Major projects – BREEAM

Major projects – BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method)

BREEAM sets the standard for best practice in sustainable building design, construction and operation and has become one of the most comprehensive and widely recognised measures of a building’s environmental performance. 

Nottingham Trent University (NTU) – Pavilion 

As part of the Carbon Reduction Strategy for the NTU Estate, the Sustainable Development Team works to achieve at least BREEAM ‘Excellent’ for all new builds and BREEAM ‘Very Good’ for major building refurbishments.

Two new buildings, the Pavilion and the Teaching and Learning Block, are situated in the centre of the Clifton Campus and both received BREEAM Excellent ratings. The Pavilion is NTU’s first carbon negative building and has an Energy Performance Certificate of A+. It is encompassed by a campus Green Zone which is a smoke-free and traffic-free area.

The site was awarded a Considerate Constructors Bronze National Site Award. Assistant Project Manager, Quinn Greenwood said: “Being registered with the Scheme has enhanced the way we manage construction projects. We paid more attention to the environmental aspects of this build by involving the internal environmental team from the concept design, which helped the project achieve BREEAM Excellent status.”

In addition to the Pavilion and Teaching and Learning block, the existing George Elliot building was refurbished rather than demolished and rebuilt – this achieved BREEAM Excellent as well as saving on construction costs and excess waste materials.

94.9% of the construction waste generated from the Pavilion was diverted from landfill and recycled.

University of Nottingham – GlaxoSmithKline’s Carbon Neutral Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry

The University of Nottingham established as its benchmark position, BREEAM ‘Excellent’ for all major developments since 2010. 

The principal contractor for the Carbon Neutral Laboratory was required to register with the Considerate Constructors Scheme and to ensure the site was managed in an environmentally sound manner and socially responsible manner

A carbon model was created early in project design to guide product specification and construction to focus on low environmental impact over the full life-cycle of the building. 

The team received points for resource efficiency and additional points for the total construction by meeting the BREEAM efficiency benchmark of waste generated per 100m2; yielding 3.8 tonnes/100m2.

The building achieved full credits in the Water and Materials Sections of BREEAM and scored at least 90% in the Management, Energy, Land Use & Ecology, and Innovation sections. Achieving the Outstanding rating puts the building in the top 2% of projects in the country – moreover it was shortlisted in the 2017 BREEAM awards.

University of Leicester – George Davies Centre 

The University of Leicester’s new George Davies Centre will replace an existing building on the same site and has been designed to reduce annual energy bills by 80%. The new building meets Passive House and BREEAM standards and is the largest non-residential Passive House building in the UK.

The George Davies Centre is at the heart of the regeneration of healthcare in Leicester and provides a vital central hub for academics, students, health service partners and research teams needed to meet the healthcare challenges of the future.

A key facet of Passive House is a ‘fabric first’ approach to construction and as such, the building is incredibly well insulated and air tight to prevent heat leakage through the windows, walls, floor and roof.

James Elliment, Operations Manager at Willmott Dixon, the contractor who delivered the project, said: “Delivering a Passive House on such a large scale is not without its challenges and we employed a number of energy-efficient mechanisms to ensure that this standard was met.

“We have also installed solar photovoltaic panels on the roof.  Part of the roof is covered in wild flowers and the building has a green wall of vegetation – all contributing to the building’s sustainable credentials.”

The project achieved a BREEAM excellent rating of 74.96% and was awarded 2018 CIBSE Project of the Year – Public Use.