Our annual Streamlined Energy & Carbon Report (SECR) has shown a reduction in carbon emissions produced by Coastline over the past financial year.
The SECR looks at our emissions and energy usage over a 12 month period and is externally audited by SHIFT, providing third-party verification. The report is provided as part of our mandatory annual accounts and so providing accurate data is highly important.
For the financial year 2023-24 our total carbon emissions were 6,979.67 tonnes CO2 equivalent, compared to 6,598.79 tonnes CO2 equivalent for this financial year 2024-25. The reduction of 380.88 tonnes of CO2 equivalent may not seem like a large figure, however putting this into context, this reduction in emissions is equivalent to:
- 1.6 million miles of driving
- 651.6 passengers’ roundtrip flights from Helsinki to Munich
- 247.5 homes powered a year
- 173,917.8 beef steaks produced
Breakdown of Emissions by Scope
562.14 Scope 1 emissions – 1.5% increase from previous year
181.51 Scope 2 emissions – 1.6% increase from previous year
5855.15 Scope 3 emissions – 6.3% decrease from previous year
6598.79 total emissions - 5.5% decrease overall from previous year
Scope 1
Scope 1 emissions relate to those which are as a direct result of our business operations, for example energy use within our office buildings and communal areas, fleet mileage and use of public transport for business use.
Our Scope 1 emissions have increased by 8.33 tonnes CO2e, with the main increase being in our emissions from combustion of gas used by communal/district heating systems which has increased from 174.94 tonnes CO2e to 261.95 tonnes CO2e. This is likely to be due to discrepancies between the definitions of communal heating systems between the two years. In 2023-24 only our Miners Court heating system was classified as communal, compared to any communal blocks or flat blocks this year. This change in definition has seen a significant increase in our communal heating emissions, however it is likely that if consistent definitions were used across the two reporting years that this figure would have remained more consistent.
Our emissions from fleet mileage has also decreased by 10.1%, which could be partially due to the introduction of an electric van into the fleet. This is expected to show further decreases next year, with the future procurement of additional electric vans in the autumn.
Scope 2
Scope 2 emissions relate to those which are as an indirect result of the consumption of our purchased electricity at the offices and communal areas. These include emissions released into the atmosphere associated with our consumption of purchased electricity, heat, steam and cooling. These are a consequence of the Coastline's activities, but the emissions do not occur at sources we own or control.
Scope 2 emissions have remined largely consistent with the previous year, with a slight increase of 2.89 tonnes CO2e. All of our communal electricity is purchased from EDF, which backed by renewable sources in the UK.
Scope 3
Scope 3 emissions relate to those which are as an indirect result of our supply chain, including emissions from business travel and emissions from our homes managed. In Coastline’s case this may relate to products bought for the construction and maintenance of homes as well as the emissions from homes when they are occupied by residents.
Scope 3 emissions have seen a 392.08 tonne CO2e reduction in the last year, primarily the emissions attributed to our homes. This has seen a decrease from 6209.19 tonnes CO2e to5,810.32 tonnes CO2e (a 6.42% decrease), which equates to 1.28 tonnes CO2 per Coastline home.
Over the last year, we have completed retrofit works including:
- installing solar panels
- replacing insulation
- installing new boilers
- installing air source or ground source heat pumps
- upgrading heating systems
- full house assessments under the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, and more recently ECO4.
All of the above retrofit works have led to this significant reduction in emissions produced by our homes, and we aim to keep this momentum going with continued retrofit works planned over the coming years to bring all of our homes up to EPC C before the national deadline.