BAM Construct UK wins environmental impact funding from Government’s Technology Strategy Board

Hemel Hempstead, 5 July 2011 - Design work on two school projects will be subject of intensive evaluation as part of a government bid to make all non-domestic buildings carbon-neutral by 2019. BAM Construct UK has won environmental impact funding from the Government’s Technology Strategy Board for non-housing projects. The two projects the firm will evaluate are St Peter’s School in Glasgow and Cressex Community School in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

The funding forms part of the TSB’s four-year Building Performance Evaluation Programme, and looks at the energy and sustainability performance of new buildings in domestic and non-domestic sectors. BAM has secured £100,000 to help it conduct the intensive evaluations, which draw upon a range of disciplines such as BAM’s design practice, its construction operations, and its FM arm.

Jesse Putzel, BAM’s climate change manager, said: ‘It’s vital that contractors are part of the Performance Evaluation Programme because the construction industry as a whole needs to understand building types, design strategies and occupancy patterns to help us achieve carbon-neutral buildings by 2019. With Cressex, BAM developed the design from the concept architecture into the build programme and will be working with the school so that the local authority and the IESE framework will benefit. With St Peter’s, BAM not only helped to design and construct the school as one of four for West Dunbartonshire Council, but it also manages the facilities. The evaluation there promises benefits for the other three schools as well. The research will also help our property development business as we continue to grow our expertise and capabilities in post occupancy evaluation and help the two schools to reduce their energy consumption, with all the additional benefits that brings.’

The Government aims for all new domestic buildings to be carbon-neutral by 2016 and for all new non-domestic buildings to be carbon-neutral by 2019.