Lend Lease | Every Action Adds Up
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Lend Lease UK
"The very nature of our business gives us the opportunity to positively affect a great many people. This is a huge inspiration for our company in the way we approach sustainability. We seek to benefit and inspire others through the development, design, construction and management of the places we create."
~Daniel Labbad, Chief Executive Officer, Lend Lease UK
Click to view UK Sustainability 2009 Update PDF
Lend Lease Retail and Communities UK business has developed a significant profile through major urban regeneration projects including the joint venture at Greenwich Peninsula and the Stratford regeneration project.

Lend Lease Communities in the UK has focused on the high-density, inner urban sector with the development of apartments in the inner ring of cities such as Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham, which are undergoing huge urban renewal. With our partner, First Base, we are delivering a range of residential community projects that include affordable housing.
Lend Lease's Retail operations in the UK began with Bluewater, a landmark retail complex, highly regarded for its commitment to job creation in the local community. With four major retail centres in the UK, the Retail and Communities business is now focused on delivering integrated developments incorporating town centres, civic and mixed-use precincts that connect with, and respond to, the needs of the surrounding community.
Snapshot
It's certainly easier to build a sustainable workplace from the ground up than it is to retrofit an existing building. As a market leader in the UK, we were determined to put our sustainability credentials to the test by refurbishing our new European headquarters, 19 Hanover Square, a 1970s-built, six-story building in the middle of Central London.
Lend Lease was committed to refurbishing an existing building rather than designing and building a new one. We believed this was a more sustainable venture than the energy- and cost-intensive activities of demolition and reconstruction.
We chose this location to position Lend Lease in the geographic heartland of the UK property industry. Completed in 2005, 19 Hanover Square is a landmark achievement and forms a central hub for our staff, clients, investors and other related stakeholders.
Not only was it the first office refurbishment in the UK to achieve the BREEAM Excellent rating, 19 Hanover Square was also the only refurbishment to be included in the UK's Top 20 Green Buildings, compiled by leading trade magazine Property Week.
The building employs an innovative Building Management System, which monitors energy use and provides readouts on an hourly basis. Meters have also been installed to monitor gas and water usage. We use this information to benchmark our progress and to set targets for further improvement.
The materials selected for Hanover Square were screened to ensure that recycled or renewable materials were used wherever possible. All the wood was sourced from Forest Stewardship Council–managed forests, and the tabletops are made out of reclaimed parquet flooring blocks from Unilever House at Blackfriars, a Bovis Lend Lease site.
19 Hanover Square strives to promote sustainable methods of travel. Cycling is actively encouraged with the provision of cycle spaces, showers and changing rooms. There are facilities for recycling on each floor, and we closely monitor the amount of cardboard, glass, paper, plastic and cans recycled.
19 Hanover Square has been used as a model for other Lend Lease refurbishment projects, including offices located in Argyll Street, London. More importantly, it has acted as a catalyst for change, making sustainability a prime focus for our business and our employees.
Bovis Lend Lease UK
"We are determined to drive significant measurable improvements in our performance, particularly in sustainable design, carbon emissions, waste reduction, responsibly sourced materials and local community engagement and employment."
~Nick Pollard, Chief Executive Officer, Bovis Lend Lease UK
For Bovis Lend Lease UK, sustainable development is about ensuring we deliver a built environment that has lasting benefits to society, which is why we consider the social, environmental and economic impact of everything we do.
We have been operating in the UK for more than 100 years, and with office locations throughout the UK, we are able to bring a wealth of professional services, skills and experience to our clients, wherever they are based.
Our activities include the mainstream office and retail markets, leisure, pharmaceuticals, airports and Private Public Partnerships such as Britain's Private Finance Initiative, which is helping to deliver new hospitals and schools across the country.
We seek to be a sustainable leader. One of our largest flagship projects, MediaCityUK, is the first major construction project to embark on full Forest Stewardship Council certification, which will become a best-practice example for other international projects.
Snapshot
The construction industry accounts for 60 percent of all timber used in the UK each year, the majority of which is imported. Illegally and irresponsibly produced timber and wood products are still found in the UK and are used in major building sites and private homes.
The Forest Stewardship Council runs a global forest certification system with two key components: Forest Management and Chain of Custody certification. More than 109 million hectares of forests worldwide are managed under this scheme.
Bovis Lend Lease trialled Forest Stewardship Council project certification on a major London project. It became the first commercial project in the UK to achieve the Forest Stewardship Council Project Chain of Custody Certification standard. To achieve this, 50 percent of the total volume of timber in a project or 50 percent of the total cost of the timber in a project must be Forest Stewardship Council certified. The balance of the timber in the project needs to meet the requirements of the Forest Stewardship Council Controlled Wood Standard (FSC-STD-40-005).
The Bovis Lend Lease UK project team developed systems to ensure that the permanent timber in the project was Forest Stewardship Council certified. The project achieved certification in August 2007.
Having been appointed Management Contractor at MediaCityUK, we have now set a target to achieve full Forest Stewardship Council project certification. The project team aims to use 100 percent Forest Stewardship Council timber throughout the project. If achieved, it will be a world first for any construction contractor.
MediaCityUK is a mixed-use development that will include a variety of building types and uses, including commercial, retail, performing studios, hotels and production offices. The first phase of development comprises three core buildings including more than 46,000 square metres (495,000 square feet) of office, retail and residential accommodation. The development will span an 80-hectare site, creating 650,000 square metres (seven million square feet) of business, residential and retail floor space.
Our main challenge in meeting the 100 percent Forest Stewardship Council target was to make the subcontractors aware of the importance of the strict control procedures on-site and their responsibility to adhere to the process. We involved them from the very beginning, ensuring they understood that only timber carrying the Forest Stewardship Council trademark would be accepted on-site and an auditing process was carried out through the project.
The work on Forest Stewardship Council certification could not have been accomplished without the leadership of our Project Director, John Hyne, and his team. They challenged accepted practices on-site, introducing innovative new processes.
MediaCityUK is the first major construction project to embark on the full Forest Stewardship Council certification and will become a best-practice example for other international projects. Our aim is to replicate this best practice on all new projects.
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