Element Sustainability Ltd

Bake Off 2024   The team at Element Sustainability have all put real effort into this year's bake-off in support of the Macmillan Coffee Morning. Each week in September two members of the team baked a cake, cookie, or pastry with the hopes of becoming this year's Star Baker. There was strong competition with everyone putting a lot of thought and effort into their bakes each hoping to take the top spot! Aside from the whole team being fed and satisfied, we were able to raise money in support of the excellent Macmillan Cancer Research charity. This year's star baker is:   Lucie!! https://lnkd.in/eKwr2MFE

Team Element enjoyed a fantastic day in the Welsh sunshine last week at the stunning Penrhyn Quarry site, racing Quarry Karts down the UK’s only mountain cart experience.   Following a hearty brunch, we made the most of zero-carbon (!) gravity to fuel the three-wheeled off-roaders as we descend the obstacle-filled 3 kilometre slate track at pace. Awesome!

Zero Emissions Day is marked each year on the 21st September. This global initiative aims to raise awareness about the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions due to their harmful impact on the planet. It encourages individuals, organisations, and governments to minimise their carbon footprint by reducing energy consumption and promoting the use of renewable energy sources and sustainable practices. The day highlights the impact of carbon emissions on air quality and climate change, urging everyone to reduce fossil fuel consumption in their daily lives and where possible, adopt renewable energy and technologies. What’s great about Zero Emissions Day is that anyone can participate. It doesn’t have to be a big change at first; even the smallest actions can make a significant impact. The key is for everyone to contribute in some way, helping to create a greener future for all. Check out our Environmental Policy page to see what we do here at Element Sustainability. So, what can you do?

Manchester City Council is set to approve Renaker’s latest project within the Great Jackson Street development, comprising of five buildings with a combined gross development value in excess of one billion pounds. Element Sustainability are extremely proud to have been appointed as the sustainability partner providing planning stage support for this world-class project, which is the final element of the Great Jackson Street masterplan that has reshaped the Manchester skyline with high rise towers, including, the iconic Blade and 360 buildings. We have a long-standing relationship with Renaker, having input on all the Great Jackson Street schemes to date in a variety of areas, including; planning stage support, energy compliance, BREEAM or Home Quality Mark consultancy and certification. This latest scheme comprises two phases; the first, a 71-storey tower named ‘Lighthouse’ consisting of 642 apartments and a restaurant on the top floor. The second, ‘The Green’, is made up of four smaller towers between 47 and 51 storeys. In total, the development will provide 2,388 homes in addition to office and amenity spaces. For more details on the scheme, visit: https://lnkd.in/eeqeGiAP

It is great to see the Christleton High School extension completed in time for the start of the new school year. Frank Rodgers Building Contractor and E3cubed specialist property consultants have designed and constructed a brilliant facility for the school, it is brilliant to see the finished building. The extension provides the school with four new classrooms to reduce overcrowding and provide new modern facilities for the staff and students. The sustainable aspirations of the school have provided a scheme that is energy efficient during operation by utilising renewables such as PV and ASHPs along with good fabric thermal performance. We have worked with the team since Concept Design (pre-planning) providing advice as the appointed BREEAM Accredited Professional (AP) and as the BREEAM Assessor to deliver a scheme that achieves a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating. This holistic assessment has prioritised improvements in biodiversity, embodied carbon, energy and health and wellbeing. We are in the final stages of the BREEAM assessment and will be working with the team to award the Final certificate in the next few weeks.

The pre-release of the BREEAM New Construction V7 technical manual has just landed. The main highlights are as follows: 1) Greater convergence with other BREEAM schemes, 2) Enhanced guidance on net zero carbon strategies, 3) Updated energy performance benchmarks, 4) Updated LCA criteria and benchmarks, 5) Improved support for operational energy modelling, and, 6) Alignment with EU taxonomy classification criteria. This update aims to ensure that BREEAM’s building assessment, benchmarking, and certification criteria remain aligned with the latest scientific data on energy efficiency and net zero carbon, focusing on whole life carbon. Globally, buildings account for over 30% of global energy use and more than a quarter of emissions. The feedback period will close on 30 September at 12am to provide time to incorporate any changes ahead of the full release later this year.

World Environment Day is celebrated every year on the 5th June to raise global awareness to take positive environmental action to protect nature and the planet. It is run by the United Nations Environment Programme. Each World Environment Day is organised around a theme that focuses attention on a particularly pressing environmental concern. The 2024 campaign focuses on land restoration, desertification and drought resilience under the slogan “Our land. Our future. We are #GenerationRestoration”. Practices such as deforestation, unsustainable agriculture and urbanisation are the leading causes for land degradation. Knock on consequences of this include landscapes that are more susceptible to draughts and flooding, a reduction of food supplies due to poor soil nutrients and a loss of biodiversity. Practices such as tree planting, crop rotation and the utilisation of water retention techniques can help to restore the land to natural and safe landscapes that benefits wildlife, plants and humans together in terms of economic development, protecting ecosystems and increased soil productivity. Land restoration is therefore vital for protecting the environment, building resilience to natural disasters and helping to feed the growing global population. To celebrate World Environment Day, Element Sustainability went for a walk round Delamere Forest, a large woodland area supported by Forestry England. The forest consists of a variety of different habitats including heathland, woodland and peatlands that host a number of rare aquatic plant species. The team at Delamere Forest work hard to maintain and restore the habitats so that people all over the UK can come and visit and enjoy their walks around the forest. As well as enjoying the local nature and wildlife, we also treated ourselves to some coffee and cake!  

Fitwel is a sustainability standard with a focus on designing and implementing healthy buildings that enhance the occupant’s wellbeing and supports healthy communities. This article will give an overview of the upcoming update to the Fitwel standard from Version 2.1 to Version 3. Fitwel have now released the Version 3 (V3) update confirming that the beta is now available to the public. Fitwel have always strived to keep their scheme innovative and scientifically current which is evident in this update with a greater focus on: -           Internal and External Acoustic Comfort. -           Enhanced External Infrastructure. -           Flood Risk Management. -           Construction Safety. -           Biodiversity. Element Sustainability has been able to prepare for the release date by reviewing insights provided by Fitwel such as change logs, seminars and overviews of the updated credits that are to be included in the V3 guidance. This allows Element Sustainability to start providing V3 assessments in line with the guidance introduced on the 4th June. This update brings with it enhancements to the online portal to help streamline the certification process for buildings being assessed under V3. Currently, all V2.1 projects will still be available for registration until July 15th 2024 at which point all new projects will be automatically registered under V3. https://lnkd.in/embEyPV3.

This Earth Day the team at Element Sustainability went litter picking in the local community to highlight the negative impacts of plastic litter. Read more about it here! Great job guys! https://lnkd.in/ee7fVXvN

Celebrating 10 years of Stacey (a decade of Downes)!!   This week the team have celebrated the 10 year work anniversary of our Team Lead Stacey Downes! Stacey’s hard work and dedication over the past 10 years have been a major factor in the company's ongoing success, and everyone at Element Sustainability would like to say a massive thank you to Stacey! Here’s to 10 more 😊!!