Pictured above: Accepting the award on the right of the picture, Speller Metcalfe Small Works Director Bill Cave and Quantity Surveyor Matthew Bailey

National building contractor, Speller Metcalfe, have received a coveted award for sustainable development at a major national ceremony recently. The BREEAM awards which took place at the London Ecobuild conference, recognised sustainable design and construction in both UK and overseas buildings.

One of fourteen winners at the awards, Speller Metcalfe won the 'Code for Sustainable Homes' category, achieving the highest scoring project out of 1000s assessed in the country for a special scheme developing a property in Birmingham. 

A delighted Adrian Speller, Speller Metcalfe's Environmental Manager, said: "We are committed to delivering sustainable buildings right through from design to the finished product. We're extremely proud that our achievements at the Zero Carbon house have been recognised by the leading environmental assessment method for Buildings in the UK and Europe."

The winning scheme, in Moseley Birmingham, a new dwelling maintaining the cosmetic facade of a pre-existing Victorian terrace incorporated the new building work which created an attractive four-bedroom home with a studio loft.  The building is so efficient that it produces as much energy as it uses from the national grid, making it 'Zero Carbon'.

Other key features in the build of the property included photovoltaic and solar panels, mechanical heat recovery ventilation, high thermal mass dense clay block work walls, rammed earth flooring and rainwater harvesting. The house is also 26 times more airtight than the average building in the UK meaning that heat escaping through gaps and cracks in the building structure is extremely limited.

A total of 14 reclaimed materials were used in this project, including 200-year old Canadian honeydew maple boarding for the stairs and window seats. Other materials utilised in the project have low embodied energy, including recycled newspaper insulation. 

Speller Metcalfe's Malvern office was the contractor for the project working alongside designer John Christophers of Associated Architects, services engineer and BREEAM assessor was Leeds Environmental Design Associates (LEDA), along with structural engineers Shire Consulting. 

BRE Global chief executive Carol Atkinson in commenting on the project said: "This is an exceptional project standing out in a very strong year for the awards." Carol Atkinson then went on to say: "The buildings have all been independently assessed and certified - and as such represent genuine examples of sustainability and are some of the best examples of sustainable design and construction across the UK and the world."

Speller Metcalfe undertake a range of construction, refurbishment and design and build works at local, regional and national level. Speller Metcalfe Ecobuild provides extended expertise in the design and build of sustainable buildings; creating an enviable reputation in the sector by delivering ground breaking projects.