Sustainability

At Chantry Place, we recognise that meeting the needs of our customers today must not come at the expense of future generations.

Across a broad range of environmental, social and governance priorities, we have embedded sustainability into our policies, processes and day-to-day operations. Over many years, we have taken meaningful steps to operate responsibly — and we remain committed to continuous improvement.

Since opening in 2005, sustainability has been integral to the design and operation of the Centre. Chantry Place was built with natural ventilation, reducing the need for energy-intensive air handling systems that typically provide heated air in winter and chilled air in summer. This approach lowers
energy consumption, reduces operational costs and minimises our environmental impact.

View our 2025 ESG report

Zero emissions by 2030

We are committed to achieving zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions at Chantry Place by 2030.

For Scope 1 (direct emissions), by the end of 2025 we will have replaced virtually all gas boilers with electric heating systems, typically supported by air source heat pumps. The only exception will be a small number of boilers that are used very occasionally to provide underfloor heating, protecting the structural slab during prolonged periods of extreme cold. These remaining units will be replaced at the end of their operational life.

For Scope 2 (indirect emissions), any electricity we do not generate on-site is already procured from certified renewable sources, ensuring that our purchased energy aligns with our decarbonisation goals. Together, these measures place us firmly on the pathway to operational net zero by 2030.

Saving energy

In 2025 our electrical consumption was 74% below that of 2007

We have achieved this by continually challenging and improving the way we manage the Centre. This has included investing in and upgrading our building management systems, installing smart LED lighting to enhance efficiency and control, and replacing our HVAC systems with more energy-efficient solutions such as Air Source Heat Pumps.

These improvements not only deliver significant energy savings but also eliminate the need for gas as a heating source in our staff areas and public toilets.

Our Solar Farms

Our renewable energy journey began in 2016 with a £190,000 investment in a 772-panel rooftop solar farm.  Since then, it has generated enough clean electricity to boil a kettle more than 11 million times — a powerful demonstration of what on-site renewable energy can achieve.

Building on this success, we invested a further £285,000 in 2023 to install an additional 518 panels.  With 1,290 panels now in operation, our solar array generates around 407,000 kWh each year — meeting 41%  of our annual energy demand and significantly reducing our carbon footprint.

Designed with longevity in mind, the system has an expected lifespan of 25 years. To date, our solar  farms have produced more than 1.8 GWh of clean electricity, supporting our long-term commitment to  sustainability and energy independence.

Coffee to Grow initiative

Since 2016, we have collected used coffee grounds from many of our caterers, averaging around two tonnes each year and repurposed them for the benefit of our community. By packaging the grounds in their original bags and making them freely available to visitors, we reduce waste generated at the Centre while providing shoppers with a valuable, natural compost for their gardens.

This simple circular initiative helps minimise landfill waste, supports sustainable gardening, and encourages our visitors to take part in practical environmental action.

Rainwater recovery initiative

Rainwater from the Centre’s roofs is collected in a large storage tank before being discharged into the highway drainage network. In 2025, we installed new equipment to recover some of this rainwater for use in cleaning the car park floors. When rainwater is available, this system can save up to 600 litres of mains water per day, reducing our overall water consumption and supporting more sustainable operations.

Waste Management

In 2025, we collected 765 tonnes of waste from our retailers and caterers. Working closely with our tenants, we segregated this waste into multiple streams including cardboard, soft plastics, organic waste, metal, batteries, light bulbs, wood, pallets, WEEE and cooking oil, enabling 48% to be recycled. The remaining waste was diverted to energy-from-waste facilities, where it was incinerated to generate energy for wider community benefit.

With waste now separated across ten distinct streams, our established waste management practices place us in a strong position to meet new statutory recycling requirements. To further support these efforts, we have invested in new three-stream recycling bins for visitor use, both inside and outside the building. This initiative is designed to make correct disposal easier and encourage responsible recycling behaviours among our visitors. We are already fully compliant in managing our tenants’ waste.

By the end of 2025, our waste management practices had delivered environmental savings equivalent to one of the following:

C02

748,668 m3

Energy

1,537,835 kWh

Litres of water

4,220,261

Trees

2,745

Supporting charities

Supporting the cultural and charitable sectors in our community, as well as our partners and neighbours to promote the fantastic offering in Norwich, has always been important to us.

In 2024 we worked with 11 partners and charities on campaigns and welcomed them to the Centre. Banham Zoo,
Africa Alive, Norwich Pride, Alive UK, Break, RSPB, Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Community Sports Foundation, Orchard Toys.

In 2025, we will be working with many of these partners again.

Alive UK, which provides emergency support for people in crisis in Norfolk, has collection boxes at Chantry Place. Our Alive Christmas appeal collects thousands of gifts that have helped many families across Norfolk.

2,653 gifts that helped over 962 families in Norfolk and included 348 children who were homeless at Christmas.

Key partners and organisations we’re currently working  with or have worked with over the years

Sustainable travel

We undertake surveys of staff and visitors alike to inform our travel plan. Since our 2022 plan we have seen increases in staff using bus services to get work and more of our visitors using both bus, park and ride services and the train rather than private vehicles. We’ve now set ourselves some new challenging targets to encourage further moves to sustainable transport between now and the end of 2027.

In addition to the multiple facilities available to the public, our dedicated secure cycle park for staff near Coburg Street is now open, helping staff choose two wheels over four.

We’ve partnered with Zest to increase our electric vehicle charging bays from 6 to 8 and these can be found along row 24 on the -2 level of the car park.

Promoting a refill culture

We’re pleased to be able to offer customers free water refills to help reduce the reliance on single use plastic bottles. Both Costa Coffee and Lush have a refillable tap that customers and non-customers can use, and Caffe Nero have jugs of tap water for anyone to help themselves to.

Asset sustainability

In addition to our life cycle management plan where we identify plant, machinery and other building infrastructure that may need replacing over the next 10 years, and from that determine the most cost effective and environmental solution to adopt, we have also developed an ‘asset sustainability plan’ that considers every aspect of the centre’s operations and business to ensure that future decisions are inherently sustainable.

Energy Performance

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are designed to tell you how energy efficient a building is and give it a rating from A (very efficient) to G (inefficient). We hold EPCs for all our let space and are working with our tenants to improve the ratings and with them the environmental performance of the Centre.

BREEAM

NQA

SUSTAINABILITY