London building achieves highest-ever BREEAM operational rating
The BREEAM operational rating of 95% achieved by the Kings Place mixed-use building on London’s Regent Canal is the highest ever achieved in the UK, and has been acknowledged by the building winning the in-use category of the 2017 BREEAM awards.
Developed by Peter Millican and designed by Dixon Jones in 2008, this 2900 m2 development is managed by Savills and owned by WestInvest InterSelect, a real-estate investment fund managed by Deka Immobilien GmbH.
In the early stages of this project, based on a preliminary assessment, it was estimated that Kings Place would achieve a BREEAM in-use score of 63% for the part 1 asset performance and 59% for the part 2 property management. The main challenge for the building management and the BREEAM assessor was to determine the actual potential for the building and reach it in an efficient and cost-effective way. Savills recognises BREEAM in-use as a highly effective tool in benchmarking the operational sustainability performance of existing buildings.
The building-management team commissioned technical assessments — including ecology surveys and tests for air quality, lighting and acoustic levels. A night-time light pollution survey was carried out to better understand the building’s performance. The survey and test findings were incorporated into the asset sustainability plant, and a number of immediate improvements were implements.
• Upgrading lighting to LEDs in common areas and reviewing the building lighting schedule achieved 30 MWh of electricity savings a year.
• 12% reduction in water use for toilets by installing low-flow sensor taps.
• Upgrading the green roof area.
• Installing new CO2, CO and NOx sensors in relevant areas of the building, with optimised control of plant to find the right balance between energy savings and an excellent health and wellbeing performance.
• Internal plants to absorb air pollutants and improve air quality.
The project has also had valued input from soft and hard facilities-management contractors to address sustainability issues and challenge their own service performance. It included working with the M&E contractor to undertake a full review of energy-savings opportunities.
Commenting on the outstanding rating, Alan Page, sustainability consultant with Savills, said, ‘Savills recognises BREEAM in use as a highly effective tool in benchmarking operational sustainability performance of buildings and is deploying certification across client real-estate portfolios to enhance asset value.’
