The world’s built environment elite gathered at the iconic Tate Modern, London, on 19 June, to tackle the issues facing the delivery of sustainable landmark buildings & communities, which it was concluded are much needed to support our economic aspirations and meet carbon reduction targets.
Chairman Oliver Heath, one of the UK’s thought leaders in creating sustainable spaces, set the tone of the debate: “Sustainable architecture must look to consider the environment at all levels, from micro to macro, reducing the buildings’ impact whilst creating inspiring places to live and work.”
Duncan Innes, Executive Director of Real Estate, London Legacy Development Corporation, and Lesley Hodgson of Buro Happold demonstrated the very real challenges that the team responsible for the Olympic Park are facing in re-developing the site for future housing, economic and recreational uses following the hugely successful games.
According to Innes, “It is not enough to build homes and work spaces unless they meet the needs of the users. No matter the size and scale of this project, or indeed its public profile, we must start at the heart of the community that is already there to meet their needs and support their aspirations if we are to hope to succeed.”
Mauro Montello of Climaveneta echoed Innes’ comments calling for “Increased open-ness to what technology providers can really do rather than relying on the spec of what has gone before, by allowing technology providers to develop bespoke solutions the industry will truly move forward.”
This call was supported by Justin Snoxall of British Land which delivered an impressive regeneration at Regent’s Place. “This development provided perfect opportunities to create a space which ticked all the boxes on the sustainability front but box ticking is not enough. The users of the building must know how to use the technology for their own benefit if the building it to truly realize its potential.
TFT’s Partner of Sustainability Mat Lown raised the question many have asked, to date has sustainability been all about reputation or does sustainable development drive real business benefit too. The debate concluded that whilst sustainability can and does pay, delivering such spaces also takes a desire to create a sustainable community for the good of all and that the field is evolving quickly.
Concluding the day, those gathered in the room agreed that huge strides had been made and some landmark buildings are setting the bar. But that more needs to be done to push boundaries in the built environment and drive real change.
Delegate Ala’a Ali Reda from United Real Estate Co, Kuwait, said: “Today was inspirational. I leant much from the case studies and how the responsibility of a building extends to its operation and not just the design and development.”
Anwar Harland-Khan, Sustain Worldwide CEO, said: “it is great to be hosting an event of this stature; the power-houses in the room sharing their successes and learning for the good of all. My belief is some real change will come of today as we move towards a greener, cleaner built environment that pays its way for the future.”
The Sustain Worldwide Leaders Series brings together leading businesses to collaborate, innovate and create commercial opportunities through sustainability. The latest roundtable, held on 27 June, progressed the development of a highly sustainable building in the City, and the creation of the most sustainable private members venue in London. The Sustain Worldwide Premium Partners who attended, and who will form the first tier of the project team, were Affinity Private Equity, Ben Adams Architects, Buro Happold, and TFT. Contact Gordon to enquire about the commercial opportunities in joining the Leaders Series.
Leading the news agenda
This month Sustain Worldwide, partners and members were featured in a range of publications creating 142,000 opportunities to read. The emphasis was on the LGGL conference this month and we anticipate more coverage reviewing the day to follow:
Olympic venues prove sustainable legacy building4change.com, 21 Jun 2013
Central St Giles, London building4change.com, 04 Jun 2013
Turbocor chillers for mixed use London development Modern Building Services {Main}, 01 Jun 2013
CONFERENCES & SEMINARS London Global Green Leader conference 19 June, London ADF (Architects Datafile) {Main}, 01 Jun 2013
LONDON GLOBAL GREEN LEADER CONFERENCE Building Engineer {Main}, 01 Jun 2013
INNOVATION & EDUCATION
More bang for your buck
Advanced building control could save $m on energy bills in large office buildings claim US researchers. Researchers at the US Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have reported that an advanced building control currently in development could slash 18% - tens of thousands of dollars - off the overall annual energy bill of the average large office building.
Reported on Technology4change.com the PNNL team estimates that the advanced controls studies would save at least $40,000 annually for each building similar in size to the one modeled in the study, in 13 of the 15 climate regions in the US. Researchers used a model building to conduct the study, which was 12 stories with a basement, giving it a total mass of approx 50,000m2.
The figures were revealed in a report based on findings from extensive simulations of the impact of one type of advanced building control now in the offing in the building industry. The building control device is capable of customizing the level of ventilation by sensing the number of people in different areas or zones of a building and then adjusting fan speed and air movement accordingly.
Global renewable energy sector sees an unprecedented period of change
The Ernst & Young CAI (renewable energy country attractiveness indices) 2013 10th anniversary report looks at the global issues surrounding the rate of implementation for renewable sources of energy and highlights some of the major events in the sector’s evolution over the past decade, and speculates on what the next 10 years might hold.
It summarises that the global renewable energy sector is experiencing a paradigm shift; in a world of declining government subsidies it is becoming increasingly affordable and moving firmly towards mainstream. However, the new clean energy investment worldwide in Q1 2013 was the lowest since 2009 and as the sector tries to stabilise itself amid bankruptcies, restructuring and consolidation, institutional investors are stepping in, with pension and life funds looking to renewable for stable returns.
In the country index, the US regains the top spot, relegating China to second place. The UK has risen one place to number 5 and the rising star in South America is Chile. New policy measures hamper Brazil’s previously rapid growth and high levels of project activity and interest in investment in Japan and Australia give the Asia pacific region a strong presence at the top of the index.
Looking ahead, the report concludes that consumers and corporate are likely to be the real drivers of a low carbon economy in the years ahead.
Opportunities to become a founding member of the BREEAM Domestic Refurbishment scheme
BRE provides exclusive opportunities for private and social housing providers (particularly those with large property portfolios), architects, contractors, BREEAM assessor organisations and other industry specialists to become founding members of the BREEAM Domestic Refurbishment scheme.
The scheme provides a robust design and assessment method for refurbishment projects, helping to cost effectively improve the sustainability and environmental performance of existing properties.
Based upon BREEAM's UKAS accredited certification standards already applied to over 200,000 buildings around the world, the scheme enables developers, designers and green deal advisors to enhance their sustainability credentials and promote better design. It also helps planners, regulators and asset managers to set standards for more sustainable and higher quality refurbishments. Members will have a critical influence on the scheme's future direction and on shaping the sustainable housing agenda to meet social, economic and environmental objectives. [Source: Building4change]
NETWORK
Ben Adams Architects joins Sustain Worldwide
We are delighted to announce that Ben Adams Architects have become a Sustain Worldwide member. Based in London, Ben Adams Architects was founded in 2010 and has since been creating beautiful, award-winning architecture for high profile clients such as Derwent London, The V&A, Phillips de Pury, The Crown Estate and Great Portland Estates. Their projects are executed with skill, using functional and innovative design by their passionate team.
Pret a manger
Sustain Worldwide hosts regular, invitation only networking dinners attended by Premium Partners and guests. Recent attendees to dinners at the Oxo Tower and The Ivy included senior executives from Aberdeen Asset Management, Arup, British Land, CBRE, Climaveneta and TFT.
Partners & Members News in Brief
Climaveneta has supplied the first refurbished building in South Africa to receive 5-star certification from the Green Building Council. The Millenia Park office development in Stellenbosch installed three Climaveneta Necs LN units, with a total cooling capacity of 250 kW. The chillers were selected for the efficiency but also for the very low noise level. The refurbished building is expected to realise a total water savings of about 79% when compared with the original building.
Oliver Burns are pleased to confirm the sale of the last apartment at Walpole Mayfair. The multi-award winning residential development is now one of Mayfair & St James’s most iconic residences. They have also recently launched a new website and invite you to sign their pledge to show commitment to supporting transparency, Thoughtful Luxury and innovation; helping to create a more sustainable future.
Affinity REPE, headline sponsored this year’s Shooting Stars 18-hole celebrity charity event, held at The Grove. Hosted by Samuel L Jackson in aid of Alzeheimers Association, the three-day event was attended by a host of A-list stars including Rupert Grint, Jesse Metcalfe and Samuel himself. Guests enjoyed a Caribbean themed evening with cocktails, live band & palm trees to bring elements of Affinity REPE’s new St Lucian 5 star luxury resort, Freedom Bay, to the UK.
Medina Palms, the sustainable luxury ocean residences resort located on one of the world’s top 10 beaches at Watamu, Kenya, formally launches on 6 July. Medina Palms is supporting Kenya-born British cyclist Chris Froome in his bid to win the centenary Tour de France, which runs for 3 weeks in July.
TFT acted as project manager and employer’s agent on a £5.4m , six storey, mixed use development in Kirby Street, Farringdon. The building has now reached practical completion with a pre-let to Tesco Blinkbox Service. All the residential units have sold.
Introducing Sustain Worldwide member: Ben Adams, Director, Ben Adams Architects
Q: What does innovation through sustainability & CSR mean to you? A: We innovate by doing more with less. The heart of sustainable practice in architecture is to use passive means to improve the design of every building so that it can use resources more efficiently. Less steel, less concrete, less heat, less artificial light. We can do more with less by designing out inefficiency in each part of the design. This means making spaces work harder by adding more flexibility, and making building systems work less by designing spaces that use less energy.
Q: How important is sustainability to your company’s philosophy, strategy and practices? A: Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do as a practice. It is embedded in the thesis of our practice in that we seek to achieve more with fewer resources at every step of the design process. Sometimes this means refitting an existing building rather than replacing it and we work with clients that understand and applaud this approach.
Q: What is the biggest sustainability challenge facing your company e.g. supply chain, embedding sustainability in your practices? A: The supply chain is our biggest challenge in that more sustainable products are available, but come at a higher price. This needs to change.
Q: Do you think doing business sustainably is a moral imperative or a business decision – and are the two mutually exclusive? A: Sustainable practice is both a moral imperative and a commercial necessity in that good architecture has to be sustainable, and one has to be good to be successful. There is positive feedback at work here as long as you practice with enlightened clients.
Q: What would encourage your company to strive for even higher sustainability aspirations e.g. corporate social responsibility, tax breaks, tougher legislation? A: To encourage higher aspirations in sustainability we need lobbyists to pressure government for more exacting legislation, pioneering clients that put sustainability at the heart of their briefing process, and like minded businesses to put together design teams that understand real sustainability from the outset.
Q: What sort of new business opportunities are you looking for e.g. In which countries, sectors e.g. private, commercial? A: We are an opportunistic architects practice that does not specialise in any one sector of work. Our projects have all been located in the UK to date and we are always open to overseas opportunities as they arise.
Q: What services and USP’s do you offer clients? A: We are an architects practice that offers a full range of architectural services from the very outset of a project until its completion. We focus on design excellence to create better buildings and social spaces for our cities that do more with less.
Q: If you had a super power what would you use it for – within a sustainability context? A: I would generate electricity using nuclear fusion. It is the only answer to our long term energy needs and is frustratingly difficult and expensive to achieve at the moment. Fusion reactors could provide totally clean abundant electricity by the same process that powers the sun. It is quite literally the future.
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Sustain Worldwide Leaders Series: creating commercial opportunities
Leading the news agenda
More bang for your buck
Opportunities to become a founding member of the BREEAM Domestic Refurbishment scheme 
Ben Adams Architects joins Sustain Worldwide
Pret a manger
Introducing Sustain Worldwide member: