Greengage delivered whole life carbon, urban greening and social value assessments to enhance the sustainability and community impact of a proposed student housing scheme in Bristol.
Cubex’s development on Albert Road is part of the St Philip’s Marsh regeneration and aims to deliver high-quality, purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) yards away from the new University of Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus.
Greengage’s role involved analysing forecasted operational and embodied carbon, calculating the urban greening factor (UGF) and undertaking a socio-economic assessment.
As part of the whole life carbon assessment (WLCA), an embodied carbon assessment was carried out on the proposals, calculating the proposed upfront carbon (792 kgCO2e/m²) and whole life carbon (1,189 kgCO2e/m²). A set of next steps and recommendations were provided to help minimise the development’s carbon emissions.
To accompany the embodied carbon assessment, an operational energy assessment was undertaken using the Passivhaus Planning Package (PHPP). This assessment quantified and optimised anticipated operational carbon impacts, based on energy balance and annual energy demand. Similar to the embodied carbon assessment, a series of recommendations and next steps were outlined to guide the design team to achieve further optimisations during the latter design stages.
The project’s UGF was calculated based on the landscaping proposals, achieving a score of 0.41 and exceeding the target set out within emerging Bristol planning policy.
Finally, a social value assessment was conducted to quantify the socio-economic impacts of the development. This estimated that the proposals would generate approximately £3.3 million in social value. The Bristol Themes Outcomes and Measures (TOMs) Social Value Calculator and National TOMs measures were used to demonstrate the benefits to the local community, especially to the local economy and employment. The assessment also highlighted the anticipated wellbeing outcomes for students and the wider community, particularly relating to ‘positive emotions, connecting, freedom and flexibility, and participation’.
Testimonial
“For our Temple Reach PBSA scheme in Bristol, Greengage delivered expert sustainability consultancy, including whole life carbon analysis, urban greening calculations, and a comprehensive social value assessment. Their work identified key opportunities to reduce embodied and operational carbon, achieving a UGF score of 0.41 and projecting over £3.3 million in social value.
Greengage’s insights supported our ambition to create a development that not only meets environmental benchmarks, but delivers lasting benefits to the community.”
– Will Tomlinson, Development Director, Cubex
