A catalyst for sustainable change in our commercial buildings
Last month, we launched CUBE – the UK’s very first competition that enables commercial buildings to make a genuine contribution to net zero through changing behaviour.
Data on the impact of climate change is all around us. In the UK, office buildings lose an enormous £60 million in wasted energy every year and there is no sign of these figures improving. We are also striving to meet net zero by 2050 and, according to recent reports, not doing anywhere near enough to achieve it.
So how does CUBE help address this? Put simply, it encourages users of buildings and workplaces to engage and collaborate with one another on energy savings and apply simple interventions that make a big difference.
But where the magic behind CUBE really lies is that it is inherently positive, with a spirit of fun and healthy competition to give it impetus. It brings gamification to energy consumption, with monthly rankings for participants and awards for top performers.
But really and truly, simply participating makes you a winner.
Too many people think that you need the perfect net zero plan before taking action. I can assure you that’s not the case. If you start with tackling energy usage in your building, you change mindsets and foster a strong coalition of change makers within your organisation who can learn along the way, together.
CUBE is designed to help, providing a simple programme for landlords, building managers and occupiers. It focuses on inspiring everyone to get involved and encouraging behaviour change. It also creates a community of businesses which understands that achieving net zero starts with reducing energy use and can only be done if we all act together, now.
It has been running for six years in France already, where it has garnered support from industry and government, and had a huge impact. It has saved £10.5 million in costs and enough energy to power almost 27,500 UK homes for a year.
As we look to a more sustainable, positive future after one of this century’s most challenging health crises, now is the time to bring CUBE to the UK. Everyone we’ve spoken to about it has been keen to get involved or help spread the word. Because if you could help cut energy usage and equivalent costs by an average of 12% and up to 55% in a single year across all of our commercial buildings, why wouldn’t you?