bpha has maintained its SHIFT silver standard with an improved score for its environmental credentials after undertaking its annual review of progress against its plans in 2020.
The Sustainable Homes Index For Tomorrow (SHIFT) assessment is an independent sustainability standard specifically for the housing sector, that quantifies how organisations are delivering against their environmental targets.
The SHIFT assessment measures housing associations against more than 50 environmental criteria, including CO2 emissions, water use, landfill waste and response to climate change risks.
Each year the measurement standards increase to reflect the requirement to work towards higher standards on a continuous basis. This means that a parity score with the previous year would see an organisation moving backwards against the standards.
bpha retained its silver accreditation with a significant improvement on the score that was achieved in 2019.
The report highlighted the average SAP score achieved by bpha’s properties (74.1), which was the third highest of the 40 housing associations that have been benchmarked. Our work in this area aligns with our goal to help reduce fuel poverty for our customers as well as achieving our wider environmental sustainability ambitions.
Philippa Spratley, Director of Governance and Compliance at bpha, said:
“We are very pleased to have maintained our SHIFT standard for the work we have done so far in reducing our overall environmental impact, which is reflected in our improved SHIFT.
“The progress to date puts us on course to achieve our short-term goal of meeting the gold standard within the next 12 to 18 months.
“However, we realise there is still much to be done as we work towards the aims our environmental strategy and our goal to become a net carbon neutral business by 2050.”