The Komunidad Climate Action Suite is an all-in-one platform that integrates key tools for climate risk assessment, sustainability performance tracking, and ESG data reporting. Key features include:

• Climate Risk Insights: Access to real-time environmental data (weather, disaster alerts) to assess and mitigate climate-related risks.
• Sustainability and ESG Management: Customizable dashboards for monitoring carbon emissions, energy usage, and social impact metrics.
• Reporting and Compliance: Automated generation of reports aligned with international sustainability frameworks, making compliance with reporting standards (e.g., TCFD, SDGs) seamless.
• Collaboration Tools: Interactive modules to engage stakeholders across different departments and partners in tracking and improving sustainability outcomes.

The platform aligns with many international standards (including GRESB) and guidelines and is highly flexible. While Climate Action Suite serves the global community, the platform can be customised for specific regions, with a granularity of 27x27m.

This solution empowers users to transform raw data into actionable insights and improve decision-making related to climate resilience and sustainability. By providing a unified platform, Komunidad enables stakeholders to measure, manage, and report environmental, social, and governance performance while aligning with sustainability frameworks and goals.

FloodFlash is an innovative type of commercial flood insurance that resolves these issues using the principles of parametric flood insurance. Their approach involves installing a unique flood sensor on the insured property. When the sensor measured flooding at the client’s selected trigger depth, FloodFlash begins the claim. This removes uncertainty, cost and time from the claims process – reducing claim values and the disruption to the affected business. FloodFlash sensors are at the heart of every claim. They utilize ultrasonic measurement tech similar to those found in modern vehicle parking sensors to accurately determine flood depth with millimetre accuracy. They have mobile connectivity, run on batteries that last up to 12 years, are storm, fraud and tamper proof.

When FloodFlash is notified of a flood, they will perform basic checks to confirm a flood has impacted that area, then will begin the claim payment process. This allows them to payout claims faster than any other type of flood insurance and are even the first insurance company to pay a flood claim within 4 hours of the flood occuring, helping to speed up recovery and reduce stress in a difficult time for businesses.

FloodFlash policies are available in the UK (excluding Northern Ireland) and the US and cover all types of naturally occurring floods including dam and canal overflows or failures. To set up FloodFlash, a user first chooses a location for their sensor. Typically, the best location would be the lowest or most at-risk point on the property, close to doors or windows. Next, they would determine the trigger depth for their policy, and the payout they receive when flooding reaches the trigger depth.

FloodFlash premiums can be significantly lower than standard forms of flood insurance because FloodFlash agrees to a set payout when flood waters reach a specified height which reduces uncertainty and costs. Premiums can be lowered more by investing in flood resilience measures such as flood defences or a flood management plan as clients can choose higher trigger depths. FloodFlash enables businesses who are uninsured or underinsured for flooding to have greater peace of mind that they will be covered during extreme weather events.

Building with Nature (BwN)’s mission is to make high quality green infrastructure integral to placemaking in the UK, maximising benefits for both people and the natural world. The BwN Standards define what good green infrastructure looks like at each stage of the development process. This framework contains 12 individual standards built around the themes of Core, Wellbeing, Water, and Wildlife. The framework itself is also easy-to-use and is free to download. A Building with Nature approach is one that through the provision of good green infrastructure:

• Optimises multifunctionality and connectivity
• Positively responds to the climate emergency and maximises environmental net gains
• Champions a context driven approach and creates distinctive places
• Supports equitable and inclusive places and secures effective place-keeping
• Brings nature and water closer to people
• Delivers climate resilient water management
• Delivers wildlife enhancements and underpins nature’s recovery

Planning authorities use the standards to develop and test new planning policy with planners benefitting from a clear picture of what good looks like, a shared framework of principles, and the ability to draw on supporting specialist knowledge they may not have in-house. Professional experts – ecologists, landscape architects, and planning consultants – use the standards to engage with clients and improve physical development of green infrastructure. Many go through training to become Approved Assessors, so they can help their schemes achieve BwN certification. The Standards were developed to support cross-disciplinary decision making and inform better design and delivery of green infrastructure.

Effectiveness of the solution is determined through the assessment and third-party audit of development proposals and/or policy documents. Applicants and their projects/policy that meet the Standards are granted, by way of a certificate, a BwN Nature Award with all awarded projects/policies listed on the Building with Nature website.

The cost of appointing a BwN Approved Assessor will vary depending on the appointment and project scope. The accreditation cost also varies from £1,300 to £8,000 + VAT and depends on the size of the development. The accreditation cost for a policy document is currently £2,625 + VAT.

OGEL provides an easy-to-assemble, fully reusable modular building system that uses waste plastic as its raw materials.

In terms of Resource Use, OGEL is a ‘Full-stop product’. The aim of the product is to utilise recycled material rather than virgin material, with the final product having an especially long life cycle.

In terms of addressing the impacts of climate change, the system can work as a fast-build flood defence barrier as well as a disaster relief shelter due to it being lightweight, modular and quick to install and dismantle.

The socio-economic properties of the OGEL system are reflected in its use as semi-permanent homeless shelters, offices or any commercial building, removing the reliance on brick and cement in a cost-effective manner.

In terms of its properties and how it compares to other materials, the system has a low u-value of 0.17, meaning it has better thermal properties than brick. It packs to 1/5th of assembly size, is 88% lighter than traditional building materials and requires zero maintenance. OGEL panels are also coated with an intumescent coating which provides a high standard of fire resistance.

Although it is a standalone solution when it comes to certain projects, partnerships are always welcomed, for example wrapping OGEL buildings in a solar film to generate sustainable energy.

Use-cases:

1. Temporary homeless shelter providing improved mental health and socio-economic benefits as a safe place to reside until more permanent solution has been met. Once the person is no longer in a dire situation, the building can be dismantled and moved elsewhere rather than building another one.
2. Reusable flood defence, saving on the costs of further flooding events and allowing transportation of system to other effected areas. As a comparison, once sandbags have been contaminated it is recommended they are thrown away.
3. WfH offices enable companies to improve their green messaging by offering plastic waste buildings to their employees. Employees also feel happier when their work environment preferences are considered.

Benefits of using OGEL:

• Lower labour costs
• Lower transportation costs and related emissions
• Reusability and modularity resulting in lower waste disposal costs
• Increase in home working resulting in lower commuting costs and emissions

A modular, bioretention rain garden system, manufactured in the UK from 100% recycled material. The HydroPlanter was primarily designed to intercept water as close as source as possible, to decrease the volume of water from entering the sewer network. By diverting rain water from hard surfaces (roofs, roads, pavements etc) via the vegetated planter greatly reduces the peak flows during a storm event.

The HydroPlanter is a stormwater management solution that can be retrofitted into highways schemes and on new developments of any size. This is a ‘plug and play’ sustainable urban drainage solution that can attenuate and cleanse storm water and provide amenity and biodiversity to new and existing spaces. The modules will be filled with a particular soil specification and planted wildflowers and biodiverse grasses.

The concept is flexible, scalable and each unit stacks together. Installation is fast, simple and offers significant savings to alternative methods. The modular characteristics with pre-calculated hydrological performance statistics mean that specification and design is very simple for any given catchment area.

Features include:

• 100% recycled materials
• Slot-together modules
• Optional exceedance flow drain point
• Stack-able design for transport efficiency

The cost depends on the size of the roof, logistics and access. Retrofit green roofs cost between £100 and £200 per m2 to install and establish. The Milton Keynes Green Roof Project value is £80,000 which covers an area of 550m2. This includes a 6-month programme of ongoing maintenance and development and training for the end user.

By retrofitting green roofs it can result in multiple indirect benefits including reduced heating costs, extending the life span of the roof, health and wellbeing, food growing opportunities and biodiversity net gain, plus building internal capability for long-term stewardship of the roof.

Building green infrastructure into cities, such as water retention and/or detention on the roof, contributes to effective stormwater management. Sempergreen Detention and Retention Roofs harvest rainwater on the roof, allowing water to be efficiently stored without having to dig underground, which is especially useful in urban areas with little space and on existing buildings.

The Detention Roof is a lightweight, green roof stormwater management solution which works on existing buildings and new builds. It can be applied to roofs with a slope of up to 2º. The system ensures that rainwater run off is temporarily detained and slowly drained delaying run-off by up to 24 hours. A sedum vegetation blanket is the top layer which also helps to mitigate excessive rainfall by evapotranspiration.

The Retention Roof is a water storage solution for new-build projects with flat zero fall. It is possible to cover the roof with sedum, wildflower and other biodiversity vegetation blankets as this doesn’t have to be a lightweight system. The system can also be used in conjunction with solar panels.

• Retention Roof: £110 plus VAT per m2 plus installation for sedum-herb blanket and 8cm extensive substrate.
• Detention Roof: £140 plus VAT per m2 plus installation for sedum mix blanket, 40mm lightweight substrate roll, honeycomb and detention layer.

Returns include not only water retention, but also extra benefits such as increased local biodiversity, extended lifespan of the roof covering, and natural cooling of indoor and outdoor areas.

To see how the Green Roof Project works in just 4 minutes watch !

The Green Roof Project is, in effect, a takeover of rooftops for people and nature by creating green spaces to support community cohesion, raise awareness and demonstrate the benefits of green roofing.

The Green Roof Project combines both product (green roof, roof garden and growing spaces) and service (installation, training and outreach) to pioneer the retrofit potential of green and blue roofs in towns and cities. In a time of climate emergency and biodiversity loss, it is essential that towns and cities look at green infrastructure opportunities to mitigate the effects of climate change. These are opportunities that can recreate lost wildlife habitats and improve the natural environment.

By retrofitting green roofs it can result in multiple indirect benefits including reduced heating costs, extending the life span of the roof, health and wellbeing, food growing opportunities and biodiversity net gain, plus building internal capability for long-term stewardship of the roof. The Green Roof Project has been tested and proved that can be translated to any appropriate roof, any size, anywhere.

Tiny Forest is an innovative tree planting initiative that establishes accessible, nature-rich green spaces in our towns and cities, where they are needed most by people and wildlife. The disproportionate power of a Tiny Forest is delivered through three positive impacts:

1. Physical: dense, fast-growing native woodlands, bringing a range of environmental benefits and consisting of around 600 trees planted in a tennis-court sized plot of 200m2, and using no chemicals.
2. Social: local communities, schools and businesses directly engaged in planting, maintaining and monitoring of the forests
3. Scientific: public and citizen science activities that support data collection on the environmental and social benefits of Tiny Forest, uploaded to Earthwatch’s open-access digital data platform.

Tiny Forest’s approach is about planting ‘the right trees in the right places’. It works with local authorities to identify locations that will maximise value by planting in areas of high deprivation, creating green corridors and greening schools. In addition to the physical creation of the forests, Tiny Forest also empowers local communities to care for and maintain the forests, as well as partaking in scientific research at every forest planted, to assess the impacts they have over time and between forests. Tiny Forest provides outdoor space for people to enjoy nature, as well as educational and volunteering opportunities, resulting in a multitude of benefits for the community.

The total cost for the 2-year Tiny Forest programme is £40,000 +VAT which includes site selection, landscaping, materials, preparation and construction, community engagement, research, education and sundries.

Although return on investment has yet to be determined, early assessments already indicate high potential for positive impact including improved soil quality and species diversity as well as 100% of participants rating their experience as positive. Further study is already planned, but initial results suggest that Tiny Forest represent a cost-effective alternative to traditional tree-planting and urban landscaping options, when the combined environmental and social benefits are taken into consideration.

Gentian is an innovative new company developing a service that combines satellite-based data with other sources of open or proprietary data, to deliver products to monitor green spaces.

• Their first product is GR ID, which locates buildings with Green Roofs, and sorts these between Intensive/Extensive/Astroturf roofing. It also includes automatic polygon mapping and creating heat maps of habitat density.
• Their second product is GR BD, which assesses various plant metrics on Green Roofs and green spaces, including vegetation condition, habitat categorisation and species identification.
• Their final product is GR RF, which covers identification of roofs that are suitable for Green Roof Retrofitting, using material automatic detection.

All of Gentian’s products are fully remote, and deliver substantial cost and time savings on traditional surveying methods. The social and environmental advantages of Gentian’s services are extensive. It benefits society by enabling local governments to use machine learning to cut down on their costs to taxpayers, making them more efficient and allowing them to hold private sector partners to account. Green spaces in cities have also been associated with better health outcomes for residents by reducing exposure to air pollutants, noise and excessive heat.

Gentian is helping local authorities explore the capacity of new developments and enhance the value of existing properties in a bid to mitigate the loss of biodiversity and the negative impacts of climate change, reduce flooding and improve air quality. Gentian is currently building a product to map the mitigation effects of green infrastructure on stormwater flow, and another product to identify retrofit opportunities for solar panels by calculating installation cost and expected energy production.

This two-year roof research programme will demonstrate the multifunctional potential of green urbanisation. The ‘smart’ blue-green roof will assess how storing and reusing rainwater at roof level can reduce the volume of surface run-off entering its sewer network. It will help lower the flood risk associated with the prolonged high-intensity storm events. Unlike conventional green roofs, which use a drainage layer to remove rainwater, the 525 sq m blue-green structure retrofitted to Bloc’s flat roof stores rain beneath the planted surface where it lands. Advanced passive irrigation components within the attenuation layer draw water up through the structure to the underside of the green roof substrate to support surface planting.

The technology protects green areas during drought, reduces potable water demand during hot weather and enhances biodiversity by maintaining flora in optimum growing conditions. The roof and its outlet are cloud enabled, linking the stored volume to high resolution weather data that maps storm events so the roof is told when a storm is due. Before it arrives, volume is safely released to accommodate arriving rainwater, avoiding any surcharging of the local and downstream drainage network.

The roof reduces the discharge of rainwater and features wildflowers to support biodiversity and provide an additional thermal barrier. This is Manchester city centre’s first wildflower roof which also aims to attract a rare native butterfly, the Manchester Argus.

A review of the existing roof structure is required prior to implementation to ensure structural capacity is adequate for the blue/green roof system. Retrofitting the system had minimal impact on existing occupants as works took place away from building tenants and noise was minimal. No relocation was necessary. Due to the materials needed for the roof, kerbside delivery arrangements with further crane lifting to roof level need to be made.

Indicative investment requirements for a similar project elsewhere:

• Roof area size – 525 m2.
• Green / blue roof system size – 462 m2.
• CAPEX – approx. £150 / m2 for green-roof supply and install waterproofing, insulation, levelling, structural engineering.

Benefits:

• Financial – possible financial incentives to disconnect surface water from the combined sewer system within the network.
• Brand and marketing – customers are increasingly expecting businesses to demonstrate how genuine their sustainability strategies and plans are. Bloc is a market-leading workspace, for which the blue-green roof has helped attract new customers aiming to align their business with its sustainability credentials.
• Biodiversity – Increasing wildflower cover to attract species.
• Adaptation and resilience – Whilst global commitments towards the Paris Agreement are strengthening, no matter what efforts are made to reduce emissions, the climate will change. Only from the implementation of solutions like the blue-green roof will it be possible to continue to operate and utilise our buildings and wider infrastructure safely and inclusively.