Green giant

A warehouse developer that is intent on slashing its carbon dioxide usage, that is investigating methane harvesting and the biodiversity surrounding its industrial sheds? And one who also happens to be owned by US giant Wal-Mart, probably not renowned for its eco-friendly behaviour? It seems a little fanciful but Gazeley appears to be deadly serious when it comes to showing its green credentials.

The firm’s messianic procurement director Jonathan Fenton-Jones is full of strong words when discussing the firm’s so-called Eco Template, the brand the client has created to badge its aim to mitigate the environmental impact of its current development programme, which covers 20 sites on 423 hectares. “We are even looking at how many songbirds we can introduce as a result of our developments,” he declares, all at no cost to the occupier. “There’s not a cent on rent,” adds Fenton-Jones.

The Eco Template is a 114-page document that Gazeley produced last year which offers a model of environmental measures to save energy. The client ploughed £660,000 into research for the document, pulling in industry partners such as architect Chetwood Associates, US environmental consultant William McDonough & Partners and engineering consultant WSP Cantor Seinuk. Gazeley then decided to use some of the report’s recommendations on a real job, a new speculatively built warehouse in Bedford. “We selected a budget for the additions to the build programme over and above what we usually do,” explains Fenton-Jones. “We elected to do a mixture of iconic renewable presences such as wind turbines and other less visible measures such as the use of recyclable material.” QS firm WH Stephens, which acts as employer’s agent for Gazeley, claims the market for recycled material has begun to open up. “There is more of a variety of material out there,” says associate Ann Saunders. “There’s not much of a premium on costs – it’s a question of good specification, of swapping one good quality item for another. They (recyclable material) do not seem to be as exciting but actually everyone should be doing it.”

Having experimented and gleaned significant results on the Bedford scheme – for 67p more per square foot on standard building costs the firm claims to have saved £15,000 a year on energy costs (see box, page 14) – Gazeley has now become more scientific and ambitious in its thinking.

The firm has set itself a goal of beating the target for reducing carbon dioxide emissions set in the Kyoto treaty (see graph) and has an increased menu of energy saving measures such as ground source heat pumps, combined heat and power systems and biomass composting, where you use biodegradable material as an energy source. The client is also working with an environmental advisory firm called Solar Century – which is run by well-known author Jeremy Leggett – who runs audits on upcoming schemes to work out where the greatest carbon saving can come from. Fenton-Jones draws up a two-weekly 30-page spreadsheet keeping himself up-to-date on what is happening where. “All of these obviously have to benefit the customer,” he adds.

Fenton-Jones stresses that the firm’s current focus is on reducing the building’s energy use when construction is complete, rather than during construction. “We are looking at the biggest wins,” he explains. “We have worked out that 92% of total energy used for the 25-year span of the building is during the actual use phase.” The next task for Gazeley is to look at offering to fit out the interior of the industrial property, Fenton-Jones states. “Most of that 92% in a warehouse is heating and lighting.

For heating they tend to use big jet nozzles which is bloody expensive equipment to install. We don’t install this stuff but we want to measure it and eventually manage it. We are not there yet.”

Fenton-Jones shows an unusual determination in his drive to tackle energy use. A former interior designer who was first introduced to Gazeley through Chetwood Associates before switching sides and now working for them, he talks of “systematic barriers” to businesses changing their behaviour as far as environmental impact is concerned. “Somehow the negative impact of firms (on the environment) is expected to be picked up by society through the government. These are heinous acts of pollution.”

Somehow the negative impact of firms on the environment is expected to be picked up by society through the government. These are heinous acts of pollution

Jonathan Fenton-Jones, procurement director, Gazeley

Fenton-Jones also believes there is significant momentum for change, pointing to recent words from the boss of his parent firm Wal-Mart as proof that the once sceptical US

is now buying into the programme. Chief executive Lee Scott pledged that the firm would use 100% renewable energy and create zero waste in the future at a speech last month. “These goals are both ambitious and aspirational and I’m not sure how to achieve them… at least not yet… But we do know the way,” he said. “Wal-Mart is now looking at technologies like biofuels,” adds Fenton-Jones. “When the likes of Wal-Mart are doing it with their scale of operation there is every likelihood these technological developments will find their way to the mainstream.”

How Gazeley procures its workload

Gazeley decided three years ago to outsource construction, having had an internal team that handled it. “We decided to go out and win new business and leave the construction to the experts,” says Fenton-Jones. The procurement director points to the firm’s expansion into Europe as a reason behind the move.

“We first moved into the rest of Europe about three years ago. This year 50% of our operating profit came from mainland Europe,” he explains. “There is no way we could have achieved that if we were continuing to operate as we were beforehand. It would not have happened.”

Fenton-Jones credits that achievement partially to French contractor GSE, which carries out all the firm’s work with an agreed roster of subcontractors. The firm works on fixed price lump-sum heavily amended FIDIC contracts, explains Fenton-Jones. “We offer stage payments when they achieve project milestones to keep the contractor cash positive,” he adds. The client keeps a 5% retention. Of that, 2.5% is paid after completion when the snagging list has been signed off and the rest when the actual performance certificate is signed.

WH Stephens’ Saunders has certainly seen a change in the way the client operates since the firm first worked with Gazeley in the late 1980s. “It’s evolved in the last 15 years or so,” she says. “It used to be JCT contracts and bills of quantities. We are far more a commercial manager now than a QS. It’s a much wider role.”