Elephant & Castle development to be ‘climate-positive’ by 2020

Lend Lease's Elephant & Castle programme has been formally recognised by C40 Cities Climate Leadership to become the third project of 18 globally to reach 'participant' status.

The 'climate positive participant' rating is conferred by sustainability experts acting on behalf of C40's Climate Positive Development Programme in partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative.

To achieve this status, Elephant & Castle developers have submitted a roadmap which demonstrates that the scheme is set to be climate positive by 2020.

Former US president Bill Clinton first endorsed the Elephant & Castle scheme in 2009 but there is no evidence that he has kept his promise to visit the area alongside Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

Last year Mr Clinton used a speech at The Old Vic Tunnels in Waterloo to make the bold claim that future residents of the Elephant & Castle would enjoy free energy supplies.

"They won't be paying utility bills – they will be making money which will put more people to work," he said.

Lend Lease's commitment to environmentally friendly initiatives comes despite the controversial cancellation of the proposed multi-utility services company (MUSCo) at the Elephant.

The developers claim that its new buildings at the Elephant will incorporate the latest insulation and air circulation techniques and will be built using responsibly sourced timber.

An on-site combined heat and energy centre will provide heat and power to the homes and shops and will act as an interactive community and educational centre for the public.

The company also boats that it has drawn up a masterplan with a strong focus on walking, cycling, and use of public transport as well as charging points for electric vehicles – although the developer has come under fire for including 616 car parking spaces in its plans for the Heygate Estate site.

"The Elephant & Castle development will share best practices with other leading city projects across the world," said Pascal Mittermaier, Lend Lease's project director for Elephant & Castle.

"Essentially we want to create a low carbon development where people not only dramatically reduce on-site carbon emissions but actually become 'climate positive' thanks to emission offsets in the surrounding community."

Cllr Fiona Colley, Southwark's cabinet member for regeneration, said: "It has long been our ambition that the housing built on the Heygate site should have modern, high standards of green credentials in keeping with our ambitions for sustainable housing.

"The new homes will be energy efficient in order not only to help the environment but also so that residents are warm, dry and comfortable in their brand-new homes – a marked improvement on the old building's heating systems which would regularly fail during the winter."

Terri Wills of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group said: "By demonstrating that a zone 1 Central London re-development can be net carbon negative, Lend Lease is shifting the paradigm of sustainable urban development".