The Berkeley Group: the UK's No.1 Sustainable Builders - Building for Future Generations

BRIGHTON, ENGLAND, December 19, 2012 (Press-News.org) Berkeley Group has been named as the UK's most sustainable home builder, ahead of Crest Nicholson and Miller Holmes in second and third place. Berkeley Group has once more proved its commitment to providing a sustainable future for building, according to the results of the 2012 Next Generation benchmark.

Each business was assessed, over a period of six months, on their performance in key areas such as governance and risk management. Reports were not only focused on site, but in their offices and within the communities they create.

Berkeley's 1st among the elite.

"This year's results demonstrate that an elite group of nine home builders are driving best practice in sustainability in the sector," said Philip Hirst from NextGeneration. "This is the sixth year the benchmark has been undertaken and the improvement in performance from the first benchmark in 2006 is remarkable, with companies battling to outperform each other across 50 different categories.'"

Berkeley Group has been successful in creating a framework that addresses the demands of the sustainability programme, in accordance with government and local planning authority guidelines. But this is only the beginning. The criteria of town planning has changed over the past quarter century and is set to change significantly in the next twenty five years, particularly in light of the government's recent climate risk report which indicated imminent dramatic changes in water supply and temperature.

"Berkeley is making climate change adaptation a fundamental part of how we design and build all our new developments," said Rob Perrins, managing director of Berkeley Group. "Alongside a major new commitment to social sustainability, this is the kind of action that will keep driving our performance and create great places for people to live," he added.

Planning for the future

Vision2020 is a ten-year framework set out by The Berkeley Group to enable them to become the leading sustainable home-builders in Britain, by 2020. The Vision2020 Policy includes key measures focusing on sustainability risks and opportunities to improve performance. Berkeley's management systems ensure sustainability is a properly managed and fully integrated strategic and operational aspect of their business.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has set out guidelines for builders and developers to be able to work with local authorities to make quick and confident decisions. The Berkeley Group has been successful in creating a framework that addresses the criteria of sustainability within Government and local planning authority guidelines.

This is the future

For over a quarter of a century, The Berkeley Group has strived to create homes that not only impress in terms of design and quality of construction but, importantly, in terms of sustainability.

From key-worker apartments to complex multi-residential developments, their remit has always been the same: quality, style, excellence and sustainability.

With over 70 sites under construction, delivering 3,500 homes next year, The Berkeley Group has always accepted responsibility to deliver communities which have a positive impact on the environment and people's lives, not just now, but into the next century.

The Berkeley Group has successfully monitored and managed sustainability issues on site:
- Fuel management
- Water management
- Waste minimisation and waste storage
- Commitment to re-use and recycle 85% of their waste
- Pollution risk assessment
- Rainwater harvesting on site
- Site performance
- Material use and house-keeping
- Links to public transport
- All new homes built to Code for Sustainable Homes level 3
- Code for Sustainable Homes level 4 where possible
- 2007 Berkeley Climate Change Policy
- Use of existing buildings
- Understanding social and economic impact
- Improving energy efficiency
- Enhancing ecology, parks and open spaces

For more information on the new developments by The Berkeley Group see the relevant pages on their website: Hampshire, London and other.

The Berkeley Group Holdings plc
Berkeley House
19 Portsmouth Road
Cobham
Surrey
KT11 1JG
http://www.berkeleygroup.co.uk