Environmental Policy Statement

McAleer and Rushe have extensive experience in delivery high standards of sustainable buildings under different assessment systems.

Within London the Company has delivered 4 projects; Swiss Centre mixed use; Baker Street offices; Baker Street residential; and Blackfriars hotel development, under the Greater London Authority Energy and Efficiency Policy, one of the most demanding in the UK.

The project as Swiss Centre, Leicester Square incorporates 23m by 100m deep bore holes for geothermal heating and cooling plant. This is linked to a tri generation system using a combined heat and power unit coupled with absorption chillers. These are further enhanced with a 30m2 PV array and a 40m2 solar water heater evacuated tube array. The total scheme saves 7750 tonnes of CO2 per annum.

The Company has delivered a BREEAM excellent bespoke assessment including post occupancy review at the Jurys Inn Brighton and adjoining City View Office building (yet to be constructed). This site also achieved an A rated EPC incorporating an air tightness of 3.4 solar water heaters and a PV array. As part of the scheme the ecology of the site was enhanced with green walls, and bird and bat boxes. Water saving solutions including rain water harvesting and reuse for toilet flushing were also applied.

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  • BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) is the leading and most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings. It sets the standard for best practice in sustainable design and has become the de facto measure used to describe a building’s environmental performance.

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The residential scheme at Baker Street was assessed under the code for sustainable home and achieved level 4 (extremely onerous considering level 5 is zero energy). This project incorporated air source heat pump linked to whole house vent and heat recovery coupled with solar water heater, PV panels, rain water reuse and air tightness below 5.

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  • Construction will provide a positive impact by providing construction jobs together with those for the building users. The construction will require new materials providing money into the economy for materials and transport. The key components of this will be the fabric and building services installations and standards based on employment laws/trading standards.

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  • Construction personnel have a social responsibility providing training for construction skills, interaction with the community and support for their families. Aspects/standards of this can be assessed through BREEAM and Sustainable development policies.

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  • The building will have a construction impact and operational impact. Using responsibly sourced building materials with a low embodied environmental impact minimises construction impact. Local suppliers/ materials reduce transport related emissions. Construction techniques to minimise energy usage and wastage from site together with pollution control will have a less damaging environmental impact. Building design by reducing demand, delivering it efficiently and then using low or zero carbon fuels reduces the ongoing environmental impact,. e.g. providing super-insulation walls with reduced heating. Building regulations, BREEAM, Sustainable development policies all feed into this.

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The key components and standards of a sustainable building should minimise the impact of economic, social and environmental factors holistically as compared to the building not constructed. Minimising these factors delivers a sustainable building. Building and general regulations, BREEAM, Sustainable development polices guide a development.

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