Rivergreen Developments plc - Prime Minister commends special low impact office development

The Prime Minister has praised an innovative North East building as an icon of environmental responsibility.
Tony Blair has officially opened the Rivergreen Centre on the edge of Durham City, which has become a national showcase for modern sustainable office developments.
He said: "It is amazing to see how much effort and creativity has gone into the Rivergreen Centre.
"The building demonstrates real leadership in design and environmental technology. It shows how it is possible to have economic and sustainable growth and enable people to work in a wonderful building."
Built by Rivergreen Developments plc and designed for multi-occupation, the £7.5 million office and conference centre now provides a workplace for over 300 people. It incorporates a range of low impact eco-friendly building concepts alongside a high tech communications infrastructure to provide modern, high specification office accommodation.
Peter Candler, managing director of Rivergreen Developments said: "The aim throughout the entire design and construction process has been to minimise the effect on the environment by providing a building with the highest green credentials possible.
"However, we have also sought to demonstrate that low impact green design does not have to be at the expense of high quality modern office accommodation.
"The end result has been very well received and we believe goes some way to showing that it is possible to design modern, pleasurable places to work yet still tread softly on the landscape."
Britain's largest rammed earth wall forms the central spine of the 50,000 sq ft building. It is formed largely from compacted earth excavated from site during construction and provides a natural means of regulating office temperature and humidity.
Office ventilation is provided through a simple system of openable windows and louvres, intelligent sensors control lighting and heating is provided by wood burning boilers. Hot water is provided by solar panels and the roof comprises a flowering sedum blanket, which not only provides a natural colourful appearance but also reduces rainwater run off, with the harvested water being used in the building.
In operational terms a computerised building management system continually monitors office conditions to ensure the efficient use of energy. These measures include intelligent lighting systems, passive ventilation and real time checks on a variables such as ambient temperature, water consumption and boiler performance.
Designed by Newcastle-based architects Jane Derbyshire and David Kendall, the Rivergreen Centre was awarded an Excellent rating under the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) for offices.
As part of environmental monitoring undertaken in the building since it opened, annual emissions are put at 22.8kg of CO2 per square metre, compared to the Carbon Trust's good practice Encon 19 standard of 37.8kg of CO2 per square metre.
The Rivergreen Centre was completed last year with support from Single Progamme Funding from One North East and European Regional Development Funding from Government Office.

Email: Jo@mhwpr.co.uk