Where practicable, Barratt is committed to seeking to reduce all aspects of its impact on the environment arising from its business activities. We have recognised this commitment through our sustainability policy.

Statutory regulation of housebuilding is becoming increasingly more stringent, for example changes to building regulations and the planning process, requiring new design skills and methods of construction which can be more energy and natural resource intensive. In challenging economic times funding for innovation and development is limited, while at the same time the expectations of customers, land vendors, housing association partners and local authorities are continually evolving.

We see the challenge as an opportunity for Barratt to create a competitive advantage. By engaging with stakeholders on the issues we are able to anticipate the skills and products that we will need in future and plan accordingly. To that end we consult regularly with Government, regulatory and local authorities, both directly and through industry bodies, to highlight potential issues and through representation on national working and task groups we try to assist Government in defining and developing realistic, achievable yet sufficiently ambitious future legislation.

Against this background our Planet philosophy therefore focuses on working with existing and future communities to reduce the impact our developments may have; look at ways we can seek to reduce our carbon footprint through more sustainable solutions by working with suppliers and maximising new technologies; and setting targets to reduce waste.

We have chosen two KPIs to measure our performance under our Planet agenda; volume of waste produced and energy used in the construction process.

We set a target last year to maintain construction waste volume at the historically low value achieved last year of 6.45(1) tonnes per unit legally completed and to maintain the historically high waste segregation rate achieved last year of 91%. In the year ending 30 June 2011 our waste volume KPI reduced to 6.36 tonnes per unit and we achieved a waste segregation rate of 95%. We believe these excellent results are due to our continued focus on site waste and the use of site waste management plans.

Last year we also set a target to reduce the energy used in construction by 7%. Barratt is participating in the Carbon Reduction Energy Efficiency Scheme (‘CRC’), a mandatory scheme launched by the Government in 2010 to reduce impact on climate change and energy use by businesses. During the year we have commenced the integration of the data used for the CRC scheme and our progress will be reported in our Sustainability Report 2012.

(1) Figure reported as 21.9m3 in 2010. Restated to tonnes .

 In August 2010, Barratt signed up to the Waste and Resource Action Programme’s (‘WRAP’) construction commitment to ‘halving waste to landfill’ by 2012. Whilst we have already implemented strategies to reduce waste to landfill and have already achieved a diversion rate of 95%, it was considered that as a key developer we should support this initiative. We also have worked closely with WRAP and have carried out a review of our main waste streams to establish what further we could do to reduce the amount of waste produced and which trades and suppliers it originates from. The review has resulted in us working with our suppliers in particular to review the amount of packaging used in the supply of building products and goods to our developments. We have also reviewed our terms and conditions for suppliers and with the assistance of WRAP included further provision for them to consider and reduce the potential waste from supply of their products.

During the year ending 30 June 2011 Barratt also undertook a detailed review from our key suppliers of our sustainability capabilities. During our annual supplier conference a total of 58 suppliers completed a questionnaire asking them to measure our sustainability performance, the feedback from which we are reviewing and will feed into our sustainability approach going forward.

During 2010 the Group engaged with The Carbon Trust to review how we control our energy consumption on both our developments and in divisional offices. We have introduced an energy efficiency programme that will actively reduce the energy usage of the business whilst not impacting on production. The programme has been developed to enable maximum impact via the involvement of staff and Green Teams are being established in all our operating units. Each team’s responsibility will be to evaluate, establish and implement measures to improve our overall energy consumption. The Green Teams have been provided with information that they can consider as part of the initiative and are supported by our SHE team. We have also developed posters and all staff are being provided with information on the reasons why we are implementing the programme. Going forward it is hoped that the Green Teams’ initiatives can reduce the Group’s overall energy usage and costs.

“Simple alterations within our offices and on our sites can make a real difference. The creation of our Green Teams in every division will galvanise long-term benefits from our environment and our business.”

Mark Clare, Group Chief Executive, at the launch of Green Team Initiative.

In November 2010, Barratt entered into a framework agreement with NHBC Sustainability Services to offer Code for Sustainable Homes assessments across the Group. This agreement ensures a consistent and streamlined approach to the Code assessment process, as well as ensuring the quality of the guidance and advice we receive is second to none. The NHBC Sustainability Services offers all housebuilders expertise and advice to ensure that new homes are built to Code for Sustainable Homes standards.

The relationship we already have with the NHBC with regard to Building Control ensures that much of the information required for Code Assessments was already sent to the organisation. Through our divisions not having to also send this to a separate Code Assessor, significant time savings can be identified. In addition to this, by having a single organisation providing Code assessments, Barratt are able to fulfil documentary evidence requirements directly, further streamlining the process.

Barratt is working with developers Crest Nicholson and Stewart Milne Group, the Building Research Establishment, H+H Celcon and BRE Scotland to develop and pioneer the volume production of low carbon homes for the future. The partnership, formed during 2008, is responsible for the design and build of a minimum of 12 energy efficient homes using innovative materials, products and processes to meet the Government’s Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 energy standard through fabric solutions alone. Once the homes have been sold and are occupied, BRE Scotland will analyse and evaluate both the performance of the homes and the behaviour of the occupant, to see how the homes can be improved.

During the year ending 30 June 2011 Barratt Homes Exeter were found guilty of a pollution offence and fined £10,000 plus costs. The pollution occurred because of the failure of two independent pumps in a sewage treatment tank resulting in effluent discharging into a nearby watercourse. As a result the pumps, which were under a maintenance contract, were fitted with an alarm to warn if both pumps fail in the future.

In the year ending 30 June 2011 over 91% of legally completed units were within 1000m of a public transport mode and nearly 4% of sites have car club facilities. We have also completed Green Travel Assessments at over 16% of our developments.