BUILDING DESIGN AND BIODIVERSITY

Office refurbishment schemes include environmentally friendly office equipment and environmental considerations have been included in all building design and refurbishment projects.

Since 1999 decorative paints and coatings within Company premises are of materials that are consistent with the requirements of EC directives on solvent emissions. This is now standard practice within the Company.

All halon based fire safety systems have been reviewed and the Company replaced all non-compliant systems by the deadline date of 31 December 2003. Since 1997 new fire extinguishing systems installed have been inert gas systems.

The redevelopment of our Head Office can be summarised into three main areas:

  1. Head Office Development Phases 1-4 (complete)
    The major development recently being undertaken to expand the Head Office site has provided the Company with the opportunity to consider building design and biodiversity issues arising as a result of operational activities.

    Insite prepared the following landscape proposals for the new development after referral to Newcastle City Council Bio-diversity Action Plan (BAP).

    The Head Office site has been developed on a brownfield site previously occupied by a number of hospital buildings, which have been demolished, It is situated in a suburban area, with residential properties, a hospice, a clinic, school and office accommodation within close proximity. There are a number of mature trees around the perimeter of the site with a grouping in the Southwest.

    With reference to the BAP, there are a number of Action Points identifying habitats and species for particular consideration, a number of which are reflected in the landscape proposals for the site.

    It is intended to contribute to the biodiversity of the site through:

    The design of a water body with aquatic and marginal planting
    - Ponds provide many niches for a very diverse range of species. Nutrient rich, mesotrophic ponds support a good range of vegetative species through a mixture of marginal, floating and submerged plants, which in turn attract invertebrate populations.

    A woodland area with a mixture of local and native species
    - Native trees, planted at different ages, can create a habit for a number of species. Objective No. 7 of Newcastle City Councils Tree Strategy (draft for consultation, March 2001) which encourages the planting of trees to increase the amenity value of places, improve the urban environment quality by absorbing environmental pollution and provide shelter and screening.

    - During 2005 a variety of nest boxes have been placed around the grounds to attract nesting species in forthcoming years. The nest boxes have been obtained from Northumberland Wildlife Trust and were built by Community Programme workers.

    Ornamental planting to encourage wildlife through the choice of plant species
    - There are opportunities across the development to plant a number of species, which encourage the use of the site by a number of bird species, which are attracted to bright foliage and berries. Shrubs to be planted near the building will be more ornamental in appearance, however the planting will have an ecological value to promote bio-diversity.

    Minimum number of trees felled
    - Trees felled will be replaced by young trees.

    In 2004 the building development was awarded an "exceptional rating" under the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM rating).

    In 2005 Northern Rock came third in the Northumberland Wildlife Conservation Awards for the work undertaken in our grounds landscaping project.

    Building Management System
    - A BMS is used to continuously monitor and control the building service systems. These include highly efficient low temperature hot and chilled water systems, water consumption controls, energy efficient ventilation and lighting installations and environmentally friendly fire suppression systems.

    Solar Shading
    - The use of Briese Soliel and roof overhangs to reduce solar gain to the building.

  2. Head Office Development Phase 5 (current)
    The next stage of our redevelopment programme at Gosforth involves the construction of a new multi-storey car park, to increase our overall capacity for staff to park on site, reducing on street car parking, and the demolition of the original tower block which originally formed Northern Rock House.

    Both of these contracts were awarded to Shepherd Construction Ltd and as part of the evaluation process environmental awareness and compliance issues in building design and construction works were evaluated.

    Shepherd Construction have an Environmental Policy in place for the Company as detailed below:
    "Shepherd Construction is a Construction Company carrying out design, planning supervisor services, new build and refurbishment works.

    The Company has identified the significant impacts of its operations and completed works on the environment and is committed to minimising these and increasing the degree of sustainability in its practices.


    Shepherd will achieve these objectives through the operation of an Integrated Management System. This addresses the following key issues developed in accordance with ISO14001.

    • Compliance with relevant legislation, regulations, government guidance and industry codes of practice
    • Conserving energy and water and preserving bio-diversity Minimising waste, maximising recycling and preventing pollution
    • Communication with those affected by SCL's operations and the minimisation of disturbance disruption
    • Setting and reviewing environmental targets and the auditing of the Company's operations
    • Promoting sustainable construction and delivering economic, environmental and social benefits by means of:

      • Designing and constructing buildings that are more cost effective to produce and run
      • Designing and constructing projects using easily replenished resources and with improved environmental performance over their life cycle
    • Promoting higher standards for those people directly or indirectly affected by the project
    • Ensuring that our supply chain is aware of this policy and that members are encouraged to apply similar environmental standards to their own operations
    This policy and its objectives are communicated and understood throughout the Company as necessary and are reviewed to ensure continually improving environmental performance. It also forms part of the Shepherd Group Environmental Policy".



    In addition, the environmental policy of the main demolition contractor, Thompson of Prudhoe, was also examined, the key features of which are:

    To:

    • Seek to minimise pollution to air, water and land during the operation of its activities
    • Manage the use of utilities to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and the production of CO2
    • Make every effort to minimise the environmental burden when new investments are introduced
    • Work with all suppliers and contractors to maintain the company's environmental standard
    • Recycle relevant products and make optimum use of recycled materials appropriate to its business activities
    • Collect, collate and interpret relevant monitoring data on a regular basis to assess the environmental impact of existing operations
    • Operate an on-going programme, which is summarised within each management review, to record progress and evaluate performance
    • Encourage all employees and those persons working on behalf of Thompsons of Prudhoe to play an active role in meeting the environmental objectives by providing the necessary information, instruction and training when appropriate
    • Operate in close liaison with the local community
    • Be committed to continual improvement on environmental issues where economically feasible.

    The policy has the aim of minimising the impact on the environment whilst maintaining the quality of its business activities. The company adheres to an Environmental Management System, which is certified to ISO 9001-2000.

  3. Rainton Bridge
    The Company continues to work with with Sunderland City Council and Akeler Developments Limited to acquire a site for a new office complex at Rainton Bridge. As well as giving the designers a brief to create a sustainable, low energy consumption office the design of the grounds of the building will also follow the guidance given in Sunderland Council's "Habitat Creation Framework for Rainton Bridge South."

    As this scheme is still in the early stages of development further details will be given in subsequent updates.

    Solar House, Doxford

    Northern Rock added Solar House to its portfolio in September 2003. The 38,000 sq. ft of net office accommodation and 182 on-site car-parking spaces in Doxford Park, Sunderland, has been acquired on a 7-year lease to provide additional future accommodation for our Commercial Finance, Debt Management and Mortgage Service Centre activities.

    Due to difficulties in 2004, in obtaining the amount of renewable energy required, the site has been supplied for most of 2005 on a Climate Change Levy Exempt basis - the energy is sourced from a combination of renewable brown and energy from certain good quality CHP plant. However, in keeping with our Energy Policy and environmental aims, the Company was successful in obtaining a certified renewable electricity supply for the site from November 2005 via our existing supplier.

    The site has achieved an "Excellent" BREEAM rating in accordance with BREEAM 1/93 and has been constructed using the latest environmental technology including:

    • Passive Solar Design:allows the building to maximise the use of sun and wind to create comfortable and productive internal conditions whilst minimising energy consumption.

    • An exterior wall of photovoltaic cells: the photovoltaic cells convert the sun's energy into electrical current, producing significant amounts of power, even on cloudy days, at the same time providing solar shading within the atrium.

    • High volume of glass: the building's many windows atrium glazing and rooflights provide excellent levels of daylight, minimising the need for artificial light.

    • Excellent insulation:reduces heat loss from the building in winter.

    • Natural ventilation and night-time cooling: although air conditioning is used in the building the need to run mechanical fans or expensive air conditioning systems has been minimised. The Solar Office has been designed with stack effect ventilation.

    The Solar House is designed to be healthier and to stimulate greater productivity than the conventional office, through the following means:

    • Enhanced air quality: the main sources of air pollution in an office environment are microscopic dust and carbon dioxide. The lack of traditional heating and cooling systems in The Solar House reduces energy consumption, minimising carbon dioxide emissions. Furthermore, natural ventilation provides higher levels of fresh air and prevents stagnation.
    • More natural daylight: the daylight levels within The Solar House exceed those recommended by BREEAM standards, reducing the need for artificial light.

    The building has an elevation of photo voltaic cells that generate electricity when exposed to light. The initial surveys following acquisition of the property confirmed the cells would not work correctly due to a faulty contactor and defective wiring. This system was repaired during the year by Honeywell and since its re-commissioning to Nov 2005, 37,072 kwh of electricity have been generated saving over £1,200 and 16 tonnes of CO2.

    The building also incorporates a natural ventilation system, which was tested during the course of the year. There are various temperature fluctuations required to the programming of the system and the operation of the natural ventilation system was reintroduced in the Spring of 2005. Due to the heat gains in the area it is only practical to run the natural vent between May and August when the outside air temperature is between 16 and 24 degrees..

    Additional information on the features of the accommodation may be obtained upon Request.

© Northern Rock plc. 2008