Is this the nation's greenest office building?

The Environmental Agency in Bristol has declared that their new office in Bristol is the greenest office building in the country.

Despite not yet being finished, it has already achieved the highest-ever score awarded by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) for its environmental credentials, 85.06 percent under Breeam 2006 assessment method.

Developed by Westmark and located on Deanery Road, the environmentally friendly building has been designed using the latest technologies, innovative design and stringent site management to ensure a high level of environmental performance in both the construction and use of the building.

Amongst its green technologies is the building's ability to harvest rainwater to cut water consumption, intelligent lighting systems to cut electricity use, natural ventilation and a ground source heat pump that reduces heating and cooling costs.

The construction process also lessened the building's environmental impact. Recycled materials were used and, according to Westmark, energy and resource management was carefully regulated.

"This achievement demonstrates how organisations can work with developers to build exceptional offices which meet their needs whilst reducing their impact on the environment," said the Environment Agency's chairman Lord Chris Smith.

"By relocating to a more efficient building the Environment Agency will save around 10 percent every year on operational and energy costs, an estimated £180,000 saving per year."

The Environment Agency is now urging other UK organisations, and developers, to follow its example by developing office buildings which reduce their impact on the environment, while saving resources and costs.

 
Euan Cresswell of Westmark states that making an office building environmentally friendly and yet commercially viable is not an impossibility.

"We wanted to show with the Environment Agency's new office that high environmental standards and commercial viability are not mutually exclusive.

"Our team has worked hard to develop a building which has all the facilities which a large occupier would expect from a modern office at a price which is market competitive, but which at the same time has an unprecedentedly low impact on the environment.

"Most of all, it will be a great place to work. We have shown that going green does not have to cost developers or office occupiers the earth and that it can, in fact, bring strong commercial advantages."

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