Our Commitment to Environmental Sustainability

Bernicia is committed to reducing carbon emissions, improving energy efficiency in homes, and helping tenants lower fuel bills. We also aim to support greener communities, biodiversity, and progress towards net zero.

Download our Commitment to Environmental Sustainability

Introduction

Bernicia is a modern and dynamic housing business that operates in accordance with a set of values that reflect a sector that was created to help people.
We are proudly committed to responding to the needs of our tenants, customers, marketplace, and the climate emergency.

As a socially responsible organisation, we are committed to helping reduce fuel poverty and provide affordable warmth by investing in our homes and neighbourhoods and maintaining them as places where people want to live. Through these investments houses are made into homes and neighbourhoods are advanced into communities as we continue to transform our housing stock and progress our business through valued partnerships and innovative approaches.

Within our Corporate Strategy 2022-26 we have set the ambitious target of achieving an energy efficiency rating of SAP C for the significant majority of our homes by 2025/26, some five years ahead of the government’s target. To support and guide our commitment to the environment we have developed a three-year Environmental Strategic Plan to guide our efforts towards our key targets, which have been set against our objectives.

Our impact on the environment can be defined in two specific ways.

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Our corporate and operational activity associated with our undertakings as a developing business; and

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The carbon emissions affiliated with our tenants’ homes which as their landlord we take responsibility for.

At Bernicia we understand that we need to take responsibility for our actions and make the necessary changes to understand, quantify and reduce our Scope one, two and three carbon emissions.

Our Approach

Bernicia’s coupled approach to sustainable environmental management is based on our responsibility as a landlord and commitments as an advancing business.

Effective and dynamic environmental management is a crucial part of our success as a housing provider.
We are not only committed to identifying and reducing our environmental impacts across our stock and business, but also to delivering sustainable homes for our current and future customers. By approaching environmental management in a dual-faceted approach there can be continuity between the social, environmental, and financial decisions made as a business and as a landlord:

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Decisions that incorporate our landlord qualities encompass the continued improvement of the sustainability of our homes during their construction, usage, and cyclical maintenance. At the heart of these decisions Bernicia set out to strengthen and engage communities to permit the development and retainment of sustainable lifestyles.

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Business decisions will focus on minimising the use of resources, limiting the production of waste from all operations, and considering environmental innovation and management at the forefront of our activities.

Our decisions will be guided by our environmental strategic plan, which guides our efforts towards our key aims, which have been set against our objectives.

Key Aims

As a landlord we aim to:

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Improve the Energy Efficiency of our tenants’ homes where practical, cost-effective, and affordable.

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Engage our tenants in environmental awareness education.

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Assist our tenants to reduce the amount of money they spend on fuel bills.

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Educate our tenants on fuel switching and new sustainable technologies.

As a business we aim to:

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Further reduce our carbon emissions.

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Efficiently invest and continue to improve environmental management across each service of the business.

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Maximise the social, financial, and environmental sustainability of our asset management and business processes.

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Make a conscious effort to increase the biodiversity on our estates and schemes.

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Ensure regulatory compliance.

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Measure, monitor and improve our performance where practical, cost-effective, and affordable.

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Educate our staff on key environmental issues and controls.

Outcomes

We recognise that the benefits of environmental sustainability and decarbonisation accrue both to our customers, organisation and our communities.

By adopting the principles outlined in the Environmental Strategic Plan, collaborating effectively and continuing our development of knowledge across the industry, we will deliver a strategic, consistent and coordinated approach to environmental management and decarbonisation, targeting reductions in carbon emissions and fuel poverty, establishing a clear path towards achieving SAP C across our housing stock, development towards net zero and sustainable business practice.

Overall, the journey towards SAP C and net zero are pivotal aspects that orientate our environmental decisions.
This will be inclusive of the reduction of our environmental impacts (Carbon Scope one, two and three) and the increase in energy efficiency and environmental sustainability as a direct response to the Climate Emergency, whilst considering the most recent energy and cost of living crises. We will build upon our existing positive engagement with our customers, staff, and contractors, delivering a real and lasting positive impact on people’s lives, combined with a greater social impact on our communities.

This will ensure that we can effectively utilise our strong asset base to deliver the outcomes identified in the Corporate Plan and Asset Management Strategies, fulfilling our customers’ needs along with meeting our corporate, financial, and regulatory responsibilities.