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Integrating sustainability into our developments
Our purpose is to build great homes and create thriving communities. We focus on improving environmental performance, fostering community networks, supporting local economic activity, and helping customers adopt a more sustainable lifestyle.
Inside our homes we use energy efficient fixtures and fittings, including 100% low energy light fittings and LED recessed down lights. All appliances that we offer as standard options in our homes are at least A rated for energy efficiency.
Examples of developments with environment features include Battersea Exchange, a vibrant new, mixed-use community in Central London. All 290 homes are highly energy-efficient and the whole development is BREEAM certified.
All properties at our Chobham Manor development in Stratford will offer reduced energy consumption, plus secure and controllable natural ventilation. The homes will also be connected to a low carbon heat network and a minimum of 20% of construction materials by value will be from recycled or sustainable sources.
All our customers receive a Home Demonstration which covers the sustainability features of their new home including the energy efficient heating system. We also give all our customers details on how to use and maintain the environmental features in their homes through our Maintenance Guide. We’ve trained our sales teams to discuss environmental topics with our customers.
All new Taylor Wimpey homes have low flow taps and showers, and dual flush toilets water and, in England and Wales, all homes have water meters fitted. Some developments include additional water saving features. For example, we have trialled and evaluated greywater systems at our Leybourne Chase site and used them at Great Western Park in Didcot.
Our Torrance Park Water Project, in Motherwell, Scotland, was designed to encourage the development of sustainable places and water management. This included installation of rain gardens, academic research, and provision of 80 free water butts for new homeowners, as well as awareness raising among residents and the wider housebuilding industry. We also partnered with the Scottish Government on the ‘Greener Gardens’ project looking at how gardens of new homes can be used to contribute to green infrastructure, biodiversity and storm water management. We funded two years of research by Abertay University into how source control SUDS in new housing developments can contribute to storm water management and reduce downstream flooding. As part of this we installed a trail sustainable urban drainage system called a ‘SUDSbox’ in the show home to assess its impact on pluvial flooding.
We are equipping our teams to plan, design and deliver schemes that promote social, environmental and economic sustainability, and the wellbeing of future residents. We aim to encourage walking and cycling and to enable residents to adopt healthier lifestyles by integrating nature and green spaces, as well as access to leisure facilities. Inside our homes we consider factors such as noise, natural light, air quality and preventing overheating.
Our placemaking standards are based on best practice, such as the Building for a Healthy Life standard. We focus on:
– Schemes that are well connected and integrated into their surroundings
– Layouts that are responsive to the context of the site, including topography, landscape, and existing buildings
– Distinctive character and good architectural quality
– Well defined streets and spaces with plenty of visual markers
– Good walkable neighbourhoods that prioritise pedestrians and cyclists
– Attractive public and green spaces
– An interconnected network of green spaces and parks
– Easy access to community facilities, such as shops, schools and workplaces
– Well-designed homes and a mix of housing to suit local requirements
– Good provision for cycle and bin storage
We were involved in the Healthy New Town initiative which brought together the NHS, homebuilders, local government, universities, technology companies and other stakeholders to plan and build healthier places.
We aim to use more sustainable and recycled materials in the homes we build, to reduce waste from our sites and to adopt modern methods of construction that can improve efficiency and reduce environmental impacts.
We are engaging with our national partners, who provide strategically important products and materials such as bricks, doors, sanitary ware and kitchens. Early results from this process show that: 78% of suppliers are integrating recycled materials into the products supplied to us, 28% are supplying Cradle to Cradle certified products and 45% are supplying products certified to the responsible sourcing standard BES 6001.
Examples of more sustainable products and materials include:
– Our glass mineral wool insulation supplied by Knauf, is made from recycled glass bottles. Around 6 million bottles were used to create the insulation for our homes in 2020
– Recycled uPVC makes up over 60% of the material used in our window frames and cavity closers supplied by Eurocell, our main window frame supplier that supplied almost half our window frames in 2020
– Around 93.5% of timber supplied by Group suppliers is FSC or PEFC certified
– Around 60% of the sanitary ware, 55% of timber frame, 81% of blocks and 80% of the bricks we buy are BES 6001 certified (the standard for responsible sourcing of construction products)
– Some of our sites are using 100% recycled aggregates and 75% recycled concrete blocks supplied by Sheehan Group
– Our site in Stanport in West Midlands is using crushed concrete for road bases and pipe bedding, reducing waste
We use off-site construction techniques which can improve the performance of finished homes. For example, we use off-site pre- insulated panelised systems for the top storey of our ‘room in the roof’ house types and system roof which are pre-formed roof panels, including insulation that are placed together on site. We also use a wide range of pre-fabricated GRP canopies and chimneys stacks, floor cassettes and spandrels panels. We estimate that around 90% of our house types use modern methods of construction for sub-assembles and components. Almost 19% of our completions use timber frame, another off-site construction technique.
We want to improve access to nature for customers and communities by regenerating the natural environment on our sites. We also integrate green infrastructure into our sites including parks, playing fields, woodlands and gardens, sustainable drainage features and planting. This helps create a strong sense of place, supports water management, reduces flood risk and helps to enhance biodiversity. From 2021, all our new sites include our priority wildlife enhancements such as hedgehog highways.
Our Thornbury Green development in Eynsham includes routes for hedgehogs to travel between habitats, including hedgehog holes in garden fences, and the planting of trees, shrubbery and a grassland area to provide food for insects and birds. The site will also include nest boxes for swifts and house sparrows on some homes.
At our site in Stepps, West Scotland, where we have improved local marshland, with the creation of new ponds and channels and refuge areas for amphibians, as well as bird and bat boxes and a new butterfly meadow and bare ground areas. Two nature trails have been added to encourage residents to get out and enjoy the natural environment. The site also includes amphibian tunnels under the new roads, enabling frogs, toads and newts to migrate safely from the marshland to the neighbouring loch. At our Chase site, in partnership with the Wildlife Trust, we developed a comprehensive landscape strategy to enhance its nature conservation value.
We aim to design walkable neighbourhoods that prioritise pedestrians and cyclists and where customers can enjoy an active lifestyle and make sustainable transport choices. Our placemaking standards encourage layouts that integrate paths and cycle routes that connect with existing networks and street design that encourages slower vehicle speeds and safer cycling conditions.
We invest in public and community transport, walkways and cycle paths through our planning obligations and aim to install this infrastructure at an early stage.
For example, at our Cambourne site a network of footpaths, cycleways, and bridleways links the residential areas with the local centre and the green spaces. This reduces the need for local car journeys. At Greenwich Millennium Village, residents can take advantage of the car club scheme as well as on-site bus stops and cycle paths, and a short walk to the local tube station. In total, 28% of our completed homes integrate secure cycle storage.
When moving into a new home, people want to quickly feel part of a thriving community. However, it can take time for social networks to establish on new developments. We’re exploring how we can accelerate this process.
At our Pennington Wharf development in Manchester, we’ve been exploring how we can help to foster community connections and support the wellbeing of residents. We provided an enhanced community centre (hub) at the site including a yoga room, kids play area, outdoor facilities and community noticeboard. One of our colleagues worked as a community champion one day a week, helping to organise events, communicate with residents and promote connections. We also rolled out an enhanced digital communications programme using Facebook, text messages, email and a website to keep residents up to date with site news, promote events, and encourage people to get involved in community activities. We assessed the impact using customer research and early findings suggested that the approach can help to foster connections.
At our Leybourne Chase site in Kent we have funded a community development worker to help set up the Community Development Trust and foster connections between residents and community organisations. This has included providing free space and empowering and assisting residents to set up new community groups that bring local people together. These now include a regular 'Knitter natter' session, a community playgroup, and a weekly youth club. The ideas for these groups were all put forward by local people, reflecting their needs.
We aim for our developments to provide a boost to the local economy, both during construction and once new residents move in. This can include providing opportunities for local businesses, investing in local facilities such as shops, doctors surgeries, schools and community centres and ensuring our developments are well linked to existing infrastructure and facilities.
For example, our development at Sherford – a new county town for Devon with 5,500 homes - will create business and commercial opportunities worth an estimated £2 billion to the local economy. This includes 400 jobs during the build and around 5,000 after completion, in the new shops, businesses, schools and community facilities of the new town. We are one of three partners in the Sherford Consortium. The consortium has launched the Sherford Skills Training Scheme with City College Plymouth and South Devon College. This includes an on-site construction skills training facility. Apprentices are employed by the Consortium and contractors, including many former members of the Armed Forces and many local businesses have been employed as contractors and consultants for the site.
We work with many small and medium sized (SME) businesses providing labour and services, including suppliers that are local to our sites. This can boost the local economy and can also bring beneficial diversity into our supply chain. Recent examples include our Chobham Manor site in East London, where at least 28% of the on-site workforce is recruited from the four neighbouring boroughs. We have also run ‘Meet the Buyer’ events for local SME businesses to meet our commercial team and learn how to apply through our tender processes.
We aim to integrate historic buildings and other unique local features into our developments – this enhances local character and contributes to good placemaking. Recent examples include our Howe Barracks site where three original buildings: the gymnasium, the chapel and the small arms trainer, will be handed over to a management trust for community events and activities. At our Diglis Water site, three buildings with strong ties to the area's waterways heritage have been retained and restored - the stablemaster's house and two boat houses. One of the boat houses has been kept for its original purpose while the remaining buildings are for commercial and retail use.
We carry out archaeological explorations to ensure that the history of our sites is protected and recorded. For example, at our site in Shaw Valley near Newbury, archaeologists have recently identified a Bronze Age barrow monument.
In our South Thames region we have been working with archaeologists and the county council to excavate two historic gunpowder mills uncovered near our Riverside Mill development in Worcester Park. The mills, which are thought to date as far back as the 18th century, would have initially produced gunpowder for private and government order. Some of the items excavated from the site will go on display at the development including one of the original millstones.
Planning agreement contributions regularly include public art. Recent examples include several public art works installed at our Battersea Exchange development in central London.
At our Pennington Wharf development in Wigan, we have celebrated the town’s mining history with a new art installation honouring miners who lost their lives in the local pit. At our Gilden Park development in Harlow, we have commissioned a modern sculpture by a local artist. The sculpture will contribute to Harlow’s reputation as a ‘sculpture town’, with over 100 public art works throughout the area, which form walking and cycling trails for residents and visitors.