Sustainability
Our commitment to the environment
Through the adoption of a proactive approach to environmental issues, Ansell & Bailey Architects are committed to minimising potentially harmful effects on the environment, and to contributing towards sustainable development through balancing its business aims with environmental considerations.
Buildings are estimated to be responsible for 40% to 50% of greenhouse gas emissions so designing low carbon buildings economically is pivotal to our industry. Ansell & Bailey have taken up that challenge and aim to be leaders in this field. Ansell & Bailey hold accreditation in Quality Management Systems ISO 9001:2015 and Environmental Management Systems ISO 14001:2015 and are committed to providing excellence in design, quality of service to our clients and promoting sustainable solutions.
Our Aims
Ansell & Bailey in striving to reduce our Environmental Impact aims to:
- Reduce the Environmental impact of our office operations.
- Consider how we use materials and energy.
- Minimise travel where feasible.
- Manage our waste and dispose of it properly.
- Influence the design of our client’s buildings.
Our Staff
We ensure that the appropriate training and support is given to all staff to allow them to be able to fulfil the commitments set out in this general statement of policy.
Staff are informed about sustainability by attending:
- Seminars focussing on low energy / sustainable products.
- Lectures on environmental regulations, initiatives and opportunities.
- Sustainability courses, including BREEAM training.
- Corporate Membership to the Green Register providing structured web based learning.
Our Office
In pursuance of a low carbon environment we have:
- Replaced single glazed windows with double glazed, solar control units.
- 100% natural ventilation.
- Excellent daylighting requiring practically zero artificial lighting for more than 6 months of the year.
- Minimal paper use by using electronic filing systems, sharing drawings via electronic devices only, marking-up drawings on PC screen, using ‘i-pads’ with ‘i-pens’ to share and mark-up drawings on site.
- Recycling stations in the office to segregate waste and weekly collection by a private Company (First Mile) to recycle any paper, cardboard, glass, metal and plastic packaging
Our Clients and Projects
We work with our clients at both strategic level and all design stages to minimise negative environmental impact through our designs. We:
- Stay up to date with our government and client programmes such Net Zero, BREATHE and Salix.
- The Carbon Reduction Commitment and other legislation which will increasingly make energy saving more urgent, and cost effective.
- Work closely with our clients and specialist consultants to achieve high quality, flexible, fit for purpose solutions to maximise longevity.
- Encourage schemes such as BREEAM and SKA, with sustainability appraisals from inception to completion, and ‘building in use’ stages.
- Meet and, where possible, exceed all relevant legislation, regulations and guidance.
- Adopt sustainable materials specifications, passive design to reduce energy demand, low carbon technologies, low water usage, and minimise or improve ecological impacts.
- Make efficient use of natural resources in minimising waste, together with conserving both energy and water.
- Make use of registered waste disposal companies and licensed tips for the disposal of waste materials, particularly hazardous waste.
- Investigate operational procedures with a view to preventing pollution.
- Ensure that all of our suppliers and sub-contractors are aware of our policy.
Net Zero
Ansell & Bailey recognises the importance of making full and lasting commitment to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from our activities, in March 2021 we made our pledge to the UNFCCC Race to Zero to achieve our Net Zero by 2030 and target a 50% reduction in emissions by 2025.
We are working with Trident Carbon Consultants and have spent the past year collating our data since our 2019 benchmark year and we are delighted that we have received from Future Net Zero a Platinum Award for reducing our Carbon Footprint by 50% since 2019. A huge advance in actively working towards out Net Zero Goal in 2030. We continue to collect data and input into our dashboard to monitor our progress and keep on track, shown below.
