Delivering Sustainability

Sustainability Services

We have developed a sustainability services capability that can support our clients throughout the lifecycle of a building/infrastructure project.

We can advise at feasibility stage on the implications of location and design on the sustainability of the project, such as accessibility and transport issues, passive cooling and renewable energy options.

At the planning stage, we can provide reports on sustainability strategy, consider the environmental impacts of a development (from flood risk to ecological protection) and assess the options for delivering the highest ratings under LEED BREEAM or Code for Sustainable Homes.

And throughout the construction, completion and operation of a building, we can provide compliance assessment, helping our clients to achieve the desired rating.

 

Integrated Sustainability

Beyond the specific sustainability services, we look to understand our clients’ requirements and where we can help them save money, improve their developments and minimise impact. This is not a specific service, this is simply the way that we work.

Recent research by MLM has included:

• Assessment of embodied carbon in building materials
  
• Review of sustainable construction materials and methods
  
• Understanding sustainable procurement

All this informs the decisions that we make when designing foundations, considering construction materials, looking at materials recycling options, assessing renewable energy options and managing climate change adaptation measures, such as flood alleviation.

Our understanding of renewable energy options not only gives us the capability to design them into developments, but also to establish their impact on the efficiency of a building, how they interact with structural and building services engineering aspects of the construction and to advice on building control issues.

 

Internal Sustainability

Clearly, while the opportunity to advise and support our clients in their sustainability goals is significant, our own performance should not be forgotten. 2010 has seen MLM take a more proactive approach to understanding our own environmental and social impacts with the development of our “Sense of CSR” document, which commits us to:

• Reducing our environmental impact
• Valuing our own staff and promoting health, safety and wellbeing
• Supporting our local communities

In practice this means, for example, signing up to the 10:10 initiative to reduce our carbon use, submitting to the Sunday Times Best Companies survey to understand how our employees view MLM and how to make MLM an outstanding place to work, providing pro-bono advice through Suffolk Pro-Help and sponsoring local charities such as Magpas Helimedix in Cambridgeshire. We review constantly how to improve the sustainability of MLM as a business – we want the advice that we give to our clients to reflect the way that we aspire to operate ourselves.