Sustainability and Community

Green Mark Accreditation.

At SJA we have worked as a team to improve our sustainability practices professionally, and we have also worked individually to carry those practices through into our individual lifestyles.  Our success in integrating ethical and environmental good management practices was evidenced in July 2024, when we achieved Level II accreditation from the Green Mark environmental certification scheme.   Green Mark provides an internationally recognised environmental certification for companies that want to assure their clients and employees that they are conducting business to recognised environmental standards.

Through the process, Green Mark helped us create a framework to make sure we have the correct tools to monitor and reduce our emissions going forward, as well as communicating internally and externally how we are doing this.  Here are some of our environmental policies:

  • SJA will aim to continuously improve the environmental performance and integrate recognised environmental management best practice into our business operations.
  • We measure and take action to reduce the carbon footprint of our business activities to meet our objectives and targets.
  • Manage waste generated from the business operations according to the principals of reduction.

As a practice that supports working from home, we have extended these principles into our daily lifestyle, implementing measures such as increasing biodiversity in our gardens, improving water management and taking advantage of local recycling and zero waste centres to consume and dispose responsibly.

RIBA 2030 Climate Change Challenge

As a RIBA registered Chartered Practice, SJA has signed up to the RIBA 2030 Climate Change Challenge, and is working towards implementing this challenge with our clients as we head towards 2030.

The purpose of the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge is to encourage Practices to take action now and to collaboratively shift in the profession towards outcome-orientated design approaches.

Practice Challenges: 

1. Reduce operational energy demand by at least 60% from current business as usual baseline figures, before  offsetting

2. Reduce embodied carbon by at least 40% from current business as usual baseline figures, before offsetting

3. Reduce potable water use by at least 40% from CIRIA benchmark/ Building Regulation figures

4. Achieve all core health and wellbeing metrics

For more information, click this link https://www.architecture.com/about/policy/climate-action/2030-climate-challenge  

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