The University of Nottingham has been awarded a BREEAM Outstanding rating for its Energy Technologies Building –making it the first laboratory in England to achieve this.
A BREEAM Outstanding rating is the highest possible for environmental sustainability. The BRE Environmental Assessment Method – known as BREEAM – is the world’s leading design and assessment method for sustainable buildings.
Based at the University’s Innovation Park, the Energy Technologies Building is an exemplar low carbon building and dedicated to the research and development of sustainable energy technologies. In fact, the building was designed with the intention of achieving a BREEAM Outstanding rating.
The building is also home to the UK’s first hydrogen refuelling facility.
BREEAM Outstanding rating
Chris Jagger, Chief Estates and Facilities Officer at the University, said: “This is a great achievement, even more so for it to be one of the first research led laboratory buildings in the UK to achieve this highest level of environmental standard.”
The University currently aspires to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating for all new buildings. This is because it is not viable to aim for an Outstanding rating for every project – at least not yet.
Mr Jagger is proud that Nottingham is leading from the front. He said: “Universities not only have a responsibility to consider their impact on the environment but can also play a major role in demonstrating good practice and embedding it in the culture of daily life and in aspects of the curriculum. The University is, and aspires to remain, at the forefront of high standards of sustainability practice and environmentally friendly buildings.”
Construction News National Awards win
The University’s commitment to sustainable buildings was also recognised at the Construction News National Awards, including for the Energy Technologies Building. The ETB picked up a Highly Commended Award for Sustainable Project of the Year.
Nottingham’s Institute of Mental Health and Si Yuan Building both won the Highly Commended award for a Project of the Year under £10m.
Mr Jagger said: “We are delighted and it is particularly pleasing that the construction industry professionals have selected our university projects for these national awards which recognise the very best practice throughout the UK.”
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottinghamhas 42,000 students at award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It was ‘one of the first to embrace a truly international approach to higher education’, according to the Sunday Times University Guide 2013. It is also one of the most popular universities among graduate employers, one of the world’s greenest universities, and winner of the Times Higher Education Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development’. It is ranked in the UK’s Top 10 and the World’s Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong and the QS World Rankings.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. The University aims to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health. The University won a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its research into global food security.
Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest ever fundraising campaign, will deliver the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future. More news