Shared innovation key to climate change action, says UKGBC

The UK Green Building Council and Sustainable Ventures have launched an open innovation framework in a bid to enabled shared innovation in the built environment as it seeks to do its bit to tackle climate change. The framework provides a step-by-step guide on how corporates can engage in open innovation and reach effective solutions. It is divided into four key phases – challenge definition, scoping, engagement, and collaboration – each of which are broken down further into eight levels with associated actions. The shared process is intended to create a common understanding of open innovation between corporates and innovators,  increase transparency, and enable more efficient and timely engagements. “If the built environment is to play its part in tackling the climate crisis we must radically increase the use of innovative solutions,” said Alastair Mant, head of business transformation at UKGBC. “Many companies throughout the property and construction value chain are setting ambitious carbon reduction commitments and to meet these they must now find new ways to construct and operate buildings and infrastructure. Innovators and start-ups continue to create many of the required concepts, prototypes and even final products, but due to largely cultural issues, take-up of these solutions is too slow. The Open Innovation Levels Framework provides corporates with a step-by-step process for collaborating with start-ups in a way that will lead to greater levels of innovation within their projects and across the industry.” Charlie Beharrell, senior commercial associate at Sustainable Ventures, added: “Sustainable Ventures’s community is thriving with innovators tackling the built environment’s climate and sustainability issues, but the sector lags behind in its efforts to nurture these and bring them to market. The framework we have developed with UKGBC will enable corporate entities to better engage with early stage innovation, helping to build new, tailored solutions to facilitate the transition to net zero.” To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@egi.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @estatesgazette