A study in sustainability: sharing lessons from Entopia

Camaraderie, challenge, and openness defined our project with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) at the Entopia Building. Without the commitment of people coming together with collaborative mindsets and behaviours, the outcomes could simply not have been possible.

CISL worked closely with ISG to deliver a headquarters with exemplary sustainability standards. Entopia is a five-storey, concrete-frame structure located in a conservation area in Cambridge. The project was a deep green retrofit, maximising operational utility, value and energy efficiency, that minimised adverse embodied carbon impacts, while pursuing opportunities for holistic sustainability and resilience.

Speaking at the Education Estates Net Zero Conference alongside Anna Nitch-Smith, Chief Operating Officer at CISL, our Senior Sustainability Manager, Nicola Forest, shared the challenge and opportunities that came from our project, changing the way that we approach projects like these, upskilling our supply chain and changing the industry approach to the application and installation of bio-based materials, and approaching joinery with a circular mindset.

With an embodied carbon rate of 304 kilograms of CO2, the building was designed and built to EnerPHit, BREEAM and Well standards, with the team working with the client on the vision, rather than chasing the credits.

Nicola outlined her criteria for success in the session:

• Client buy in and consistent engagement is crucial
• Early engagement planning to discuss any proposals that could be contentious
• No single sustainability framework addressed everything - be prepared to combine and/or choose the highest standard from each
• Circular economy and re-use often hinges on risk and responsibility rather than technical issues
• Use innovative or novel materials when they’re justified, but only when they are
• The University of Cambridge's CISL project demonstrated the impact of retrofitting for sustainability, with thermal bridging, bio-based materials and circular economy exemplars

Performance to CISL can be defined by the real-world impact of its approach to supporting innovators to scale their new ventures, through access to the knowledge economy of Cambridge University, CISL’s network of leading corporates and its 40,000 executive alumni. When surveyed in response to ISG’s ‘Space to Innovate’ research, CISL highlighted that start-ups that join its CANOPY community do so to access innovation, knowledge, networks and partnership opportunities, which are anchored in the Entopia Building. This inherently means appropriate space is a contributing factor to CISL’s innovation and broader success.

Further success of the Entopia Building can be seen in CISL’s plan to publish further academic studies and start-up pilots using the building as a ‘Living Lab’. This will enable the organisation to better understand and measure how staff, start-ups and partners use the space. With this data, the Entopia Building will continue to be a world-first model for sustainable buildings, in both design and operation.

The Education Estates Net Zero Conference highlights how universities are pioneering sustainability efforts to achieve net zero emissions. Through various case studies, the video underscores the importance of collaboration, technology integration, and policy alignment.

Watch the Education Estates Net Zero Conference below: