Submission by Greengage Environmental Limited.
Being a good ancestor
Practice
1. Do you have a clearly stated purpose aligned with the planetary emergency? We’re looking for a bold ambition here, and a culture which recognises the need for long-term thinking.
Greengage is an independent sustainability consultancy. Our vision is simple, to live in a more sustainable world. Through leadership, innovation and collaboration, we enable the delivery of resilient places for today and tomorrow.
Sustainability is the greatest issue of our time. But how do you put it into practice? How do you achieve net zero… become climate resilient… create a circular building… measure social value… protect nature? Becoming truly sustainable is complex and challenging. It requires radical reinvention. New technologies. Close collaboration. Specialist know-how. And that’s where we come in.
We’re an award-winning team of consultants with expertise across the full spectrum of sustainability. We have a wealth of experience across a range of sectors, through all stages of planning, development, delivery and operations. We work at a corporate, strategic level as well as at a project level for a range of clients including investors, developers and public sector organisations.
2. Do you have a clearly stated purpose aligned with the planetary emergency? We’re looking for a bold ambition here, and a culture which recognises the need for long-term thinking.
We are a sustainability consultancy with a vision to live in a more sustainable world. This means that all the advice we provide is given to maximise the sustainable nature and long-term benefit of all the projects we work on. Examples of work we have delivered in recent years includes:
- Working with Kensington and Chelsea BID to inform a how they deal with flooding issues within their remit. We mapped areas of green infrastructure and areas of flooding, making recommendations on where new areas of GI could be delivered and the expected impact on flooding. Using Ecosystem Service valuation tools, we were able to show the climate resilience such interventions would bring to the BID
- We assisted GPE in creating and setting a BNG and embodied carbon KPI, baseline and strategy.This was incorporated within the first ESG-linked revolving credit facility to be issued by aa UK REIT.
3. Do you share research and knowledge for the benefit of society and the wider world?
As sustainability consultants all our advice takes in to account future climate and the need for resilience. Core services we offer include circular economy statements, whole life carbon assessments, sustainability strategies, energy modelling, overheating assessments, climate adaptation and resilience advice and BNG and Environmental Net Gain Assessments. Recent work has included climate resilient mapping for Canary Wharf Group, using ecosystem service assessments to help design new masterplans in Greater Manchester, Climate Adaptation and resilient work for Liverpool One amongst others. For British Land we coordinated the Exchange Square redevelopment, part of our role was to identify opportunities for material reuse. As a result of work, granite paving and upstands being removed from the site were repurposed in a variety of locations including some as waterfront steps in Sunderland. Decorative stones from the water feature were sent to the British Library and demolition waste was used in the tree pits.
Project
1. Do you advocate for long-term thinking at the outset of work? Do you initiate work with long-term thinking and challenge clients? Also, can the organisation demonstrate that this approach has worked?
Yes that our project go beyond mitigating negative effects and towards optimising positives. On the Exchange Square project, our advice ensured a 61% reduction in embodied carbon. Our Biodiveristy projects deliver net gains on all of the sites we work on, with an emphasis of onsite net gain as the priority. We are also leading the way in terms of Environmental Net Gain and using Ecosystem Services valuation tools to demonstrate net gain. We have prepared multiple corporate strategies for Biodiveristy and social impact which commit major private sector organisations to go beyond mitigating negative impacts and legal/policy compliance. A good example would the Grosvenor Property UK’s Biodiversity Framework, an innovative strategy Greengage prepared for the delivery of improved biodiversity-linked environmental performance across its standing portfolio and future developments. We have prepared similar strategies for British Land, Canary Wharf, Landsec, Hibernia and many more.
2. Does your work take account of the future climate and the need for resilience?
We have bought a variety of plants for the office with plants on every desk and taller climber plants in key locations around the office. We also have a small courtyard outside which we have helped landscape along with the landscape architecture firm that share office space with us.
3. Does the majority of your work go beyond mitigating negatives and towards optimising positives?
We seek to create positive long-term outcomes through material stewardship, craft, durability and responsible construction. We work with natural materials that can last for centuries, support local economies and retain cultural significance over time. Building with stone ensures longevity whilst not compromising the aesthetic.
Co-evolving with nature
Practice
1. Do you use biophilia within your premises and/or do you regularly gather in natural settings?
As an organisation intrinsically connected to natural materials and landscapes, we maintain a strong awareness of the relationship between people, place and nature.
2. Can you share examples of where you have considered nature in decision making?
We are leaders in nature, nature-based solutions and how to design to encourage nature back in to urban environments. Multiple examples of our work here can be viewed on our website and include:
- Grosvenor UK Biodiversity Framework
- GPE Net Zero and BNG Roadmap
- Low Line, Southwark – A green strategy
- Wild West End – Encouraging nature through green infrastructure
- National Trust – Measuring benefits for people and nature
- Workspace Nature Strategy
- Clarion Nature Recovery Strategy
- Royal Parks Nature and Carbon study
3. Are you supporting nature locally and nationally?
We have prepared the supporting information for several Local Planning Authorities to justify planning policy for greater than 10% biodiversity net gain. We are also advocating for legislative change in Biodiveristy and other sustainability topics, working on task groups such as UKGBC, UKNZBS, Leti and others to prepare and update guidance for a range of sustainability issues. We are currently working with Flagship Homes to look at the impact of changing management regimes in their housing estates to allow more species diverse grasslands to form. We are monitoring community feeling and engagement, Biodiveristy increase as well as carbon sequestration in the soils. We have also started to provide nature and natural capital advice to pension funds who apply the guidance internationally now as well.
Project
1. Can you demonstrate work that strives to match the performance of a mature ecosystem?
All of our projects, where we are the ecologist/Biodiveristy specialist, achieve a BNG of at least 10%. Where this is not possible on site, we support our clients in achieving this with offsite compensation. In addition, members of our team have been key contributors to the industry guidance on BNG and sit on BNG working groups for the likes of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) and the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM). We have also supported several LPAs with the evidence base to justify an increase in % net gain written in to draft planning policy, for example London Borough of Tower Hamlets and City of London.
2. Are you working on material stewardship?
As sustainability consultants we do not recommend materials specifically, however, we do undertake extensive material reviews based on current design plans from clients and architects. We undertake Circular Economy and Life Cycle Analysis work, we also advise about material choice and embodied and whole life carbon. Through this advisory role, we promote and support the responsible use of materials and elimination of waste.
3. Does the majority of your work demonstrate the use of biologically-inspired approaches such as Bioregionalism, Biophilia or Biomimicry?
No.
Creating a just space for people
Practice
1. Do you have a progressive EDI policy and can you evidence many forms of diversity, which are welcomed and acknowledged, within your company/organisation?
Greengage is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace that respects and values individual differences. We have a robust EDI policy that outlines our zero-tolerance approach to discrimination and harassment and details our objectives to promote diversity at all levels. Our recruitment processes are designed to attract a diverse pool of candidates and we use blind recruitment to eliminate bias in the screening process. We also include EDI training as part of our annual leadership programs aimed at promoting an inclusive workplace. We are proud to have increased female representation on our leadership board by 133% meaning that the makeup of our leadership board is now more than 50% female in the last 12 months which has brought new perspectives to our strategy. 20% of our workforce are non-British and 17% are non-heterosexual.
2. Do you operate a no overtime culture, meet the living wage consistently, and stipulate a fair salary ratio between staff of all levels?
Due to some of the work we do, ecology surveys, a proportion of our staff have to work unsociable hours at times so to undertake surveys of animals when they are active e.g. bats. Our policy on dealing with this is clear and well tested. Either our staff work flexibly e.g. start later in the day on the day of the surveys or later the next day, in order to get sufficient rest and downtime between work. Another option is that staff can accrue TOIL, which can be used when they want. We are a partner of the Living Wage Foundation and ensure that any suppliers we use e.g. office cleaners as well as our own staff, are all paid at least the London living wage. Salaries are benchmarked against industry and salary increases and bonuses are decided by the senior leadership team which includes Directors and Heads of Services.
3. Do you support charities, community groups, social enterprises, action groups and others through pro-bono work, charitable giving or in-kind donations?
The team at Greengage choose a charity of the year each year. Once chosen, any company associated fundraising undertaken in that year raises money for the chosen charity. In 2024 the chosen charity was Action Through Enterprise Ghana. In 2025, our chosen charity was Alzheimer’s Society and in2026 our choisen charity is CoppaFeel. Examples of fund raising activities include pot luck lunches, cake sales and individuals undertaking activities such as cycles, tough mudder events and alike. We also support Landaid annually and have undertaken pro bono work for Landaid looking at delivering new temporary accommodation for the homeless in Bristol. We regularly provide work experience for graduates and those interested in starting a career in the sustainability world and also provide career intros to schools.
4. Do you use an ethical framework to assess opportunities and/or supply chain partners and is them team consulted on these decisions?
We do not work on oil and gas projects or other projects that promote fossil fuel use or that are environmentally damaging e.g. airports etc. We also do not take on work that does not fit with our own moral and ethics, examples of projects we have turned down in recent years includes asylum hostels and intensive chicken farms.
Project
1. Does your work demonstrate deep engagement with local stakeholders and end users?
Alongside biodiversity and sustainability, we also provide social impact/social sustainability services. We embed ourselves in design teams and take part in community/stakeholder engagement wherever we can. Examples of community engagement we have undertaken on projects includes asking communities to mark on a plan of the site where they feel unsafe. This was for early consultation on a masterplan project. By the end of Teh event we had an idea of where people felt unsafe and as a response we could provide deign interventions that would help mitigate this and eliminate the perception of crime. This allowed a clear design intervention to be communicated to the stakeholders to show how the future masterplan could benefit them directly.
2. Does your work create connected and resilient communities which positively contribute to neighbourhoods and allow equality of access?
All of the above. On many projects we are the biodiversity, energy, sustainability, socio-economic and social impact advisers. Our advice all stems from a mission to improve peoples lives and to live in a better world. Delivering climate resilient places for both people and nature is key to what we do. Examples of projects where we have demonstrated this include our input on schemes such as Low Line, Southwark, Catford town centre masterplan and Luton Town masterplan, all of which we led on how nature based solutions and green infrastructure can make places more climate resilient, improve peoples health and reconnect people with nature for example. On other schemes we design, implement and monitor the social value impact, be it job creation, community engagement etc.
3. Does the majority of your work promote equity in society, and consider all people, not only building inhabitants
We help design projects for all users, the residents, the workers the local community etc. On the Brentford football stadium project and the surrounding masterplan, we evidenced the Social Return on Investment that could come from having a world class sporting facility in close proximity to high density residential. We have also designed Social Value guidelines for several major investor developers, such as Great Portland Estates, on how they can maximise and monitor social value form the schemes they deliver.