RPI Annual Report 2008 Development
           
 

 

 

  

Gresham Street, London.

Developing
responsibility

Integrating sustainability
in all our developments

We endeavour to promote a greater understanding and consideration of RPI throughout our development and construction project activities. Our Responsible Property Development (RPD) programme ensures that all of our projects are designed and built with full regard to our RPI Challenges.

RPI Guidelines for Development Teams
Minimum BREEAM Rating
2007/8 Target Review
2008/9 Targets

RPI Guidelines for Development Teams
One of our concerns is the long-term affect that our developments have on communities and their environment. We are seeking to minimise the adverse social and environmental affects of development and have identified a number of key issues that require consideration during our design and construction activities. We also see new developments as an opportunity to promote and develop positive contributions to sustainability and to implement them where feasible.

During the development process, a greater understanding and awareness can be achieved by identifying to external professional advisors and contractors those areas that require specific consideration and engagement to meet and exceed our RPI Challenges.

The professionals who are tasked with designing and constructing our projects are expected to have a high level of understanding of current and evolving best practice in their specialist area and in the area of sustainability. They must ensure that the development reflects the principles and work streams of our RPD programme.

To assist our development teams in addressing all the relevant issues and to encourage them to introduce measures to counteract adverse impacts during the development process we have developed Responsible Property Development Guidelines. The document sets out our principles in a simple framework that can be used from the inception stage of all new development and refurbishment projects.

The document is used as a specification tool when undertaking a review of design compliance at each stage of the development process and is incorporated into all construction documentation to ensure contractor understanding, compliance and buy-in. Monitoring and recording of the achievements is imperative to assist us in compiling a database of compliance with our RPD programme and will assist in developing future targets.

Minimum BREEAM Rating
As part of our RPD programme we set ourselves a target of ensuring that all developments in excess of £3 million, for both new construction and refurbishment have independent BREEAM assessments completed, with the intention of obtaining at least a “Very Good” rating.

Property BREEAM Assessment
Frimley Business Park Plot 300 Very Good (design phase)
Frimley Business Park Plot 200 Excellent (design phase)
Gresham Street, London Excellent (on completion)
One Finsbury Circus Very Good (design phase)
101 Cambridge Science Park Very Good (design phase)
Paradise Street Liverpool (jv Partnership) Very Good (BREEAM and Eco Homes)
G-Park Sheffield and Bristol (jv Partnership) Very Good (design phase)
Crackerjack, Corby (jv Partnership) Very Good (design phase)


 
 


Gresham Street
We completed our Gresham Street development in central London, which incorporated several sustainable design features. These include the provision of photovoltaic cells into the architectural form for electricity production, segregation for recycling, native planting and roof bird boxes. The development is designed to produced 21% less CO2 than the building regulations Target Emission Rate.

We are pleased to report the building achieved an 'Excellent' BREEAM rating and an EPC rating of B.

Gresham Street EPC Rating

Gresham Street BREEAM rating.
 


Maybird Retail Park
The major extension of Maybird Retail Park in Stratford-upon-Avon completed in October 2008 provides nearly 200,000 sq ft of high quality retail space. The site incorporates energy efficient lighting, the provision of photovoltaic panels and ground source heat pumps serving management facilities. The Travel Plan for the site sets out a long-term strategy to encourage alternative modes of travel than private cars.
All occupiers will be briefed on RPI management strategies and awareness programmes will be implemented. ‘Green’ clauses are being agreed with all new occupiers, which will amongst other things encourage future joint sustainability improvements.

Maybird Centre
 


Frimley Business Park
We began work at Frimley Business Park, where the two units we are developing will achieve BREEAM ‘Very Good’ and ‘Excellent’ ratings respectively. A Travel Plan has been developed which includes a full review of the feasibility of providing a commuter bus service and also improvements to the pedestrian route between the park and the local main line rail station. It is hoped that this will encourage occupiers at the Park to use this route which is currently under-utilised.

The two buildings will be provided with 10% on-site renewable energy through use of ground source heat pumps. VRV air-conditioning systems will be installed and C02 reductions of 30% and 40% beyond minimum building regulations requirements will be achieved. Rainwater harvesting will be incorporated as part of a package of sustainability initiatives.

Frimley Businss Park