Andy Barker, managing director from Ocon travelled to the House of Commons to receive the coveted award which is part of a national campaign to find Britain’s greenest companies, councils and communities. Judges for the Green Apple Awards are drawn from the Environment Agency, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Chartered Institute for Wastes Management (CIWM) and other independent bodies.
Ocon’s BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rated ‘Northfield’ student accommodation project at the University of Sussex’s Falmer campus competed against 500 other nominees to win a coveted award. The £32.5 million scheme stands out as a benchmark for sustainable student living and comprises 957 student accommodation units in 17 modular timber-framed buildings. The Green Apple was awarded for the £26.2 million phase 1 programme to construct 777 units in 14 buildings, a project that included wide-ranging environmental specification and a major extension of the university’s district heating system. Ocon was required to work sensitively within the development’s green belt surroundings and extensive landscaping was an important aspect of the overall scheme.
Ocon’s success in winning a Green Apple Award has led to the company being invited to have its winning paper published in The Green Book, the leading international work of reference on environmental best practice, so that other companies around the world can follow their example and learn from their experience. The accolade also means that Ocon is now being considered to represent the UK in the European Business Awards for the Environment, an award scheme run by the European Commission which sees winners from 27 EU member states compete for the European accolade.
Comments Andrew Barker, managing director of Ocon Construction: “In the past many considered environmental responsibility and construction to be mutually exclusive but advances in environmental specification and construction best practice mean that the two can now go hand in hand. Ocon’s track record on eco-friendly builds meant that we were well placed to set a benchmark for environmentally sound student accommodation schemes with the Sussex project and we are now also delivering the expertise on site at Vine Court, our £34 million student accommodation scheme for the University of Liverpool.”
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