Grosvenor, a global developer, manager, and investor, includes biodiversity
as part of its U.K. development business’s sustainability strategy, which
includes a net zero carbon by 2030 goal. Each business area has biodiversity
net gain targets: a 20 percent increase in biodiversity on managed green
spaces and 100 percent increase on developments by 2030 using Defra’s
Biodiversity Metric 3.0.

To educate team members and summarize biodiversity design interventions
for Grosvenor projects, a “Biodiversity Buffet” guide was created for both
existing projects and those under development. Design opportunities in
the guide include living roofs, green walls, landscaping, habitat features,
bird and bat boxes, and temporary greening measures.

When selecting the right solution for a project, the team starts with an
ecological assessment and analysis based on biodiversity value per asset
and then reviews what is possible and what is a reach. For example, in
areas with no current biodiversity, 100 percent increase is a minimum target.
At Grosvenor Square, an existing asset and the second-largest garden
in London, Grosvenor set a specific target to increase biodiversity by
15.5 percent, with 26 more tree species and five times more plant species
as well as blue infrastructure like wetland channels. At Holbein Gardens,
a 1980s London office property will be retrofitted into a net zero building
with 11 percent internal green space and ground-floor landscaping that
targets a 200 percent biodiversity net gain.

All projects are mapped and uplift is tracked through GIS (geographic
information system). Green assets are also monitored annually by
ecological specialist partners by site surveys, to track progress over time
and verify gains.

“All of our targets are embedded into our overall sustainability
road map, which outlines what every team in the company will
do every year in addition to our 2025 and 2030 goals. We pushed
ourselves to come up with our biodiversity targets, and so as
one of London’s historic garden squares, we aim for Grosvenor
Square to be groundbreaking in biodiversity.”
—Tor Burrows, Grosvenor

Grosvenor