Located in Leeds’ urban quarter, 11 & 12 Wellington Place is one of the UK’s most sustainable office buildings. Mainer Associates were able to reduce the embodied carbon target by 333kg CO2e/m2, but how did we do it?

From February 12th 2024 new large developments will require a 10% increase in biodiversity net gain as part of new government legislation under the town and country planning act. Whilst focus has been upon driving buildings to become net zero and carbon neutral the requirement for improved biodiversity will now have to become a key consideration for developers.

COP 28 has officially started in the UAE and is being lauded as a “milestone moment” for the world to take stock of its progress on the Paris Agreement but what key issues should be discussed?

ESG is not only relevant for large corporations, but also for small and medium sized enterprises that make up the majority of the global economy. In this article, we will explore why ESG is important for the sustainable development of the world and how it can benefit your company now.

Dan Coupland recently returned to Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) to represent Mainer Associates at a careers and alumni event. Having graduated MMU and the Mainer Academy, Dan let us know how he got on.

Global solutions, helping to shape our future buildings

The need for global sustainability cuts across all cultures. How different climates and resources are managed sustainably varies around the world, with varying degrees of success. The following article looks at the sustainable practices in Singapore and the lessons we can take back to the UK.

What are Materials Passports?

Materials passports serve as a “passport” of each material installed into a building. This helps building developers, owners and tenants understand what exactly has been installed into the building and how “circular” those materials and products are.

In recent years, the concept of the circular economy has gained significant traction as a means to combat the growing environmental challenges we face. This paradigm shift in our approach to resource consumption and waste management has found an ideal partner in the world of architecture. Architects, with their ability to envision and create sustainable structures, are playing a pivotal role in advancing the principles of the circular economy.

With carbon targets playing an increasingly important role in the construction sector, demand for Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) for products is growing significantly. EPDs inform stakeholders about a products environmental and human health impact throughout its life cycle and can be used to achieve sustainability accreditations such as BREEAM and LEED.

Facilitating the integration of LCA options appraisals into LCC works and vice versa, helps design teams understand from an early stage how the design of a building will affect costings, alongside carbon performance metrics. This allows project teams to effectively select design options which consider more than one entity (such as cost and embodied carbon), to provide a basis for a more comprehensive and holistic approach to decision making within building designs.

Residential Energy Assessment is a broad term that can cover a wide range of services, so who better to explain what Mainer has to offer, than our new energy expert Chris Stevens-Barnes.

In this Blog, Mainer sits down with Chris Stevens-Barnes to chat about his experience, why he chose to join to Mainer and how he is expanding our Residential Energy Assessments services.

Mainer Associates have recently taken onboard Chris Stevens-Barnes, a Senior Sustainability Consultant with over a decade of experience in the residential sector.

As a Specialist Sustainability Consultancy, Mainer Associates are delighted to share that Chris will be helping to broaden our in-house capabilities.

This expansion of our services will encompass all aspects of Residential Energy Assessments, which Chris is executing with the aid of our existing experienced team. This will not only enhance the number of services that Mainer Associates provides, but will also help to accelerate Mainer Associates’ vision of a truly sustainable future.

Mainer Associates are proud to assist our clients in achieving Design Stage certifications for BREEAM Outstanding – the highest rating a building can achieve within a BREEAM Assessment. We help our clients to consistently realise their targets; in this article, therefore, we present three projects whereby our involvement has helped our clients’ aspirations to become a reality.

Here at Mainer Associates, we believe that investing in young talent is a key facet in the solution towards a sustainable future. This is exactly why we established our Graduate Scheme – the Mainer Academy – in 2022.

The Mainer Academy’s aim is to provide Graduates with the necessary experience for them to thrive in the sustainability sector, whilst working in a consultancy environment for Mainer Associates on live sustainability and built environment projects across the UK.

Over the past year, the UK has seen two key updates to BREEAM as well as Government review on Net Zero. For individuals working in sustainability for the built environment, these updates are important to consider when completing a BREEAM Assessment.

Sky high energy bills have left energy prices at the forefront of household’s minds. The war in Ukraine, and the effect of lockdown lifting, has resulted in the rising wholesale cost of energy – causing many offices to lose vast sums of money. Is your office building one of these?

A Licensed NABERS Assessor will carry out physical assessments of buildings to collect and then verify the data for a NABERS rating. Mainer Associates can offer much more because our NABERS Assessor, Chris Stevens-Barnes, will not only carry out the assessment, providing the rating and certificate - but he will also look to provide a holistic, end-to-end service to improve NABERS’ ratings in a cost-effective manner. We ask Chris how he can help you…

Developed from its Australian counterpart to be relevant to the UK market; NABERS UK is a performance-based rating scheme that now operates throughout the country. By providing a NABERS rating for offices, building owners and managers can benchmark their buildings’ operational performance and gain market recognition for this performance. So, let’s ask some questions…

2023 is looking to become a pivotal year for how society views the progression and expectations of sustainable real-state and property. Whilst emphasis has been upon driving buildings to become net zero and carbon neutral, there is now a clear demand for health and wellbeing to be considered just as importantly.

Fitwel Ambassadors are a key link to help clients – not only to make healthy buildings – but to add value to them, too. In this Blog Post, we look at Fitwel Ambassadors, the role that they play, and what benefits a Fitwel Ambassador from Mainer Associates can bring to your next building.