Sustainable Development

The combined experience of the Environmental Management Group, the Sustainable Development Group and the Transportation Division have been brought together to offer a comprehensive multi-disciplinary service to our clients in both public and private sectors. This service supports integrated improvements in resource productivity in land use, water, energy, materials, waste and transport.

In May 1999 the UK Government set out the four key objectives of its strategy for sustainable development:

• Social progress which recognises the needs of everyone
• Effective protection of the environment
• Prudent use of natural resources
• Maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment

Faber Maunsell is committed to minimising negative environmental impacts resulting from its business activities, and working with clients, suppliers and business partners to promote sustainability and higher environmental standards. This is put into practice through an Environmental Management System and is evidenced through ISO 14001 accreditation in our offices. We also have a Corporate Community Strategy which focuses on supporting young people.

Strategic and Regulatory Advice

At Faber Maunsell we are at the forefront in supporting the formulation of new regulations and revisions to planning and building control which are necessary to move from research to implementation of these objectives. For example on the preparation of the new Part L energy regulations. Staff are active supporting committees and Commissions which are taking sustainable development forward such as the London Sustainable Development Commission and the Commission for Integrated Transport. We have registered advisers under a range of schemes such as the Energy Best Practice Programme.

Masterplanning

We assist developers with early stage sustainability advice and the production of frameworks for masterplans and regeneration projects. Our knowledge and experience of developing transport plans that minimise resource consumption combined with expert advice on environmental management of developments, particularly those on brownfield sites, enables us to support a commercial and confident approach to planning applications.

Environmental Management

The success of a development is strongly influenced by its effect on the environment and surrounding communities. The quality of our advice ensures a project's realisation with a minimum of procedural delay. Our specialists investigate all environmental issues of due diligence and asset control in order to provide the right information on which to base key decisions. We assist throughout the development process by delivering environmental impact assessment as a practical management tool.

Project Implementation

Faber Maunsell is at the forefront of developing specifications and management strategies for delivering effective sustainable development in all sectors of the built environment with a particular focus on PPP and PFI delivery.

We have the design expertise to back this up, for example specifying energy, water and waste efficient techniques and equipment in buildings and infrastructure and the specialist analysis techniques to demonstrate the practical environmental performance. We also advise on the potential for gathering and using of all forms renewable energy.

Waste Management and Pollution Control

Our waste management team combines design and engineering for waste facility operations with strategic solutions for waste recycling, minimisation, cleaner production technology and waste handling.

Asset Management and Operations

A key part of sustainable development is improving the performance of existing assets in a sustainable way.

Faber Maunsell is one of the UK leaders in advising on the operation and maintenance of infrastructure as well as being at the forefront of applying asset management IT systems for the effective handling of large complex data sets. Transport planning and management skills are used to minimise disruption of road and rail services.

The Built Environment

Our comprehensive property and facilities management services aim to align sustainable building performance with organisational objectives, delivering improved profitability through optimised asset utilisation in all sectors. Specialist teams carry out BREEAM assessments, recommend improvement strategies and provide a labelling service.

At Faber Maunsell we always seek to become involved at the earliest possible stage of the design process in order that we can influence a building's form, function and operation, developing a holistic approach with the architect and other design team members.

Our goal is to reduce environmental impact by providing sustainable buildings with lowembodied energy that emit as little carbon as possible. Our approach is to look at the environmental drivers in conjunction with the project economics in order to achieve best-fit and best value solutions that also have environmental sustainability benefits.

For more information on our experience and capabilities please contact Richard John.