Defra’s Lion House in Alnwick, a project worked on by Davis Langdon, was the first building to be awarded a post-construction ‘Outstanding’ rating at this years BREEAM awards, held at Ecobuild on 4 March 2010.

Lion House, which also received the OGC Special Award for Government Sector Achievement, was originally assessed and certified under BREEAM 2006, but was reassessed under the new BREEAM 2008 and is the first building to be awarded a post-construction ‘Outstanding’ rating. The facility is the first public building to achieve zero carbon operation, due to it holding sustainable credentials such as: natural ventilation, wind power via local wind turbines, small scale photo-voltaic power generation, water heating via solar panels, solar shading and high levels of thermal insulation. The project also includes a range of measures to improve resource efficiency such as its high use of a recycled content in materials and rainwater recycling.

The G Park Blue Planet development, another Davis Langdon project, won the first BREEAM Industrial (interim) ‘Outstanding’ rating. Highlights of its sustainability features include a plan to power the whole development through a biomass plant located on one edge of the site to provide heating and electricity, highly water efficient fittings, a rainwater harvesting system and the significant ecological enhancement of the site.

The BREEAM awards recognise and reward those involved in the design and construction of the highest scoring buildings certified under BREEAM that year. To gain entry into the awards, buildings must have obtained at least a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating meaning all shortlisted entries represent the best sustainable credentials in the UK. Winners must represent a holistic approach to delivering on environmental sustainability on credentials such as: energy, materials, waste, water, ecology, pollution, transport, management, and health and wellbeing.

To see the full list of winners please click here.