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Welcome to InTheNews – covering all the FM news you may have missed over the week:
The beginning of the week marked Blue Monday, dubbed the most depressing day of the year, and in addition to the usual post-Christmas lull, dark wintry weather and awaiting the arrival of pay day, city dwellers have claimed a lack of greenery in their area is also giving them the blues.
Research by living wall specialist Biotecture, a Mitie company, found that two thirds (66%) of people who live in urban environments want to see more botanical beauty where they live, with over a quarter (26%) feeling demotivated by the lack of green space in their area and one in five (20%) feeling isolated. More than half (51%) think there is not enough investment in urban greening and two fifths (43%) believe there is just too little space available for nature.
Richard Sabin, Managing Director, Biotecture said: “Having access to greenspace shouldn’t just be a bonus when it comes to living in a city, everyone should be able to easily enjoy nature. It’s no surprise people feel demotivated and isolated if they don’t have access to greenery, whether that’s at their place of work, where they live or where they socialise.”
Mitie has published its latest decarbonisation insights paper: Net Zero Navigator 2023. Throughout the paper, Mitie’s decarbonisation experts share their predictions for the year ahead, covering a range of areas including energy, e-mobility, waste and landscapes.
Mitie’s experts share advice on the need to get ahead of the crowd to secure grid connections for EV and solar, how to take a wildlife-aware approach to landscaping, and ways to mine artificial intelligence to improve building performance.
Pradyumna Pandit, Managing Director, Energy and Decarbonisation, Mitie, said: “Businesses are increasingly under pressure from investors, customers and colleagues to make decarbonisation a priority. This year, leadership teams need to think boldly and strategically about getting everyone involved in the journey to net zero, with support from right across the organisation.”
Cloudfm is aiming for a full-scope net zero emissions target for 2035, having already met its scope 1 and 2 science-based emissions targets and is now setting its sights on scope 3.
It has made the move because it recognises that a large part of its carbon footprint is in scope 3, which includes the indirect emissions produced by a business. It includes factors such as employee commutes, business travel, waste, goods and services acquired, production, product disposal at the end of its useful life, distribution, and more.
Cloudfm head of ESG Katrina Christopoulos said: “There is no time to waste, and we want to collaborate to develop the quickest and most successful initiatives to decarbonise our industry”.
And finally, Wolseley Group announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Kooltech, one of the UK’s large air conditioning specialists, as it continues to increase its portfolio of suppliers and distributors across the UK. The deal is expected to complete in mid-2023.
Kooltech, one of the UK’s largest distributors of air conditioning products, has a history dating back more than 40 years.
Simon Oakland, Chief Executive of the Wolseley Group, said: “Wolseley is continuing to bring together the UK’s best in our aim to be the most complete specialist provider of plumbing, heating, cooling and infrastructure products.”
You can find out more on news.fmbusinessdaily.com
