With all the air miles, column inches and hot air generated by the recent COP26 meeting it is unsurprising the PR firms are currently majoring on climate-change and sustainability issues in press releases for their clients.

A steady stream has been arriving with EYE this week, containing  information that would gladden the heart of the likes of Ms Thunberg. Or not, as the case may be.

Here are the latest three:

Sharing the CO2 load

Flatsharing site, SpareRoom, tells us  how much CO2 Brits can save each year by sharing their home:

Two people could save over 0.41 tonnes each – more than the amount of CO2 produced by one person flying from London to Marrakech, Morocco

Three people could save over 0.58 tonnes each – more than the amount of C02 produced by one person flying from London to Tel Aviv, Israel

Four people could save 0.66 tonnes each – more than the amount of C02 produced by one person flying from London to Baghdad, Iraq

Five people could save over 0.71 tonnes each – more than the amount of C02 produced by one person flying from London to Kedougou, Senegal

Homeowners taking in lodgers can also have a substantial impact, not just on their own carbon footprint, but also on that of their lodger.

A homeowner renting out the spare room in their two-bed semi-detached house to a lodger previously renting their own one-bed flat means they both save 0.65 tonnes of carbon dioxide each. If they have a three-bed and take in two lodgers, that rises to 0.88 tonnes each.

Affordable places to live if you run an electric vehicle

Estate agent comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk, has looked at which areas of the UK property market are home to the most affordable property values and the greatest abundance of charging ports for electric vehicles.

Across the UK, there is an average of just 4.8 charging stations for every 100 electric vehicles.

London has 13 charging points per 100 EVs, and an average house price of £525,893.

With 22 charging points per 100 electric vehicles, Blaenau Gwent is not only a great place to own an eco-friendly car, but at £112,343, it’s also home to the most affordable property price.

The Western Isles ranks second with 35.4 charging points per 100 vehicles and an average house price of just £129,365.

Sunderland completes the top three, with the average property costing just £132,345 while there are some 22.2 charging stations for every 100 electric cars.

Other areas to make the list with over 20 charging stations for every 100 electric vehicles include Fermanagh and Omagh (£139,626), Dumfries and Galloway (£148,546), Argyll and Bute (£158,460), Lincoln (£169,115), Boston (£173,304), Highland (£184,214), Gwynedd (£193,961), Coventry (£204,170), Isle of Anglesey (£211,175) Eden (£220,735) and Pembrokeshire (£222,428).

Built environment professionals ‘complacent’ about tackling carbon impact

For its ‘City of Tomorrow’ report, building performance analyst IES spoke to a wide range of professionals working in the built environment sector including engineers, facilities managers, contractors, developers, planners and architects, about the current status of sustainability methods and targets,

The majority (58%) of built environment professionals believe the sector is already doing enough to tackle its carbon impact, despite the built environment contributing 36% of total global energy-related CO2 emissions, and the most recent available data showing that CO2 from operational energy use of buildings reached its highest level yet in 2019.

The report revealed that only 29% of those working in the sector felt that it should be doing more to reduce its carbon impact, and 13% were unsure if current efforts would be enough.

The research suggests that this complacency could stem from a lack of awareness around the full extent of the built environment’s carbon contributions.

Don McLean, CEO of IES, commented: “While it’s great that awareness of climate issues in general is now pretty widespread, and 79% of organisations in the built environment sector are actively working towards net zero, it’s clear that more needs to be done to communicate the built environment’s role in carbon emissions to those working in the sector.

“Reducing the emissions created during the construction process is of course essential, however considering that 80% of the buildings that will be around in 2050 are built already, optimising the operational efficiency of those already in existence is just as, if not more important.”