The Health Innovation One (HIO) building has achieved a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating for sustainability in its design and construction.

BREEAM is the world’s leading sustainability assessment method for masterplanning projects, infrastructure and buildings.

Andrew Burgess, Director of Estates, Facilities and Commercial Services said: “It’s a great achievement to have the building recognised as ‘Excellent’ by BREEAM standards. Our entire portfolio of construction projects strive to achieve the very highest standards of sustainability and HIO is no exception, but this was a particularly challenging project for many reasons and so to achieve this is a real accolade to the project team.”

Construction of the building was completed in June 2020 by BAM Construction Ltd. and has since been used by the NHS to deliver the COVID-19 vaccine to the local community as well as becoming home to the Faculty of Health and Medicine and numerous local and national business.

The design of the £41 million Health Innovation Campus (HIC) was awarded to JMP Architects, which included the design of the HIO building.

During its construction, the project team ensured that the design and build achieved high levels of sustainability across a range of areas.

The team focussed heavily on the environmental footprint of the scheme, adopting a responsible approach to procurement with extensive use of recycled materials. Water usage was minimised too, including internal facilities and external landscaping. Around 650 linear metres of new hedgerow and around 200 trees were installed as part of the scheme.

Energy performance was another contributing factor to the award. The building is connected to the low-carbon District Heating infrastructure of campus, as well as other efficient services systems all of which drastically reduce energy consumption.

Careful thought around welfare for building users was given during the design process, considering a balance between sustainability and comfort. This balance was achieved thanks to well-designed ventilation systems, thermal comfort and acoustics, also minimising the presence of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s).

To find out more about sustainability at Lancaster University visit the sustainability webpages.

To find out more about campus development visit the Facilities website.