles.
Gentoo recently won a Green Apple award and the UK Housing Award for ‘Increasing Environmental Sustainability’. You can find out more about Gentoo at www.gentoosunderland.com, and about their upcoming conference on 19 May at the Ecosmart 2010 website.
