Amro Partners has brought forward its pledge to become a net zero carbon business by 2030 to a new more ambitious NZC2025 goal, reflecting the urgency of the climate crisis and the need for the built environment sector to act more quickly to tackle emissions.
By placing sustainability at the centre of every business decision, not only in the design, construction, and operation of new developments and the adoption of decarbonisation technology, but also in operational management across procurement, marketing, finance and HR, Amro will reduce its carbon footprint to zero by 31 December 2025.
In addition to protecting the environment, Amro is confident its ambitious net zero carbon strategy will deliver enhanced investment returns and generate significant benefits in terms of attracting long term capital, navigating the planning process and securing higher occupancy and rents for its developments.
“Action by the built environment sector to tackle climate change is gathering pace but the sector needs to move more quickly and be more ambitious in its goals. The significant increases in energy costs we are seeing will speed up our transition to a clean energy future, driven by investor appetite for high ESG projects and, more than ever, consumer demand for ‘green’ homes that are low-cost to run.
“We believe there will be a meaningful ‘green premium’ in yields for assets that score highly against ESG metrics, as well as benefits in terms of the planning process and occupancy and rental levels achieved. Pushing ourselves further in the race to zero is the right thing to do and it makes sound business sense too.”
Raj Kotecha, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Amro Partners
Amro’s Residential Living portfolio – which includes purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) projects in the UK and continental Europe – is being developed to be the leading portfolio of residential assets from an ESG perspective. Its PBSA projects in Seville, Valencia and Pamplona were recently awarded BREEAM Outstanding ratings making them the most sustainable residential rental assets in Europe. The strategy for Amro’s first micro-living project in the UK, The Rex in Kingston, has pivoted from new build to retrofit to ensure the project achieves the highest possible sustainability credentials due to the low embodied carbon use – surpassing RICS 2030 building emissions targets.
Amro, a member of the UK Green Building Council, is building an in-house tech team and developing a technology stack that will provide detailed data on embodied carbon use and building across all its projects, reporting on key energy and wellness metrics. It is applying the CRREM (Carbon Real Estate Risk Monitor) toolkit, which provides the real estate industry with transparent, science-based decarbonisation pathways aligned with the Paris Climate Goals.
