Persimmon Plc
Climate Impact & Sustainability Data (2021)
Reporting Period: 2021
Environmental Metrics
Total Carbon Emissions:27,678 tCO2e
Scope 1 Emissions:25,298 tCO2e
Scope 2 Emissions:2,380 tCO2e
Scope 3 Emissions:1,254,243 tCO2e
Renewable Energy Share:100% (for offices and manufacturing facilities)
Total Energy Consumption:96,508 MWh
Waste Generated:116,261 tons
Carbon Intensity:1.82 tCO2e per home sold
ESG Focus Areas
- Climate change action and resilience
- Social value and enhancing communities
- Health and safety
- Build quality and safety
- Talent attraction, diversity, development and engagement
Environmental Achievements
- Reduced NHBC Reportable Items by 17%
- Switched all offices and manufacturing facilities to 100% renewable energy
- Reduced operational emissions
- Improved data capture and reporting methodologies for greenhouse gas emissions
- Reported Scope 3 emissions for the first time
- Average SAP rating of homes is 87 (B rating), 30% more energy-efficient than existing housing stock
Social Achievements
- Achieved five-star rating from the HBF customer satisfaction survey
- Increased eight-week customer satisfaction score to 92.0%
- Persimmon Charitable Foundation donated £1.8m to around 900 charities and community groups
- Contributed c.£127m to local communities through planning contributions
- Improved employee engagement score to 78%
- Increased number of mental health first aiders to 193
- Introduced a hybrid working policy
Governance Achievements
- Created a new Group Sustainability Director position
- Undertook detailed climate scenario analysis aligned with TCFD requirements
- Reported against the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) housebuilding standard for the second year
- Included an environmental metric as part of executive and management remuneration plans for 2022
- Signed the ‘Building a Safer Future Charter’
- Partnered with RoofCERT to improve roofing safety and quality
Climate Goals & Targets
Long-term Goals:
- Net zero carbon in operations by 2040
Medium-term Goals:
- Net zero carbon homes in use by 2030
- Maintain timber and timber derived products from responsible and sustainable sources
Short-term Goals:
- Reduce Scope 3 emissions by 22% per m² completed floor area by 2030
- Reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 46.2% by 2030
- Achieve 50% of homes built using timber frames by 2025
- Reduce NHBC Reportable Items by 18% in 2022
- By end of 2025: 40% female employees, 35% female senior management, 45% female employees in management roles
Environmental Challenges
- Reducing Scope 3 emissions (indirect emissions from supply chain, homes in use, and employee commuting)
- Meeting challenging science-based carbon reduction targets
- Improving data quality for waste reporting
- Addressing gender diversity imbalance in the workforce and industry
- Maintaining high customer satisfaction scores
Mitigation Strategies
- Engaged an external consultant to calculate embodied carbon of homes
- Engaging with major suppliers to reduce embodied carbon
- Partnering with the Supply Chain Sustainability School
- Implementing The Persimmon Way construction excellence programme
- Investing in customer service initiatives
- Appointing a new Director of Talent and Diversity
- Commissioning a Diversity & Inclusion Review
- Setting challenging diversity targets
Supply Chain Management
Responsible Procurement
- Engagement with the Supply Chain Sustainability School
- Embodied carbon study of house types
- Working with suppliers to reduce embodied carbon
Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities
Opportunities
- Development of energy-efficient products and technologies
Reporting Standards
Frameworks Used: TCFD, SASB
Third-party Assurance: Bureau Veritas (limited assurance)
Sustainable Products & Innovation
- Timber frame homes (Space4)
- Homes with solar PV panels, air source heat pumps, gas savers, MVHR, and district heating
- Zero carbon demonstrator home at Germany Beck
Awards & Recognition
- Five-star HBF rating
- Two NHBC Pride in the Job awards