The Willmott Dixon Knowledge Hub

Funding for regeneration projects typically comes from a blend of sources: council borrowing, government grants (for example from Homes England or the GLA), institutional investment, developer contributions, and sometimes land receipts.

Developers aim to ensure regeneration projects are sustainable by using processes and target metrics that consider energy efficiency, low-carbon construction, biodiversity, active travel and long-term adaptability. Many projects now aim for accreditations like BREEAM or Passivhaus, and include renewable energy, sustainable drainage, and green public spaces.

Housing associations are independent, government funded, not-for-profit organisations that own and manage affordable housing. They reinvest any surplus into maintaining existing homes and building new ones, and often partner with local authorities and developers to expand supply.

ALN (Additional Learning Needs, Wales) and SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, England) are schools designed to support learners with diverse needs. Typical features include specialist classrooms, sensory and therapy spaces, calm rooms, robust finishes, integrated assistive technology, and carefully planned circulation. Designs prioritise accessibility, safety, and inclusion for pupils, staff and families.

A system consisting of a battery unit and a diesel generator. The battery works in conjunction with the generator to power sites. During night-time/low-power modes, the battery will automatically power the site silently and carbon free. When the battery runs out, or the site requires more power, the generator will kick back in. The hybrid unit can also work alongside smart power distribution such as solar panels/grid electricity to reduce the size of the generator.

Any emissions produced durnig the construction of a building are operational emissions, including powering machinery and lighting on site. Operational carbon emissions can also be associated with the operation of the building after it has been built and includes all the energy assoicated with lighting, heating, cooling and ventilationof the building.

Section 106 agreements are legal obligations that are attached to planning permissions. They require developers to contribute to local infrastructure — such as affordable housing, schools, healthcare, roads, or green space — as part of securing consent for a construction scheme.

Social enterprises are businesses with a social or environmental aim. They sell goods and services on the open market to create employment and reinvests their profits back into their business or the local community.

There is a perception that adopting low or zero carbon solutions will always cost more. This is the age-old dilemma of capital costs and operating budgets being considered as unrelated funding streams. As sustainable buildings are still the exception, they are often considered as ‘special’ and therefore riskier. The result is often a cost contingency in the project budget which will get spent but not necessarily on the issues that it was intended for!

Over the past few years, there has been a change in philosophy, developers and customers are increasingly considering a life-cycle approach; talking about the added value and benefits that were not traditionally factored into cashflow forecasts. These benefits of net zero operational carbon building include: lower carbon emissions and energy use, reduced the cost of ownership considerably over many years, resilience to the impacts of our changing climate, conservation of natural resources, use of responsible, low-carbon resources and improvement in people’s health and wellbeing .

The benefits of net zero operational carbon building include: lower carbon emissions and energy use, reduced the cost of ownership considerably over many years, resilience to the impacts of our changing climate, conservation of natural resources, use of responsible, low-carbon resources and improvement in people’s health and wellbeing .

Developed by Social Value Portal (SVP), the TOMs system is a recognised method of measuirng and reporting social value in the UK.

Social value refers to the wider benefits a project brings beyond the physical build. This could include local apprenticeships, skills training, jobs for local people, jobs for ex-offenders volunteering opportunities, green infrastructure, or community facilities that improve everyday life.

Blue light facility is the industry term for buildings that serve emergency services such as police, fire and rescue, and ambulance. They demand resilient building systems, secure design, efficient response times, specialist training spaces, and often co‑location or shared control rooms. Design standards emphasise durability, safety, and operational efficiency under peak‑load conditions.

Every Willmott Dixon project must complete a bespoke construction waste elimination plan. this plan ensures projects set a waste target and identify a series of inteventions to reduce waste on their project. It covers aspects such as designing out waste, using a waste prediction tool, reviewing the protection strategy and producing reduction plans with supply chain partners.

A framework is a procurement arrangement that pre‑selects suppliers under agreed terms for a period. Public bodies can then procure projects without running a full open tender each time. Frameworks can improve speed to site, compliance, consistency and enable early contractor involvement and long‑term collaboration when used well.

A later living care home is a residential care home with advanced care facilities for residents who are later in life, combining dementia-friendly layouts, therapeutic outdoor space and integrated health/social care pathways—now often targeting net-zero operation and high BREEAM ratings

A place-based vehicle (backed by devolved powers) that accelerates complex regeneration by aligning planning, investment and delivery across multiple partners.

A mixed‑use development is a development that combines multiple uses—such as homes, retail, leisure, workplaces and transport—within one masterplan or building. The aim is to create lively, walkable places with day‑long activity and strong public realm. Successful schemes balance placemaking, permeability, management, servicing, and community needs across different user groups and times of day.

A Net Zero hospital is planned, built and operated to minimise whole‑life emissions while maintaining quality medical service. Approaches include high‑performance fabric, electrification of heat (e.g., heat pumps), smart controls, on‑site renewables, low‑carbon back‑up strategies, efficient clinical equipment and airflow systems, and circular principles for fit‑out and maintenance. Resilience and infection‑control standards remain paramount.

A new zero carbon operational building makes or results in no ‘net’ release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (i.e. a net balance of zero). Net zero can be used in reference to operational and embodied carbon (both defined separately). In both cases, achieving net zero requires the highest levels of energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy, and can include the need to offset any remaining emissions.