Dan Coupland recently returned to Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) to represent Mainer Associates at a careers and alumni event. Having graduated MMU and the Mainer Academy, Dan let us know how he got on.

Global solutions, helping to shape our future buildings

The need for global sustainability cuts across all cultures. How different climates and resources are managed sustainably varies around the world, with varying degrees of success. The following article looks at the sustainable practices in Singapore and the lessons we can take back to the UK.

What are Materials Passports?

Materials passports serve as a “passport” of each material installed into a building. This helps building developers, owners and tenants understand what exactly has been installed into the building and how “circular” those materials and products are.

In recent years, the concept of the circular economy has gained significant traction as a means to combat the growing environmental challenges we face. This paradigm shift in our approach to resource consumption and waste management has found an ideal partner in the world of architecture. Architects, with their ability to envision and create sustainable structures, are playing a pivotal role in advancing the principles of the circular economy.

With carbon targets playing an increasingly important role in the construction sector, demand for Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) for products is growing significantly. EPDs inform stakeholders about a products environmental and human health impact throughout its life cycle and can be used to achieve sustainability accreditations such as BREEAM and LEED.

Facilitating the integration of LCA options appraisals into LCC works and vice versa, helps design teams understand from an early stage how the design of a building will affect costings, alongside carbon performance metrics. This allows project teams to effectively select design options which consider more than one entity (such as cost and embodied carbon), to provide a basis for a more comprehensive and holistic approach to decision making within building designs.

Residential Energy Assessment is a broad term that can cover a wide range of services, so who better to explain what Mainer has to offer, than our new energy expert Chris Stevens-Barnes.

In this Blog, Mainer sits down with Chris Stevens-Barnes to chat about his experience, why he chose to join to Mainer and how he is expanding our Residential Energy Assessments services.

Mainer Associates have recently taken onboard Chris Stevens-Barnes, a Senior Sustainability Consultant with over a decade of experience in the residential sector.

As a Specialist Sustainability Consultancy, Mainer Associates are delighted to share that Chris will be helping to broaden our in-house capabilities.

This expansion of our services will encompass all aspects of Residential Energy Assessments, which Chris is executing with the aid of our existing experienced team. This will not only enhance the number of services that Mainer Associates provides, but will also help to accelerate Mainer Associates’ vision of a truly sustainable future.

Mainer Associates are proud to assist our clients in achieving Design Stage certifications for BREEAM Outstanding – the highest rating a building can achieve within a BREEAM Assessment. We help our clients to consistently realise their targets; in this article, therefore, we present three projects whereby our involvement has helped our clients’ aspirations to become a reality.

Here at Mainer Associates, we believe that investing in young talent is a key facet in the solution towards a sustainable future. This is exactly why we established our Graduate Scheme – the Mainer Academy – in 2022.

The Mainer Academy’s aim is to provide Graduates with the necessary experience for them to thrive in the sustainability sector, whilst working in a consultancy environment for Mainer Associates on live sustainability and built environment projects across the UK.

Over the past year, the UK has seen two key updates to BREEAM as well as Government review on Net Zero. For individuals working in sustainability for the built environment, these updates are important to consider when completing a BREEAM Assessment.

Sky high energy bills have left energy prices at the forefront of household’s minds. The war in Ukraine, and the effect of lockdown lifting, has resulted in the rising wholesale cost of energy – causing many offices to lose vast sums of money. Is your office building one of these?

2023 is looking to become a pivotal year for how society views the progression and expectations of sustainable real-state and property. Whilst emphasis has been upon driving buildings to become net zero and carbon neutral, there is now a clear demand for health and wellbeing to be considered just as importantly.

Fitwel Ambassadors are a key link to help clients – not only to make healthy buildings – but to add value to them, too. In this Blog Post, we look at Fitwel Ambassadors, the role that they play, and what benefits a Fitwel Ambassador from Mainer Associates can bring to your next building.

Mainer Associates are proud to share the successful Fitwel accreditation of 11 & 12 Wellington Place in Leeds, which has achieved a 2-star Fitwel rating, in addition to being on track to successfully deliver a 2-star Fitwel accreditation for NOMA, 4 Angel Square, in Manchester.

As a Sustainability Consultancy, our role is to reduce the environmental impact of the construction industry. We do this every day for our clients - but we must not forget about our own impact. Mainer have been using Earthly to report and offset our carbon produced. Keep reading to learn how it was done...

­­­­­As 2023 approaches it is human nature to reflect on the year gone and what lies ahead.

Our Managing Director, Ben Wells, reflects on what this period in Sustainability could mean for our clients. Here are Bens’ thoughts on 3 Trends from 2022 and 3 Predictions looking ahead to 2023.

Reducing global carbon emissions will take a multitude of clever ideas. With 2023 nearly upon us we have asked the Mainer family for Sustainability Stories that give positive solutions which we can take into the New Year.

COP26 tried to secure global net zero and keep a maximum of 1.5 C degrees of warming within reach. With COP27 finishing last week, was it able to maintain these goals and implement new ones or has climate change ideals sunk beneath the surface?

Mainer Associates wants to find the best graduate sustainability consultants to work with. Rather than wait for their CV we are engaging with them much earlier by collaborating with the Manchester Metropolitain University but how?