Forging A New Path In Sustainability
Steffie Broer founded Bright Green Futures with the goal to “empower, inspire and change people’s lives” through eco self-build communities. Today, her project called Water Lillies is known for its uniqueness and originality and creates an attractive case study of how home building could be in the near future. For our sustainability issue, we interviewed Steffie to find out more about not only the project, but the challenges and dreams that come with it.
How did the idea for Bright Green Futures (BGF) come about?
I built a house in an eco self-build housing community myself – one of a kind. It was a life-changing experience for me and my children. People would come and visit and say that they would love to do it too and asked me where to start. I’d always respond that it was very difficult and lots of coincidences had come together to make that project possible.
I realised that what was needed was a purpose-led business as a vehicle to develop a scalable model for such communities, not just to change people’s lives but also to show that we can build zero-carbon communities too. Since no one else was doing it, I thought: “it might as well be me”. And that’s how it all started.
Can you explain a bit more what is involved in eco self-build communities?
Our customers buy a plot from us and then have sessions with our architect and workshops with us and their future neighbours to design their home and their community. We then build the shell for them, and they do their own fit out. We also have custom build homes where we build a bespoke completed home for them.
The homes are powered by renewables, which generate the energy on site. They catch the sun and are very comfortable, with stable temperatures and great air quality, as they are designed to passive house principles.
The homes are arranged around a garden square with cars parked at the periphery or underground. At the heart of the site is a community hub for co-working, shared meals, classes, pub night and cinema night, etc. It’s a safe place for young and old to work and play together.
People also share that they have a lot more privacy living in the community. If their partner or children feel sociable, it is easy to retreat to the private garden or private space in the house, and our customers are able to upgrade on the acoustic insulation to create even more privacy. So they can really have their cake and eat it too in so many ways – privacy and community as well as being kind to the planet whilst also living in great luxury.
What have been the biggest challenges in the project so far?
Wow, that’s a great question. We have faced SO many challenges. We innovated left, right and centre:
On the sustainable technology front, we have the first carbon neutral residential microgrid in the UK.
On the financing front, we only had 10% of GDV equity and the rest of the finance came from customers buying in and from a loan from Homes England.
We sold directly without estate agents primarily through social media marketing and word of mouth.
We are building in one of the poorest areas in Bristol with a community hub, an old reservoir converted into a carpark with a shared garden at the top, on a sloped site, with each house being completely unique in design.
I picked the people in our team based on their passion for what we do and their ability to learn rather than experience, and I had limited experience myself, jumping from building one home to six - now to 33 with a completely new business model.
So, in answer to your question, the challenges came from the perfect storm of all these innovations coming together. What I learnt is that if you are doing something no one has done before, you can’t just employ a consultant to tell you how to do it, because they don’t know either. And you have to learn so quickly on your feet to be able to judge if you have employed a good expert.
We made lots of mistakes along the way too. And we had to learn some things through trial and error. So we are very proud of where we got to. And I am glad in hindsight to have been so ambitious from the start, although there were times when I was pulling my hair out and wanted to run away.
What is one big lesson you learned with this project?
Maybe there are two for me:
Put the right people in the right seats – put your resources into finding and magnetising the best person there is for each role you need filling.
If you give yourself a challenge that is bigger than yourself, you may find resources, strengths and talents you didn’t know you had in you.
Are there plans for other locations for BGF?
Yes, we are actively looking for sites now, although Bristol and surrounding areas are still our preference for the time being, unless we have a delivery partner or particularly excited landowner or local authority further away.
What’s next for the project?
For the main contractor to complete construction, and then the self-builders to come in to complete their fit out with our support through our workshops.
What does sustainability mean for you?
Living in harmony with the planet. Leaving the planet in a better place than if you had never existed.
In which way do you think technology can help the property industry be more sustainable?
Through energy efficiency, clean technology and renewable technology, we can build homes that are more comfortable and are carbon neutral or carbon negative.
What do you believe are the biggest deterrents at the moment stopping developers from building sustainable or even zero-carbon homes, and how to solve this issue?
I think it’s the same for developers as other industries. Many people look for quick fixes or quick money and the house builders are controlled by shareholders’ profits. Yet, deep down, what people are really looking for is to be OK, to be respected and to have meaning in their life. We get confused because ads tell us that money is going to bring it to us. But that’s an illusion.
I believe that a true focus on purpose and meaning through a business as a vehicle to create it will bring great wealth even though it is not sought. And that is because lots of resources are needed to make a big difference. There are stats that show that more people than ever before make purchase decisions around their values and purpose, and it is not a surprise to me that the richest man in the world is the one who used to be laughed at because he invested in what was understood to be the worse industries: solar, electric cars and space rockets :-)
How do we solve it? By leading by example, by lobbying the government to provide policy support to those who do take responsibility, by making it mandatory for all new homes to achieve high levels of sustainability standards such as carbon neutrality.
It’s only ever a small group of committed people who create a big change. And there are many people who want to. So, if you have a passion for something, then find others with the same passion and make it happen with them. Many people really want to. So, if you start with courage, you will find that you will easily magnetise others.
What is one way a property developer can be sustainable that is not wildly known?
Think outside the box. There is a huge number of opportunities. Personal transport and household waste opportunities are often overlooked. Here are a few great wins:
Personal transport:
Position homes close to workspaces or public transport nodes and include facilities to work from home (e.g. beautifully designed in-home offices with views or co-working space).
Build communities, not homes: Design outdoor and indoor recreational and social spaces into the communities.
Create a carpool and put in electric charging points.
Waste:
Design kitchens with bin facilities for the different recyclables.
Design a communal recycling shed into your community with communal bins for all the recyclables so that people can take out their recycling whenever they need to, not just on bin day.
These options can create a value uplift for your community. Imagine the immense value to your customer of cutting out an hour a day out of their commute, for example, or being able to work and play in an environment they really like. Likewise how nice is it not to have bins outside the homes and rubbish blowing around in the wind?
Do you believe we will ever reach a zero-carbon property and construction industry?
Yes, of course. We have to and we need to do so quickly. Forty percent of UK grid electricity now comes from renewable sources. Fifteen years ago it was almost nothing. We need to think more holistically and think of a zero-carbon Britain and ultimately a zero-carbon world, not just a zero-carbon property industry.
We are now building communities at Bright Green Futures which are carbon negative, meaning that overall, they take more carbon out of the atmosphere than they put into it. I think that the property industry has the potential to really lead the way to make a big difference. It has a large share of the country’s emission footprint and it has potential to do so relatively easily.
What are three sustainable ways that developers can start their sustainability journey today?
Start with visualising your dream. What do you really want to create? How do you want to show up in the world? What do you want to be known for? What’s important to you? Take some time to ponder these questions.
Go out into nature and ask yourself what you really, really want. Then when you are clear what that is, you go and find a way to make it happen. Keep staying true to your vision in the face of all the obstacles that come your way, and you will get there slowly but surely.
What are some common misconceptions surrounding sustainable construction?
I think sometimes people say they don’t have the money to do sustainability. I think what they actually mean is that they don’t know how to do it (the business model for sustainability, in my view).
Tell us a little bit about your career and how you got where you are today.
I studied Environmental Science and Energy Technology and started my career as a sustainable energy advisor. I also built a sustainable home in an eco self-build housing community, which changed my life and the life of my children and co-builders.
Also, the house I built, being 26 years old with a baby on my back, was worth twice as much as I paid for it, and so I thought there might be a business model in this way of building communities in a highly sustainable and people-centric way.
I managed to get myself a scholarship to explore how we can go further with reducing carbon emissions in UK housing and to explore if the eco self-build housing model had potential to deliver this and could be scaled. And when I completed the PhD, I set up Bright Green Futures to do just that.
What are three lessons that you as a property developer have learned?
Create win-win solutions.
Treat everyone with respect.
Spot the bullshit.
What would you say is the biggest achievement of your career?
To have developed a new scalable housing model that addresses many of the environmental and social challenges we are facing today.