One Year On... Sustainable Evolution

A year on from his debut at Wallace Whittle, we asked our Sustainability Director, David Spiteri, to gives us his thoughts as we look back through the last twelve months.

Well, where has the time gone? In April 2021, as part of our post MBO renaissance we committed to significantly enhance our Sustainable consultancy capability and put sustainable design firmly at the core of everything we do. One year on, this month also marks my first anniversary at the helm of the Wallace Whittle Sustainability department.

From day one, my vision was clear; to develop the business into the sector leader for sustainable environmental building services engineering design, promoting human-centric environments whilst minimising the impact on our planet. Why? We are passionate about sustainability and understand the urgency to create a built environment which can stand the test of time. We also recognise the considerable influence our industry and our activities have on our ecosystems, with UK real estate accounting for:

45% of total UK carbon emissions (27% from domestic buildings and 18% from non-domestic).
72% of domestic emissions arise from space heating and the provision of hot water.
32% of landfill waste comes from the construction and demolition of buildings.
13% of products delivered to construction sites are sent directly to landfill

Government, local authorities, funders and developers have concluded that sustainability in building developments is a broad-ranging and complex subject which must be considered and scrutinized from the inception of any project to truly stand the chance of making an impact.

In the past 365 days we have been busy…

Enhancing...

our Sustainability expertise by building a strong team of dedicated sustainability consultants with 50 years’ worth of combined experience, providing a wide-range of services.

Developing...

market-tested, holistic, residential sustainable design solutions able to meet current needs without compromising the ability to adapt to future environmental and energy shifts.

Introducing...

NABERS and Home Quality Mark expertise in-house to complement our current building certification services (BREEAM and WELL®)

Driving...

Net Zero Carbon design strategies for new and existing buildings adding long-term value to commercial developments.

Advising...

on cost-implications of including design measure to improve health and wellbeing for their occupants.

Committing...

with a detailed roadmap, to becoming a net zero carbon business by 2030.

This is, by no means, our end game. We truly believe that knowledge-sharing is the key to advancing sustainability practices across the industry. Now that we have the foundations in place, our next step is to give back to the industry by sharing our lessons learnt with external stakeholders. We will shortly launch a ‘Wallace Whittle Seminar Series’, where we will provide opportunities for industry stakeholders to make a positive impact through learning and sharing knowledge on sustainability. These seminars will explore a range of topics which are of current concern, so watch this space.

Whatever your challenge, get in touch to discuss how we can help you meaningfully define a roadmap to address your sustainability needs.