Fortitudo Take Strides Towards Carbon Negative

CEO, Richard Carr, has set a goal for the team at Fortitudo to move the Company away from the mindset of Carbon Neutral and move developments to a Carbon Negative footing.

‘We in the development Industry are consistently being reminded of embedded carbon in buildings that we wish to demolish, so we have started this new journey. This is the latest part of our Carbon journey after stopping installing gas boilers in 2017.’

During the demolition phase of Fortitudo’s latest development, Merchants Quarter, large efforts have been made to reduce the scheme’s carbon footprint, focussing on embedded carbon.

Embedded carbon is the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions associated with materials and construction processes throughout the whole lifecycle of a building or infrastructure. With this in mind, a careful and considered demolition process has allowed for the reclamation and reuse of a number of materials that formerly made up the Trethowans office on Longfleet Road in the Centre of Poole. At present, over 300,000 bricks have been cleaned of lyme mortar and are available for reuse, fireplaces throughout the building have been reclaimed and roof slates have been hand removed and are ready to be used on other projects.

Fortitudo have always had a focus on the operational carbon of their homes, the carbon that comes from energy, heat, lighting, etc, with the installation of air source heat pumps, EV charging points, solar panels and sustainable urban drainage systems across their developments, but a more considered approach to demolition is a huge stride towards a carbon negative development.