Our group-wide design standards apply to all our homes and go beyond regulations and material sustainability standards in many instances. For example to minimise sound impacts we use of robust Standard Details which exceed Building Regulaton requirements by 3 dB. All windows are 1.2U-Value and all doors are 1.0 U-value. All floors are 0.12max U-value.  All roofs are 0.11 U-value: all improvements upon standard requirements. Our homes are designed for improved daylighting and solar gains by adding larger than standard patio doors and windows.

We worked with the Wildlife Trust to develop and implement a pioneering new approach to enhancing biodiversity on our developments. We are developing a net gain approach to biodiversity; ensuring nature is enhanced as a result of our activities and people can access and enjoy nature in their daily lives. We incorporate Sustainable Urban Drainage schemes on all of our developments to manage flood risk, which also often provide habitats for wildlife.

Redrow standard specification includes low embodied carbon products such as use of innovative interlocking concrete tiles, aircrete concrete blocks with up to 80% of the raw materials used in the manufacture being recycled products, locally recycled aggregates. 

Reducing the amount of construction waste we produce is important for several reasons. Producing raw materials and manufacturing and distributing products contributes to our scope 3 emissions, which we’re committed to cutting. Sending waste to landfill also has cost implications for us, so we look to divert as much as possible from landfill and reuse or recycle waste. We’ve developed a waste and resource efficiency strategy to guide us towards a concept of total waste management, with waste prevention and reduction at its core, view our strategy here. In addition to reducing our own waste production, we provide our customers with information on how they can reduce their own waste and recycle responsibly.

In 2021, we concluded ‘Reduce the Rubble’ – a pioneering waste research project that sought to drill-down and identify every component of the waste generated during our build process. The research helped us to better understand the root-causes of waste and identify how it might either be eliminated, reduced or re-used.

More than thirty opportunities for improvement were identified and we established a Buildability and Waste working group to help us make progress on these. The group meets regularly to develop ways to design/build smarter and faster, while reducing the waste we produce and protecting what makes our homes special.

We've introduced a number of changes to design-out waste, including reducing ground floor storey heights by one course of brickwork, which reduces wasteful offcuts while still having the highest floor to ceiling heights in the industry. We have also removed complicated design features that produce waste and don’t add value to our homes. These include changes made to understairs cupboards, sloping ceilings, wardrobes and stud walls.

The communication campaign around Reduce the Rubble helped to raise awareness of waste and it has had a positive influence on the way in which our construction teams think about waste. A survey found that 96% of construction workers involved in the project are now actively working to reduce waste.

The project won bronze at the Global Good Awards in the category of Waste Reduction and Minimisation. The project report is published here and you can also find out more in the video below.

More than 98% of our construction waste was diverted from landfill in the last financial year. We have recycling schemes in place for some of our product/material packaging, including pallets and paint-cans. We have also been working in partnership with the Community Wood Recycling Scheme for more than 5 years, to recycle and recover waste timber from our sites. The Community Wood Recycling Scheme is a national network which provides a collection service for excess wood, with the aim of saving resources by reusing and recycling waste timber. The Scheme also operates as a social enterprise, creating opportunities for local people.

In 2022, 485 tonnes of wood was collected from Redrow sites and rescued from the waste stream, a breakdown of this can be seen below. 

A recent report from the Public Accounts Committee shows that England is likely to face significant water shortages within the next two decades as the population grows, urbanisation continues and the climate warms. We’re looking at how we can help. Our homes are already industry-leading in terms of water efficiency, with a rating of just [105] litres per person per day, well below the Building Regulations requirement of [125] l/p/d. We achieve this with highly efficient fixtures, water saving baths and flow restrictors. In 2022, 148,945 m³ of water was consumed across Redrow sites, plots, offices and showhomes. This is equivalent to 26.5m³ of water consumed per 100m2 of build, view our ESG Scorecard to see how this compares to previous years.

We also incorporate Sustainable Urban Drainage schemes (SUDS) on the majority of our developments to improve rainwater management and reduce flood risk. SUDS Systems are designed to mimic the natural drainage of surface water by managing rainfall, whilst also often providing habitats for wildlife. We have also developed plans for Rain Water Gardens at our Queenshill site in Newport, South Wales. The SUD’s features on site will be comprised of one combined crate tank and attenuation basin to the south of the site - landscaped for aesthetic purposes with a mixture of scrub, trees and wildflower planting – permeable / porous paving, swale features and road-side rain garden and filter strips. In terms of placemaking, it is hoped that the end result will prove to be an attractive, greener site. Additionally, having trees as part of the rainwater garden features also helps improve run off.