Elliot Lipton

"For me, it is not just about creating a sustainable building, but enabling people to live a sustainable life"

Five years ago, Elliot set up First Base as the urban regeneration developer specialising in delivering sustainable, high quality and affordable homes. Sustainability has always been core to the company's values and Elliot wants to ensure First Base performs to the sustainability principles upon which it was founded, continuing to set new standards for sustainable design and construction.

Elliot's inspiration for becoming involved in sustainability stems from the belief that we can no longer go on being 'resource greedy' without serious environmental and social consequences. "We are not starting from a neutral position in London. The biggest sustainability challenge facing us is reversing our massive ecological footprint - this will not be easy."

"At First Base we have always pushed the boundaries and shown that there are ways of doing things more sustainably. As a business, we are responding to an increasing consumer trend for sustainable products, but this also presents an opportunity to raise sustainability standards across the entire delivery process. Knowledge sharing is key to this - we are founding members of the UK Green Building Council and have seen the benefits that have come about from setting this up. When knowledge is shared and people work together, the opportunities for win-win outcomes and improved experiences is enormous.

"Sustainability does not just mean energy - it's much broader, encompassing achieving the right economic, social and environmental outcomes and minimising the impact of everything we do as a result of living in London. As a housing developer, it comes back to understanding the impact of housing on the people living there - the impact of the house to their health, their employment and so on."

The company is currently working with English Partnerships to deliver key worker homes and is involved in consortia delivering projects (such as the Stratford City development) that will be key to London now and in the future. "Our existing projects are already focused on achieving the Eco Homes 'Excellent' rating, but we want to stretch beyond this, such as creating zero carbon homes in advance of the Government's 2016 benchmark." Elliot firmly believes the move to a more sustainable city must be customer led. "Customers should demand the most sustainable products they can get - it is this demand that will drive change."

My commitment
"My commitment is to work with the housing supply chain to ensure that the aspiration for sustainable homes is met by the availability of suitable products from the industry. I want to give sustainability a higher profile, to share expertise and to push the housing industry to change."