Focus Consultants delivers sustainability services to assist towards a carbon neutral Nottingham

Added by Love Business East Midlands | 28 March 2019

UPDATED: 28 March 2019

Sustainability experts at Focus Consultants have welcomed Nottingham’s decision to aim to become the first carbon neutral city in the UK by 2028.

The firm, which is based in the city, has provided professional support and expertise on sustainability issues on many new-build projects in Nottingham, including the recently opened five-storey building at the Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies at Nottingham Trent University’s Creative Quarter Campus and the main site of the Confetti Institute.

It is also part of the team that is delivering 250 energy efficient homes at Trent Basin, which has set the bar for community energy schemes with the installation of Europe’s largest community battery, and solar photovoltaics that will generate, store and distribute energy at a neighbourhood level, and launch a unique energy company for residents.

Partner at Focus, Jason Redfearn, who heads the firm’s sustainability team, said:

“Following Nottingham City Council’s recent announcement that the city has met its carbon reduction target two years ahead of schedule, the decision has been taken to aim for carbon neutrality by 2028.

“The accomplished target has seen the city’s carbon dioxide emissions fall by 26% compared to a 2012 baseline, with a total reduction of 39% since 2005. In order to achieve this, the city of Nottingham, home of Focus Consultants, has invested heavily in transport including an expanded tram system that runs on renewable electricity and one of the UK’s largest electric and biogas bus fleets.

“The new target to attain carbon neutral status by 2028 has been set in light of warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of catastrophic consequences if global average temperatures should rise by more than 1.5 ⁰C over pre-industrial levels. For the UK, consequences of climate change will see cities such as Nottingham experience increased flooding, disproportionately higher temperatures thanks to the ‘heat island’ effect and greater susceptibility to water stress.

“Mitigating the risks of climate change is highly important and by aiming for carbon neutral status in the timescale suggested, Nottingham is making leaps towards doing just that. Plus, by setting the target, the city is showing itself to be a national leader in climate change action and, if successful, will be the first carbon neutral city in the country.

"Focus Consultants is proud to be working on the cutting-edge development at Trent Basin, which is seeing not only the construction of highly energy efficient homes, but also the redevelopment of a previously underdeveloped brownfield site, the implementation of green infrastructure to combat the ‘heat-island’ effect and the installation of a 2.1 MWh battery for storing energy generated by a solar farm," added Jason.

In addition, residents of the development can opt in to a community energy company which, making use of the battery storage and solar farm, will reduce energy bills and carbon emissions while also safeguarding against any future energy insecurity.

Focus Consultants, a multi-disciplinary consultancy based at Phoenix Business Park in Nottingham, is the project manager for the project, as well as the sustainability specialist providing energy services.

Focus, which also has branches in Leicester, Newark, Boston and London, offers a range of energy and sustainability services including Part L of UK Building Regulations, with expert advice on sustainable building methods, building physics, energy compliance and testing.

For more information, visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk

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