A top builder has become the first in North Wales to scoop a major ‘green’ award for renewable construction.
Anwyl Construction have been given the prestigious BREEAM – excellence award for Coleg Menai’s new £2.5 million Energy and Fabrication Centre at Llangefni.
That rates the building for its environmental impact and its sustainability and to get it the Rhyl-based construction company had to adhere to the strictest standards and they passed them with flying colours.
The building, which Anwyls designed and built, incorporates the latest in ground-source heating, solar panels, rainwater harvesting, insulation and lighting and even constantly monitors its own energy usage.
It is an integral part of Anglesey’s drive to make itself an ‘energy island’ and will offer specialised courses for young people to train to work in the energy industry.
The ground-source heating system alone meant that Anwyls had to drill down more than a mile with 16 100-metre shafts providing the underfloor heating to cope with a North Wales winter.
Anwyl Construction’s Chief Quantity Surveyor, Simon Rose, has overseen the project, one of a number worth over £8 million at four of North Wales top seats of learning, Glyndwr University in Wrexham, Deeside College at Connah’s Quay and Llandrillo College, Rhos on Sea, as well as Coleg Menai.
He was at the presentation at the Constructing Excellence Wales Awards Dinner at the Holland House Hotel, Cardiff, which was attended by over 400 industry figures.
He said: “You have to have a commitment to being as eco-friendly as possible and I think we have achieved that by working with the college and with BREEAM and in taking the work forward from design to the construction of the two-storey steel-framed building.
“It’s been a tremendous project to work on and we’ve been proud of what we’ve achieved which has shown above all that we have the skills and expertise at all levels in North Wales to complete this kind of work to a very high standard.
“Another important factor is in using local labour and materials and that ensures that a large proportion of the money for the contract goes into the local economy.
“We actually overachieved – the standard we were set to get the Excellence award was 70 per cent and we were over that comfortably.
“No-one in North Wales has ever achieved this standard in any category of building so we are clearly proud of that too and the experience of having worked on this project will stand us in good stead.”
The new building boasts a Computerised Building Management System which manages and monitors its energy use and College Principal Dafydd Evans said: “Coleg Menai is delighted with the new Energy Centre, it is a truly inspirational setting and forms an essential part of the college’s mission to provide outstanding education in the best possible surroundings.
“It is not only energy efficient and sympathetic to the environment, it also provides an inspirational space for creative thinking and learning.
“We believe that it will be instrumental in providing first class training and education facilities for people in North Wales to work in the increasingly important energy sector and it makes a clear statement about how Coleg Menai are delivering 21st century education in a sustainable and inspiring physical environment.”
Lorna Hurst, Senior Environmental Consultant with the RSK group, who worked with Anwyls on the project and who wrote the assessment the award was based on said: “Everyone worked very hard and although there were some tough moments we got the rating and we actually overachieved.
“I think the college were really pleased, this is a special building, it;’s an energy building and for it to get this environmental award is a boost for them and for Anwyls.”
Anwyls Director Tom Anwyl said: “We’re delighted to be able to hand over such a spectacular building to Coleg Menai with whom we have had a very good relationship throughout.
“It has been an important project for us as we have been involved right through from design to the build itself.
“It has allowed us to show that top quality construction work can be carried out to the highest specifications by a firm which is local to North Wales and which draws its workforce from the area.
“This is important not just from the point of view of keeping the money for the contract in North Wales so consolidating jobs and the local economy but also for developing and maintaining vital skills here which is also what the new building is very much about.
“Much of the work we have done here is very advanced, particularly in relation to the provision of renewable energy, and we are very pleased with how it has gone and are delighted to have played our part in the future development of the college.”
