Brighter Places is thrilled to be one of 45 finalists selected from 29 countries in the Climate Smart Cities Challenge.

This international competition aims to develop and support four cities’ climate ambitions: Bogotá, Colombia; Bristol, United Kingdom; Curitiba, Brazil; and Makindye Ssabagabo, Uganda.

Each city has strong aspirations to reduce its climate impact to achieve global net-zero, investing in a sustainable future for everyone.

Real change for cities

Shortlisted from nearly 200 applications, we are one of 15 organisations selected from Bristol. Technologists, small businesses, start-ups, developers, finance experts and more were asked to submit their best ideas and solutions to the unique climate challenges.

The competition aims to bring together a variety of proposals to address these climate challenges and to provide over $300 million in smart climate investments for real change for cities.

What we’re doing already

Brighter Places is committed to delivering affordable homes to Passivhaus standards. We include a variety of low-carbon technologies in our homes, such as ground source heat pumps, air-tightness membranes with mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR) systems, triple glazing, solar PV panels and superinsulation. These technologies make our homes super-efficient benefitting the climate, reducing energy bills, and generating savings for our residents.

We are also modifying our existing properties using some of these technologies to make them more efficient and comfortable to live in.

Our winning proposal

To be considered as a finalist, we had to answer the following question: How can the city develop and scale new ways of delivering affordable and carbon-neutral homes?

We focussed on housing and manufacturing, delivering as One City alongside partners across Bristol. In recent times, Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) has emerged as a real solution to the housing crisis in Bristol, with good example sites including Launchpad, Zed Pods, and Boklok.  Our ambition is to build on these recent successes by championing the delivery of a new modular Passivhaus factory in Bristol. Working as part of a consortium, our solution would answer the Smart Climate Cities Challenge as follows:

• A cost-effective means of delivering housing at pace
• The enhanced sustainability of Passivhaus standards with local delivery provides reduced travel emissions and near to zero on-site waste
• Social value in the form of job opportunities and apprenticeships

What happen’s next?

We’ll work closely with city stakeholders, partners, and other finalists to fine-tune our proposals. As a finalist, we’ll receive a range of support and opportunities to progress our idea and develop a team. Four teams will then be selected to move into the penultimate stage of the challenge – system demonstrations.

Find out more about the Climate Smart Cities Challenge here.