Social Value Part 2: Five Key Challenges for Social Value in Real Estate

In 2015, the United Nations set as part of their Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 11—[to] “Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable”[1]. When talking about resilient cities, most of us probably think of our physical environment, rising sea levels and thermal comfort. However, the built environment can be a great enabler of community growth and…

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Social Value Part 1: What is social value?

Social Value is the quantification of positive public benefits and outcomes. It originates from a collection of principles aiming to improve health, wellbeing, quality of life, and communities[1]. Social Value is considered in a variety of industry sectors, but recent uptake in the built environment has been sharp, and the future is focused on developing…

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HQE (Haute Qualité Environnementale) certification for buildings in operation: how does it compare on health and wellbeing?

Although many may not be overly familiar with it (in comparison to the likes of BREEAM and LEED), HQE certification has the strongest presence in Europe by area, with buildings totalling approximately 85 million m2 certified at the end of 2017[1]. While HQE was first developed in France, the new international platform Cerway has brought…

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