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On the 24 November the Sustainability Awards will celebrate the very best examples of sustainable construction, but before we pick our winners we would like to highlight the achievements of some of the nominees and show you images of the schemes.

In the category of Sustainable Project of the Year (over £2m), we have an impressive shortlist which includes:

Acharacle Primary School, Argyll, entered by Arup

This school, which the client and design team were determined would be the greenest school in the UK, is part of Highland Council’s Capital schools Programme. The building is superinsulated which means it can be effectively heated via the occupants’ body heat and the equipment only. The heating system will use approximately 14% of the energy of a traditional school.

Elizabeth II Court, Winchester, entered by Bennetts Associates

This office project set out to achieve a double innovation: implementing natural ventilation in a heavily trafficked city centre and the refurbishment of a tired and dilapidated 1960s block. The whole lifecycle environmental impact of the building has been reduced to less than half that of an equivalent new-build mechanically ventilated office building, while also transforming its appearance and working environment.

Watermark Place entered by Sir Robert McAlpine

This is an 800,000 sq ft office development located next to Cannon Street station. From design concept stage, a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ was targeted with an EPC Grade B, at a time when ‘Very Good’ was the benchmark.

The introduction of a new south-facing public space, the largest between the Palace of Westminster and the Tower of London, links the Thames Walk and doubles the public space on the site. Pedestrian improvements include car-free routes down to the river and the renovation of an existing pedestrian bridge.

Project ZEBRA @ Lion House entered by Frederick Gibberd Partnership

Project ZEBRA stands for Zero Emissions ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø Renewing Alnwick, and is an ultra low-emissions office in Northumberland which features natural ventilation, solar shading combined with photo voltaic arrays, wind turbines and a biomass boiler. It replaces an existing building and provides office accommodation for three sections of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, also known as Defra.

G.Park Blue Planet, Chatterley Valley entered by Gazeley

This 385,000 sq ft logistics warehouse is not only the UK’s first carbon positive site, but also the recipient of the first ever BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ rating (design stage) under the new tougher 2008 regulations.

Crawley Library entered by Gifford

This new library and civic offices building opened its doors in December 2008 and boasts of being the most sustainable building in West Sussex. The building is expected to attain a BREEAM Excellent. A mixed-mode system provides heating and ventilation while exposed soffits and concrete floor slabs aid in passive cooling.

Ropemaker, London entered by British Land

The brief here was to develop a commercial City office building with serious green credentials. Ropemaker, which completed in May this year and provides 603,000 sq ft over 20 storeys, achieved a BREEAM Excellent rating and an Energy Performance Certificate B rating. It also has 33% lower predicted carbon dioxide emissions than required by current ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø Regulations.

Dartmouth Store, Sainsbury's Supermarkets

This store was built with respect of using natural resources, including energy, water, waste, timber and land, and acts as a test bed for elements that are now being rolled out across Sainsbury’s entire estate.

The store uses 30% renewable energy, reducing its overall CO2 emissions 54%. A biomass boiler heats both the building and water by using locally sourced wood pellets. The building has been designed to achieve an air tightness 50% better than building regulations.