Mid Beds Shortlisted For Award
The council’s submission in the category of Sustainable Facilities Management Performance of the Year for its new offices at Priory House will now be considered by a judging panel, who will be choosing the category winners and also the winner of the overall Award for Environmental Excellence.
Features of the building include:
· A low-cost computerised natural ventilation system, with windows that automatically open or close depending on interior temperatures. Negating the need for uneconomical and environmentally unfriendly air conditioning.
· The concrete construction of the building warms up slowly during the day, so keeping the interior of the building cool and loses heat slowly in the night, keeping the building at an ambient temperature.
· A computerised system controls lighting, sensing movement in rooms to switch lights off when they are empty and switching them on when people enter or light levels drop too low.
· Rainwater is reused for irrigation of the surrounding landscaping
· Hot and cold drinking water systems on each wing, negate the need for water coolers and kettles, saving energy
Deputy Leader of the Council, Ken Matthews who will attend the awards said: “We are very pleased to have been shortlisted for the award, against competition from both the public and private sectors. From our commitment to the overall reduction of waste to being the first council in the area to sign up to the Nottingham Declaration for Climate Change, Mid Beds has placed protecting the environment high on the agenda for now and for the future.
Mid Beds will know if it has succeeded in winning its category and the overall award at a ceremony in London on Wednesday 31st October.
