Urban Creation’s Ongoing Sustainability Journey - Urban Student
ornament with potted plant on side table

Urban Creation’s Ongoing Sustainability Journey

Start your booking

Please select an Urban Students property

At Urban Creation, we integrate sustainability throughout our business to reduce our environmental footprint. We implement green initiatives across operations while continuously innovating to do even better. It’s an ongoing journey, but one we are very proud to share with you.

What strategies have Urban Creation used to help reduce carbon emissions? Read on to find out…

 

Carbon Offsetting

To address emissions, we partnered with carbon offsetting company SQSTR to plant trees neutralizing our scope 1 and 2 emissions. What’s more, we have also enrolled in an employee offset scheme whereby we plant a set number of trees per month, per employee, at a plant in the UK to offset our employee’s emissions in both work and home.

 

Low-Carbon Energy Sources

For properties we develop, we take a long-term view towards energy efficiency, exceeding Bristol’s CO2 reduction standards by an average of 59%. The steps we take to achieve this goal include installing solar panels, heat pumps, triple glazing, and high-level insulation.

Our buildings are powered by EDF’s renewable energy. Unit design prioritizes natural light to minimize artificial lighting needs. All rooms have good levels of day light, and we have chosen the décor to enhance this.

Mechanical ventilation is also installed in most of our properties to ensure that a good air change rate is achieved, particularly if windows need to be closed to manage noise and air pollution from the high street.

 

Transport

At existing properties like Beech House, we provide bike storage pods to enable sustainable guest transportation and use eco-rated construction materials. The pods are large so they can cater for everyone staying and there are excellent public transport links nearby and lots of amenities within walking distance. We are also in partnership with local transportation programs such as e-scooters, to provide easier access for our guests to more sustainable means of transportation.

 

Materials

Consideration is given to using materials and construction that have a low environmental impact and we therefore aim to achieve A or A+ rated materials under BRE’s Green Guide and A/B for all aluminium windows. All insulation materials have a low GWP (Global Warming Potential) of 5 or less.

 

Waste

Waste management aligns with Bristol’s recycling programs. We’re creating green spaces and adding plants to increase biodiversity and purify air.

 

Biodiversity

We have recently tried to recognise opportunities within our new developments to incorporate initiatives to increase biodiversity within the city. We aim to create a wild garden in the back of one of our properties to increase biodiversity within urban locations.

By including houseplants within our serviced apartments, we improve air quality caused by volatile organic compounds that pollute indoor air.

 

The Apartments

We optimize operations by removing single-use plastics, using eco-cleaning products, and efficient housekeeping – once a week. Lights and appliances are conscientiously powered down after guest stays. We are transitioning to sensor lighting as well in our apartment entrances.

 

Technology

Technological advances like contactless entry, digital keys, and centralized booking systems reduce paper waste and streamline our carbon footprint. Ongoing data analysis uncovers new optimization opportunities.

We have a new PMS system currently being implemented into the business so that we can seamlessly run our whole portfolio through one singular platform, enabling us to analyse and report on our bookings. Through this we will be able to unearth other aspects of the running of the serviced apartments to tweak and innovate them to make the service much more seamless whilst operating more sustainably.

 

Sustainable Partnerships

Strategic partnerships amplify our impact, from eco-linens to e-scooters for guest travel to carbon offset programs.

A notable mention is our partnership Trees4Travel, a carbon offset organisation where our guests can offset their travel emissions to get to us by planting trees. Theemission tracker toolon their site allows users to work out the emissions they have created and how many trees they would need in order to offset this.

Our growing, specialized team focuses on continuous improvement. Leaders identify efficiencies while staff implement sustainable routines. More innovations are constantly being evaluated.

Though we have made meaningful progress, our sustainability commitment persists. We will continue leading by example to reduce environmental footprints across hospitality.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you! Together, with the help of you and our partners, Urban Creation aims to empower a greener future.