Sustainability

Greengage acts as sustainability coordinators within an organisation’s design team, guiding projects from early design through to final completion. We facilitate sustainability discussions among project teams, establish project-specific sustainability targets, monitor progress and draft procurement sustainability requirements for contractor tenders and interviews. During the construction phase, we help keep sustainability goals on track and review performance against targets, liaise with the contractors and conduct site visits.

We help ensure developments meet the relevant sustainability-related building regulations and planning requirements. This includes reviewing policy at an early stage to ensure requirements are integrated within the design and providing guidance to project teams on the technical interventions required to achieve targets. Our services include production of planning reports including sustainability statements, BREEAM pre-assessments, whole life carbon assessments and circular economy statements.

We assess a development’s whole life carbon emissions and provide expert advice to reduce those emissions in line with industry or client targets. This includes emissions that are attributable to the materials and the construction stage of a development (embodied carbon), along with operational and end of life emissions.

We provide embodied carbon analysis, identifying where embodied energy impacts occur during the design process and within supply chains. Based on this analysis, we recommend alternative materials, material optimisation and improved construction methods. These recommendations guide the design of a current project and can be applied to future projects as well. We also undertake embodied carbon benchmarking for portfolios, advising on reduction targets and methods to achieve this.

From initial assessment to implementation and certification, Greengage ensures projects meet the rigorous standards of the leading sustainability certifications.

BREEAM & HQM – We manage the full BREEAM / HQM assessment certification process from pre-assessment and consideration of early-stage requirements, through to design and construction, maximising project performance across all credit categories in a way that will provide maximum sustainability benefit to the building.

WELL Building Standard & Fitwel – We manage the WELL or Fitwel assessment certification process from feasibility to final certification (excluding specialist testing). We also undertake feasibility studies and provide design advice to make buildings WELL-ready without full certification, and provide advice on WELL-related standards that would be of most benefit to include in a building design and specification to improve user health and wellbeing.

We devise bespoke strategies to help developments apply circular economy principles, reducing waste and improving resource efficiency through material reuse and recycling. Every situation brings its own set of challenges and opportunities, so we tailor initiatives to suit a project’s specific needs. We work closely with project teams, fostering collaboration between traditionally separate groups like demolition contractors and architects or engaging project planners in adopting innovative construction practices. Additionally, our specialists conduct detailed material reviews, advising on solutions that support key circularity indicators such as recycled content and design life.

We also produce circular economy statements for planning applications which meet the requirements of the London Plan, focusing on its overarching themes of conserving resources, eliminating waste and managing waste sustainably.

Greengage delivers Carbon Literacy training to organisations, engaging employees at all levels to promote sustainable thinking. The course starts with the basics of climate change and builds up to the detail, equipping built environment professionals with a comprehensive knowledge of the environmental impact of design choices and operations, and empowering them to confidently tackle emerging challenges. It also offers practical tools to help address the effects of climate change.