SDF’s work has focused on areas that need systemic change, both across the industry and at a cultural level, and then developing disruptive, collaborative responses about how change can be achieved. We are very proud of the Grand Challenge programmes that have resulted from this approach, which tackle multiple areas across the built environment sector.
Within the SDF’s Sustainable Buildings Alliance, the Passivhaus Trust, Alliance for Sustainable Building Products, Building Performance Network, Good Homes Alliance and Woodknowledge Wales operate as independent ‘sister’ organisations. The STBA (Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance) is operated within SDF, and the SDF also hosts the National Retrofit Hub, which launched in 2023.
The SDF has also supported the development of the SuperHomes network and LETI (the Low Energy Transformation Initiative).
Sustainable Buildings Alliance organisations
The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products launched in 2011 with a mission to lead transformation to a healthy, low carbon built environment by championing the understanding and use of demonstrably sustainable building products.
ASBP helps foster innovation in sustainable building products, conducts cross-industry research, shares knowledge through events and white-papers and lobbies government and industry on climate change.
Building Performance Network brings together individuals and organisations working to improve building performance in-use, and tackle the performance gap.
The well documented gap in many new build and retrofit projects between designed and in-use performance affects not just energy use and emissions, but also technical performance, occupant satisfaction, operating costs, environmental impact and occupant health. BPN aims to tackle this Grand Challenge by bringing building performance evaluation into the mainstream.
The Good Homes Alliance is tackling the Grand Challenge of providing high quality, sustainable homes and communities, and to transform the whole of the UK housing industry to sustainability.
GHA activities include helping to deliver alternative housing delivery models, research including reduction of overheating in homes, how to target zero carbon and reducing the performance gap between design and as-built performance.
Passivhaus is the leading international low energy design standard for domestic and commercial buildings.
The Passivhaus Trust provides leadership in the Grand Challenge of adoption of the Passivhaus low-energy standard in the UK. Its aim is to promote the principles of Passivhaus as a highly effective way of reducing energy use and carbon emissions from buildings in the UK, as well as providing high standards of comfort.
The Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance aims focuses on conservation and improvement of traditional buildings, aiming to quantify the benefits and mitigate the risks of both small and large-scale retrofit of traditional buildings.
The STBA’s activities include research and training to increase understanding in all parts of the construction industry, general public and in government regarding the optimal approaches to traditional buildings.
The mission of Woodknowledge Wales is the purposeful development of Wales’ forest industries from tree to product to benefit the economy, the environment and the people of Wales, with a focus on housing and construction as two related areas with big impacts on planet and people.
Woodknowledge Wales is an independent for-public-good Community Benefits Society, governed by a voluntary board. The organisation believes in the creation and sharing of knowledge based upon evidence and science, and that the businesses within the forestry and timber ‘ecosystem’ can be better aligned and more purposefully driven to deliver greater social value.
Partner Grand Challenges
The National Retrofit Hub will address the complex challenges of retrofit, by engaging with and bringing together all stakeholders across the UK to share knowledge and support local retrofit delivery. It will be a non-profit programme working collaboratively across the retrofit sector; the SDF is hosting the Hub during its startup phase.
LETI (Low Energy Transformation Initiative) is a voluntary network of over 1,000 built environment professionals, working together to put the UK and the planet on the path to a zero carbon future.
Their vision is to understand and clarify what this means in the built environment and develop the actions needed to meet the UK climate change targets.
The SuperHomes network has been created to help achieve net zero emissions by retrofitting one million homes to the SuperHomes standard by 2030. The network facilitates the exchange of ideas and knowledge sharing, and provides whole-house planning support and advice for anyone proceeding with a domestic retrofit.
SuperHomes is owned and managed by the National Energy Foundation. SDF helped with its redevelopment in 2020 – 2021.
The next grand challenge
The Sustainable Development Foundation is currently exploring its next Grand Challenge, with a focus on encouraging a collaborative approach to delivering high performance sustainable buidings. Options include:
- A sustainable buildings academy
- A regenerative buildings network
- An exemplar sustainable buildings awards
The SDF is keen to work with other sector leaders. If you’d like to collaborate please get in touch.