Sustainability is a powerful and far reaching concept that requires local interpretation, definition and articulation. The increasingly higher demands on development projects to make a significant contribution to the sustainable development agenda make an early identification of the constraints, opportunities and requirements essential.
Many sustainability requirements have a fundamental influence on certain design elements. Consequently, delaying the management of sustainability issues to later stages in the development programme can cause significant increase in the risk to a projects development costs and programme. The principal of early intervention is also recognised within the two main sustainability assessment schemes in the UK: BREEAM and Code for Sustainable Homes. Both schemes require certain actions to be taken in early stages and the BREEAM scheme provides additional credits when an Accredited Professional is appointed to the project as early as the RIBA B stage.
Planning for Sustainability supports your project with the management of sustainable development at every stage of the project. In particular our service for the preparation of a project sustainability strategy provides projects with an excellent start to successfully address the sustainability agenda.
Project Sustainability Strategy:
Planning for Sustainability encourages developers to include sustainability issues in a structured manner at the outset of the development of the design brief. We can support the preparation of an effective project sustainability strategy at an early stage of the project through thorough analysis of the sustainability constraints and opportunities. This work should ideally take place in a very early stage of the project, preferably in the RIBA B or equivalent stage. The benefits of commisioning this study are:
- Identification of all important sustainability issues that require management throughout the design process
- Ensure the design team takes account of the relevant sustainability issues from the outset of the design development
- Timely start the BREEAM process
- Enables the developer to lead an informed discussion with the Local Planning Authority
- Basis of EIA screening discussions
The study includes among other things a policy analysis relevant to your specific project proposal, a low or zero carbon technology feasibility study, a stage 1 flood risk assessment and many other relevant topics.
We would be delighted to discuss our approach and how it applies to your project in further detail. Please send us an email on paul.giesberg@planningforsustainability.co.uk or call on 01235 838568 to arrange an introductory meeting or a request for a proposal.
