We are looking for SKArating case studies to be featured as showpieces for all current schemes. If you have a project, office, shop, restaurant, university space etc that you believe shows exceptional examples of circularity, efficiency in energy and water, high wellbeing or materiality performance, please get in touch to discuss at [email protected] or fill in some project details and put it forward for consideration via the form below.
Thank you to all of you that have come forward so far to register your interest for the Offices v2 scheme update. We are now able to share more details of how we will go about the scheme update.
We will be hosting themed workshops on each of the SKArating categories through March and April. The workshops will be to review the key themes to be covered by the category in the update, the relevance and appropriateness of the Good Practice Measures and the principles for updates.
The dates and locations are:
| Workshop | Date | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Energy & CO2 | 20th March ’24 2pm | Morgan Lovell, 16 Noel Street, London, W1F 8DA |
| Project Delivery | 26th March ’24 2pm | Overbury, 77 Newman Street, London, W1T 3EW |
| Strategic Outcomes & Whole Life Impact | 3rd April ’24 2pm | Overbury, 17 Gresse Street, London, W1T 1QL |
| Pollution | 4th April ’24 2pm | Morgan Lovell, 16 Noel Street, London, W1F 8DA |
| Waste & Materiality | 10th April ’24 2pm | Overbury, The Zenith Building, Manchester, M2 1AB |
| Wellbeing | 17th April ’24 2pm | Gleeds, Interchange Place, 151-165 Edmund Street, Birmingham, B3 2TA |
Each category will be updated by a group of specialists covering all phases of the project lifecycle to ensure the SKArating Offices v2 represents good practice from across the sector, and will be overseen by the SKArating Technical Committee.
We’d like the groups to have representation from all parts of the fit-out supply chain, but as a minimum:
Our timelines for the update and release of Offices v2 are:
SKArating is your tool to drive sustainable fit-out, and we’d like as much of your expertise and experience as possible to put SKArating Offices back at the leading edge of the industry. If you haven’t already done so, please register your interest in being part of the workshops and update team at the link below. Please also pass on recommendations you may have for experts in the field that you think may contribute to the update to [email protected].
One of our priorities in the scheme’s development is the update of the Offices scheme.
This year it is to undergo an update, both in scope and criteria, and we are looking for assessors and other experienced fit-out related team members, who would like to support the process with research, insights and development of the scheme.
Some of the key issues included will be the alignment to delivering to Net Zero and Circularity, and the topic of Wellbeing and its scope in the current Environmental scheme. There will be industry workshops and lots of knowledge-sharing opportunities while making a big difference to our industry if the past scheme development journeys are anything to go by.
We very much hope you will be part of the team. If this is something you are interested in joining, whether for one workshop or all, please fill out the application form below.
Hello Assessors! Your annual accreditation can now be processed, you have until February 26th to retain your place in the assessors directory and maintain assessor credentials on the online tool.
A few things to note:
• If you have trained and passed an Assessor exam after 2019 select the NEW accreditation process as you have not yet been formally accredited.
• If you were last accredited in 2019, select a re-accreditation, and you are required to pass the relevant scheme(s) examination as you have now reached your 3-year re-examination cycle.
If you have any questions on this, please contact us at [email protected].
Following the announcement last week of the move of SKArating to new ownership and management, the Board of Directors has taken the opportunity to make a correction to the project certification fees, which have not been increased since 2013.
SKArating has ambitious plans to update the SKArating schemes to respond to an increasingly climate-aware fit-out industry, and to expand the sectors that SKArating can be used in. As such, SKArating is committed to:
Key organisational projects include:
This all needs significant investment, which is paid for through certification and accreditation fees. Therefore, certification fees for all SKArating schemes will be set at £850 +VAT from the end of January 2024.
This month SKArating is announcing an exciting change in its leadership and governance, as well as new plans to scale up to support the growing need to reshape sustainability in the fit-out world.
Developed in 2008 to help landlords and tenants systemise sustainability and assess fit-out projects against a practical sustainability rating system, SKA is unique in that it is driven exclusively to make a positive impact. At the heart of SKA is a toolkit and assessment criteria that is free to use – costs are covered via training and certification. The scheme has now supported more than 12,000 fit-out projects to make responsible decisions.
SKArating was initially developed by a group of industry professionals led by Skansen and supported by RICS and AECOM to focus on sustainability in fit-out, primarily in the commercial office, higher education and retail space. The underlying philosophy of SKArating has always been to encourage all in the supply chain to make small changes in a practical way today.
To establish SKArating in the market, RICS provided a platform to incubate the scheme, host information and support the rating and certification process. The changes announced this week will see SkArating trade as an independent “not-for-profit” business.
The new board is formed from people with a long-standing association with the scheme. Elina Grigoriou has chaired the SKArating Technical Committee since the scheme was first launched in 2008, and served on the SKArating Development Board as well as delivering the training of SKArating assessors. She is joined by Joe Croft, Charlie Law and Dave Wakelin who have been members of the Technical Committee for many years, and Iain McIlwee who has joined the board, cementing the Finishes and Interiors Sector’s strong association with the scheme. The Board has supported SKArating through its incubation with RICS and provides continuity as the scheme takes its next steps.
SKA provides:
The way SKArating operates will not be affected. Assessments will continue to be certified as they were under RICS’s stewardship. Assessors will continue to receive the same technical support that they have previously enjoyed through RICS, with updated processes for assessor accreditation and CPD.
Chairperson of the new SKA Board Elina Grigoriou stated: “This is an exciting time in the evolution of SKA. After 15 years developing the product and building awareness, we are now ready to step out on our own and work with our amazing community to take this scheme to the next level. With SKA now firmly established, it is time to take the next step and RICS has supported the leadership group to establish SKA as an independent social value business.
“All of us on the new Board and our Technical advisors are passionate and committed to remaining true to the SKA values for its future direction. SKA will remain owned by the industry and run as a “not-for-profit” ensuring it is always acting in the best interest of the market.”
Commenting on the changes, Janine Cole, Sustainability & Social Impact Director at Great Portland Estates plc stated:
“GPE have used SKArating for several years and has supported the business in improving the sustainability performance of our smaller refurbishment projects. The flexible nature of the scheme makes it ideal for this type of project, as a result, it was recently included within “Our Brief for Creating Sustainable Spaces” as a requirement for our on floor fit out schemes. We look forward to working with the SKArating Board as they develop the scheme.”
Ben Stubbs, Head of Sustainability (Built Environment) at UCL added:
“At UCL, all our project teams are accountable for their impacts across a broad range of sustainability indicators. We recognise Ska’s potential to help us further reduce our impacts as we continue to update our institutional targets.”
More details on the SKArating is available here: www.skarating.org