Chief executive Stephen Hester said: "Sustainability has been at the heart of our operational principles and establishing British Land as a carbon neutral company does not signal a change in strategy, but an acceleration. We are taking an activist approach, stepping up existing efforts, and aim to lead the market in developing and managing buildings in a sustainable manner."

And he made it clear the move was not entirely altruistic. "Our main goal in life is to make money for our shareholders," he said. "That means having buildings that meet the aspirations of our occupiers and their customers."

The company's latest corporate social responsibility report shows that a lot of progress has already been made in limiting British Land's carbon footprint. For instance, at Meadowhall no waste has been sent to landfill since 2005. The on-site materials recovery facility recycles 92 per cent of all the centre's waste, and the remaining 8 per cent is sent to a nearby incinerator to be used for power generation.

Equally, the new rainwater harvesting system means that the toilets are flushed and the planters watered with rainwater. "It also saves energy because we're not paying to pump water," Hester claimed.

"We've been working on energy efficiency at Meadowhall for a number of years," he said. "And the rolling refurbishment of the malls has allowed us to bring in energy-efficient lighting, which has driven down the centre's energy consumption by 11 per cent - that's £80,000 off the service charge."

And there could be more to come. Hester pointed out that the company owns 80 acres of land surrounding the shopping centre and a master plan is now being drawn up that will see this developed in a sustainable manner.

However, he conceded that British Land had only limited influence over how its tenants behave. "There are bits of our buildings that are leased to tenants for decades and where we have no direct control," he acknowledged. "But we are working with occupiers like Marks & Spencer who share our aspirations."

Indeed both Hester and Marks & Spencer chief executive Stuart Rose were on hand at British Land's Peacocks shopping centre in Woking when the Prince of Wales opened a travelling environmental exhibition which will visit over 50 other shopping centres in the coming year.

Organised jointly by Business in the Community and BCSC, the exhibition is supported by BSkyB and endorsed by the Climate Group. It uses a series of display stands to give practical advice on easy actions consumers can take to reduce their carbon footprint. The stands touch on the issues of recycling, energy use, transport, waste reduction and locally sourced food.

The exhibition will focus on what the shopping centres themselves are doing to reduce their carbon footprint and the initiatives they are encouraging - such as recycling, energy efficiency and greater use of public transport among their retail tenants and customers.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend