Lafarge will be among the 'champions of sustainable construction' celebrated at a high profile parliamentary reception arranged by The Green Organisation.

The event, at the Strangers Dining Room, House of Commons, on Wednesday January 18, will feature some of the companies which have most impressed in the Built Environment section of the Green Organisation's Green Apple Awards, one of the world's most popular environmental campaigns.

Leicestershire-based Lafarge Aggregates & Concrete UK (LACUK) will be among the firms being presented to Parliament, enabling it to showcase its contribution to the construction of the UK's future homes, communities and business centres.

Part of the Lafarge Group - the world's largest building materials manufacturer - LACUK is committed to developing innovative products which can play a part in ensuring the UK meets its goal to achieve an 80 per cent carbon reduction by 2050.

In the year the Green Deal will become available to encourage existing homes and businesses to become more energy efficient, LACUK will also use the reception to launch a unique partnership.

The partnership will lead the way in developing pioneering, yet easily scalable and commercially-viable solutions to constructing new housing which will meet the Government's target of all new homes being zero-carbon by 2016.

Stuart Wykes, managing director for the aggregates business of LACUK, said:

"Success for the UK in achieving the target of an 80 per cent carbon reduction by 2050 will require the support of innovative and environmentally responsible companies in the fields of architecture, construction and property management.

"We plan to use our experience of creating sustainable and ever more environmentally sound products, together with our expertise in building materials, to forge ahead with a groundbreaking partnership we are developing with SEArch Architects and a major UK housebuilder.

Stuart continued:

"This partnership will connect critical aspects of the UK construction chain from leading sustainable design, building materials innovation and quality construction. It will lead the way in showing how intelligent design and the inventive use of heavy and innovative building materials can provide new solutions to low impact, fossil fuel free living,  answering the challenge of how we safeguard finite natural resources."

LACUK's architectural partners, SEArch Architects will also feature at the reception along with Alumet, specialists in the design, production and installation of the entire building envelope, Land Securities the largest commercial property company in the UK and The Green Organisation, the independent, not-for-profit group which launched the Green Apple Awards for the Built Environment and Architectural Heritage more than 12 years ago.