Are these this year’s ten most sustainable buildings in North America?

Are these this year’s ten most sustainable buildings in North America? 0

Bulliit Centre - sustainable buildingsThe American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have selected what they claim are the nation’s top ten examples of sustainable architecture and ecological design projects. The COTE Top Ten Awards program, now in its 19th year, claims to be the profession’s most rigorous recognition program for sustainable buildings. The program highlights projects that are the result of an “integrated approach to architecture, natural systems and technology … which make a positive contribution to their communities, improve comfort for building occupants and reduce environmental impacts through strategies such as reuse of existing structures, connection to transit systems, low-impact and regenerative site development, energy and water conservation, use of sustainable or renewable construction materials, and design that improves indoor air quality.”

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WELL building standard launched in China 0

macquries (1)The Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) and the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) have launched their WELL Building Standard in China. The standard sets out to improve the health and wellbeing of people and claims to complement international green building rating programs such as LEED, BREEAM International and Three Star. The Standard is a performance-based system for measuring, certifying and monitoring features that may impact human health and wellbeing, through air, water, nutrition, light, physical health, comfort and mental and psychological wellbeing. The standard claims to be based on medical research that links buildings with the health and wellness of the people working and living in them and helps building owners and occupiers to understand those links and create a healthier working environment.

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Green Sky Thinking to focus on designing in sustainability for London 0

Open city is behind Green Sky thinkingGreen infrastructure, social sustainability and intelligent design are the main themes for this year’s Green Sky Thinking event, which takes place between 20-24 April. The event includes a range of informal session and on-site talks that highlight what the organisers claim is best practice on how to ‘design in’ sustainability. The purpose of the programme, led by Open-City, is to enable those working within the built environment to see real life sustainable solutions, talking face to face with those responsible for designing, delivering and managing successful schemes. Its ultimate aim is to help them gain a holistic and cross-disciplinary understanding of how sustainable development is being practically applied across London, while understanding the current technologies, policy and thinking and how these translate into practice.

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New UK Green Building Council Chief Executive lists challenges ahead

New chief executive of UK-GBC spells out challenges aheadJulie Hirigoyen, the former UK Head of Sustainability for property consultants JLL takes over today as the new Chief Executive of the UK Green Building Council. Hirigoyen was previously Managing Director and founding partner of Upstream, a leading sustainability strategy consultancy, acquired by JLL in 2007. She said of her new role today: “Buildings and cities are at the heart of what we need to change if we are to achieve sustainable development. There’s been a huge increase in the importance of this agenda, since when I first started out, we were knocking on closed doors. But we must not kid ourselves – we are only at the early stages of the journey. We are still exceeding the limits of the planet, there are still very few genuinely net positive buildings or companies out there, and we are not achieving sustainability as a scientific concept yet – there is much more to do.”

CIBSE launches updated guide to environmental building design

environmental building designThe Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) has published the latest edition of Guide A: Environmental Design which the organisation claims is ‘the premier technical reference source for designers and installers of building services, especially low energy and sustainable buildings’. As well as updates to legislation and new research, the edition includes a completely new chapter which identifies specific requirements for achieving quality in environmental building design: adopting a holistic approach as well as a system to assure the quality of design calculations and decisions. The other chapters deal with a specific aspect of design including criteria such as comfort and ambient weather and methods of calculation for performance, heating and ventilation systems, methods for thermal comfort evaluation, energy demand and so on.

Wellbeing continues to improve despite static pay levels, claims ONS

WellbeingThe overall wellbeing of the UK population continues to improve despite ongoing concerns about pay levels and job security, according to a new report published today by the Office for National Statistics. The latest analysis includes an assessment of changes in national wellbeing for the first time and finds that year on year 33 percent of indicators had improved, 42 percent showed no overall change, 21 percent were not assessed and 5 percent deteriorated. The proportion of people in the UK giving the highest ratings for each aspect of personal wellbeing measured by the report increased significantly in the financial year ending 2014. The report defines wellbeing as a measure of “how we are doing as individuals, as communities and as a nation, and how sustainable this is for the future” based on 41 metrics.

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Property investors favour sustainable buildings, claims report

sustainable buildingsProperty owners could make a greater return on their investments if they improved the sustainable credentials of their buildings, according to a new report published by CBRE. According to the study of 280 investors published in the Investor Intentions Survey 2015, a growing number are taking into account environmental considerations which they consider have a direct influence on the returns and value of their assets. Nearly three-quarters (70 percent) believe sustainability is either a critical or desirable criterion when making investment decisions with only 15 percent claiming that “sustainability is not a significant consideration in selecting assets to buy”. The report’s authors claim that while the property industry has been seeking evidence of the financial benefits of sustainable buildings for some time, this has been difficult to define given the complex factors that influence transaction prices.

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How facilities management brings organisational values to life. Or not

A story about facilities managementWe have used stories to pass on information for thousands of years and they remain the most powerful way we know to communicate. Indeed, the power of story is magnified in today’s super-connected, transparent world – the truth gets out fast and can be widely communicated – to millions of people all over the world – in such a short space of time. Here is a story which illustrates how employees’ “felt experience” every day strongly shapes their perception of an organisation and how the impact compares to official “corporate messaging”. This, in turn, highlights the critical (often under appreciated) role played by facilities management in reinforcing organisation brand and values. What are the implications for the role of FM and the wider HR agenda?

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New guidance helps businesses engage staff in a sustainability strategy

Green bizWhile any far-seeing organisation might develop environmental and corporate social responsibility initiatives, it is important to ensure employees are fully informed and committed to their employers’ aims. The Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI) argues that while the leadership may set expectations, it is employees and managers who make it happen. To aid this process, a new toolkit, the  GEMI Quick Guide for Engaging Employees in Sustainability: has been designed to advise corporations on how to successfully engage and motivate employees to participate in their sustainability strategies. The guide explores potential ways of fostering employee connections to sustainability, implementing an engagement strategy, and understanding the role of corporate culture within it.

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BREEAM consults on new scheme for refurbishment and fit-out projects

Newham CC new officesA draft of the part of the BREEAM sustainability assessment schemes which deals with refurbishment and fit-Out, has been published for consultation. Launched this week at MIPIM, the consultation will close on 10 April 2015. The draft document can be downloaded from the BREEAM website here. All interested parties, buildings owners and investors, designers, construction industry professionals, BREEAM assessors and other stakeholders are invited to send their comments to breeam@bre.co.uk with the subject: “Comments on draft BREEAM International RFO 2015”. The draft publication of of the scheme comes four months after the launch of the UK Refurbishment and Fit-Out 2014 scheme. BRE claims that this has been adapted for an international market to take account of a range of local and regional standards, conditions and climates.

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Latest Insight newsletter is now available to view

Insight_twitter_logo_2In this week’s issue; Colin Watson reflects on how the Internet has ushered in a new world of work over the past two decades; Mark Eltringham explains why the current obsession with ‘engagement’ should not exclude employing the right people in the first place and Charles Marks extols the vital role of the office for key sectors such as the financial services industry. A new OECD report suggests that flexible working still has a negative impact on many women’s career prospects; while a separate study finds the majority of workers are happy with their work/life balance. You can also view a video and gallery of Google’s new Silicon Valley headquarters and read about the offices that have been recognised in the latest BREEAM awards. Sign up to the newsletter via the subscription form in the right hand sidebar and follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

Best performing office buildings included in the annual BREEAM awards

Publication1A Grade A listed building at London’s King’s Cross; a former industrial warehouse complex in London’s Clerkenwell and an office building off Paris’ Champs-Elysées were among the award winners for best performing buildings assessed under sustainable buildings standard BREEAM. Over 50 green projects from across Europe were shortlisted with eight awards going to UK-based projects and four others shared equally between France and Norway. Winner of ‘offices new construction’ is One Pancras Square, a Grade A office building based at the gateway to the King’s Cross development. ‘Offices in use’ winner Washington Plaza is a 47,097 sq.m office building, at 42 rue Washington 75008 Paris. ‘Offices refurbishment and fit-out’ winner Morelands sits at the junction of Old Street and Goswell in London’s Clerkenwell area and comprises a cluster of warehouse buildings built around a U-shaped courtyard.

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