We know we must conduct our business sustainably so that we can meet the needs of the present without compromising future generations.

We are committed to preserving natural resources and increasing the use of renewable energy sources in the construction of our homes, as well as developing sustainable regeneration and asset management practices. 

We want to create and maintain communities where people want to live and stay, providing good quality homes at a price people can afford.

Sustainable Homes Index for Tomorrow

In 2010, Catalyst was awarded silver in the highly challenging SHIFT sustainability benchmarking scheme.

SHIFT (Sustainable Homes Index for Tomorrow) identified the following strengths at Catalyst:

• Making our sustainability strategy available to the public through our website
• Planning and delivering high Code for Sustainable Homes standards for all our new homes
• Having an action plan which addresses a diverse range of environmental issues
• Providing tailored information for residents on green transport options
• Encouraging positive green transport options for our staff
• Having a relatively low carbon emission rate for our offices
• Having a high number of ecological enhancements on our managed properties (such as planting native trees and plants, bird and bat boxes etc)
• Developing creative design solutions for new homes particularly at risk of significant climate change events, such as flooding

Catalyst’s sustainability objectives

New build

• All our new homes are built to meet, or exceed, the government’s Design and Quality Standards
• All new homes will meet at least Level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes. In London we now build to at least Level 4, as required by the Mayor’s new Housing Design Guide
• All new schemes being planned or developed include consideration of the use of renewable energy such as solar power, communal heating and water saving measures

Existing housing and regeneration

• All our existing stock will meet the government’s decent homes standard by the agreed target date
• We provide information about energy efficiency for all residents – helping them to keep costs down and promote domestic sustainability
• Our Portobello regeneration will have a combined heat and power energy centre, with fuel efficient homes
• We run a number of local ecological projects to promote awareness about environmental issues
• Our zero carbon development in Hounslow is one of London’s first housing projects to achieve a Code for Sustainable Homes level six – the highest possible rating
• In Reading we have completed a pilot project exploring how to retro fit older properties to radically improve energy performance and will be monitoring them for two years

Our residents

• All new residents receive a residents’ manual, highlighting what they can do to reduce their environmental impact
• We work closely with our residents and local authorities to increase our environmental performance, through improved estate recycling facilities and bulk refuse collections
• We work with resident groups to actively encourage more sustainable behaviour through food growing activities, recycling old furniture and estate clean-ups

Our staff

• Among our employees we have a dedicated team of ‘green champions’ who promote environmentally friendly practices internally and externally
• We have a number of schemes in place to reduce our dependency on the car such as cycle-to-work, car sharing and City Car club membership. We also offer staff salary advances to pay for season ticket loans