Creating a better world is a (bike) chain reaction

In the face of dispiriting and, frankly, terrifying news about climate change and the impact it has on our increasingly fragile planet, it’s easy to feel insignificant and powerless, and question how any one person can make a difference.

Yet, equally, the sight of cities around the world switching to pedal power almost overnight gives a sense that change can happen, when a disruptive catalyst drives it hard enough. The global pandemic has not only focused our minds on the impact we are having on the planet, but also that, collectively, we need to maintain our health and fitness levels as never before.

Watching cities rapidly implement cycle paths, and cars sitting in driveways as people find newfound confidence in cycling on the quieter roads, is massively encouraging. We can’t let this trend reverse, as normality seeps back into life – for a few, precious, quiet, reflective weeks, we heard silence and stillness as the roar of engines retreated.

We don’t want our city centres to be quiet. Far from it. Like every other business, we depend wholeheartedly on commerce, on businesses. On the economy repairing and healing. But what we want is busy, vibrant, exciting cities where people breathe clean air and where the buzz comes from whirring pedals rather than noisy exhausts.

There is no question that this is the future we must seek. As a developer, we see our role as driving the economy whilst also protecting our planet from the toll that building, if not carefully managed, can have on it.

We have committed that all our buildings and our own business at FORE will be Net Zero Carbon by 2025, an industry-leading pledge.  Cadworks itself will be net zero carbon on operation with no fossil fuel used in running the building.  Up to 80% of our steel is recycled, as is 100% of our timber. Our only car parking will be for electric cars, and our electricity will be 100% from renewable sources.  And it doesn’t stop there as our goal is to encourage our tenants to be as green as us – our cycle-in access ramp will be the country’s first, with cooling and ironing stations to allow people to cycle to work and head straight to the office.

We are certain that by building Cadworks, we are setting the standard for office design as we move into a very different, but potentially more positive future, where development, commerce, and our natural environment co-exist in harmony.

As a business and as individuals, we know how easy it is to feel powerless, but we also know that if we research, innovate and operate thoughtfully, together we can make huge changes.

This is the future of real estate.  This is Cadworks.