Sustainable Consultant of the Year

Winner

Atelier Ten

Atelier Ten’s passion for environmental design is evident in its own office. This is a converted warehouse in central London, and acts as a test bed for sustainable techniques. Its design means it only uses air-conditioning for four or five days each year. The firm’s ethos is to develop well-integrated buildings with simple systems that increase comfort and reduce energy consumption, and it shares its best practice from successful projects both internally and externally. One of the comments made by the judges was that the firm continues to innovate. This is highlighted by the recent Butterfield Business Park project in Luton that uses ducts buried in the ground to deliver cool air into the building. In the three hottest days in June, when temperatures outside reached 33ºC, the air delivered through the ducts was 15-16ºC.

Highly commended

Jones Lang LaSalle

Jones Lang LaSalle has a clear goal: to lead the transformation of the property industry by reducing the environmental impact of commercial buildings. In the past year it has helped clients reduce their carbon emissions by 397,347 tonnes, generating around £58m in energy savings. The firm is also helping deliver projects such as the London Olympics and the Sustainable Industries Park at Dagenham. And through its Third Dimension scheme it is reinventing investment decision-making by enabling investors to compare risk and return with sustainability.

Runner-up

AECOM

In May this year Faber Maunsell rebranded as Aecom. Under this new banner it continues to be a top choice for technical advice on matters such as the government’s update of Part L of the Building Regulations, and it is helping to develop a definition of zero carbo. On top of this there have been exemplar projects such as the Lion House which achieved the highest BREEAM office (2006) score.

Atkins/Faithful + Gould

Atkins takes the view that carbon needs to be a central consideration at the start of every project whether it’s a school, road, power station or sea defences. This involves rewriting the rulebook, a daunting task that the firm is tackling with relish. To this end a number of carbon critical design tools, such as carbon calculators, a carbon manual and knowledge sharing platforms have been developed and an additional £1m is being invested in developing a further suite of carbon tools.

BDP

BDP is a firm that is continually looking to pioneer green engineering. A recent example is the 50,000m2 HQ for the 7 More London project. BDP engaged with BRE to run the project as a pilot for the new BREEAM 2008 “outstanding” rating. It extensively reworked the shell-and-core building and its services and then integrated the fit-out design and refined the construction methodology to achieve an “outstanding’ rating”.

Davis Langdon

This firm’s work on sustainability has a focus on natural resources. It developed an award-winning embodied carbon calculator, advised on the costs and effectiveness of renewable energy technologies and is also looking at the potential of new technologies such the use of concentrated solar power in Mediterranean countries to deliver power to northern ones.

Hilson Moran

Hilson Moran has made a name for itself working on iconic buildings such as the Gherkin and the 66-storey Pinnacle. What these buildings, and many others in the firm’s portfolio, have in common is their focus on low-carbon technologies and passive design techniques to reduce energy use. It is also innovating in the development of SuBET, a tool for assessing sustainable design and the performance of masterplans.

WSP

WSP has appointed a network of board-level representatives around the world to embed sustainability into every aspect of its business. Two important events in 2009 were the appointment of a director of sustainability at WSP UK and investment in an online sustainability portal to share knowledge on sustainability. Currently the firm is helping develop carbon strategies for cities including Dubai, Johannesburg and Masdar.