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Winner

Arup

This was one of the most fiercely contested categories of this year’s awards, but a quick look at Arup’s list of ‘firsts’ goes some way to demonstrating why it won. The first to design a net zero carbon house that also meets the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6; the first eco-city masterplan at Dongtan in China; the first net zero carbon housing development concept design at One Gallions Park in East London; and the first net zero carbon mixed use development concept design for east Greenwich.

On top of this the firm has been influential in championing sustainable delivery through close ties with national and regional government, including leading the consultation exercise on the future additions to the London Plan for the Greater London Authority. It has also contributed leadership and staff to the UK Green ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø Council’s groundbreaking work on the consultation document for the Code for Non-domestic ºÚ¶´ÉçÇøs. All in all, a strong case for winning.

Runners-up

Atkins

The sheer breadth of projects in which Atkins is incorporating sustainable solutions made it a strong contender for this prize. From the low carbon, 400m tall luxury office tower in the heart of Dubai to the remodelling of an existing school campus in Richmond, south-west London, sustainability is always high on the agenda. Add to this its ongoing development of in-house design tools and it’s clear to see why Atkins made this year’s shortlist.

ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø Design Partnership

One of BDP’s biggest strengths is its ability to provide multidisciplinary design services, something it has sought to exploit in order to improve the design, quality, performance and sustainability of its projects. Its initiatives include developing a series of design progress and monitoring tools and specific sustainability audits at stages C and D of the design process in order to maximise sustainability performance.

Fulcrum Consulting

Fulcrum Consulting has come a long way since its formation in 1984. In that time it has always been at the forefront of low carbon, sustainable developments, from the seminal Elizabeth Fry ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø at the University of East Anglia to the present day where it has designed the first UK application for aquifer thermal energy storage. Against this backdrop it has expanded the business across the UK, Europe and is now set to enter into China, which could be its biggest challenge to date.

WSP Group

WSP has continued to build on its green design capabilities throughout 2007. This includes the acquisition of Lincolne Scott, one of Australia’s leading sustainability consultants and the launch of WSP Energy, to deliver specific focus to clients on the issues of sustainability, climate change, carbon risk and energy management. As one of the largest international engineering consultancies it will be one to watch in the coming months, even more so for its involvement in Abu Dhabi’s Masdar project, what it bills as the world’s first zero carbon, zero waste city.

Sponsor

Sponsored by:

Faithful+Gould, part of the Atkins group, has steadily grown over more than sixty years, becoming one of the world’s leading project and cost management consultants. Our understanding of global responsibilities has deepened year by year with our longevity giving us the advantage of hindsight and the resources to really make a difference. We are not an environmental consultancy, though our Environment division is one of the world’s largest. We are, rather, an environmentally responsible consultancy, with sustainability at the heart of all we do. We never stop learning, and this belief is the foundation of our quest for improved sustainability performance.