by Brianna Crandall — February 20, 2015—M&G Real Estate was revealed as the overall winner of the prestigious CIBSE Building Performance Awards presented by U.K.-based CIBSE (Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers) February 10 in London.
M&G Real Estate was awarded the overall accolade of “Carbon Champion” for its long-term commitment to improving building performance driven by responsible investment strategy. M&G, one of the top-25 global real estate fund managers, also took home the Energy Management Award for its industry-leading long-term program of energy performance improvements to its shopping center portfolio. The judges said they were especially impressed by M&G Real Estate showing the way in a competitive market and its effective collaboration with different stakeholders.
Mitch Layng, portfolio energy manager at M&G Real Estate, on receiving the Carbon Champion title, said, “Winning this award was beyond our dreams; through collaboration and partnerships we have been able to develop energy assessment and reporting methodology for industry-wide use. Training and education is of vital importance when trying to reduce energy consumption, and we made sure we engaged all the building’s users and occupiers to help us achieve our goal.”
M&G Real Estate is following in the footsteps of last year’s winner Marks and Spencer for the retailer’s Cheshire Oak store, demonstrating the continued effort and dedication of the retail sector to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions through lasting improvements in energy management, noted CIBSE. These range from improved monitoring and measuring systems to refurbishments with short term pay-back and also longer term changes requiring greater investment, such as a commitment to improved cooling technology and systems.
Lighting for Building Performance Award
The new Lighting for Building Performance Award was launched in this the International Year of Light, attracting a range of exciting high-quality lighting projects, according to CIBSE. The entries all reportedly demonstrated a holistic approach to improving building performance, including improvement over existing systems, energy efficiency, carbon saving, and proven occupant satisfaction. Due to the high quality of entries, the judges said they were not able to pick one winner only and decided that Cundall Birmingham and Sainsbury’s Project Graphite were both deserving of the award.
Cundall Light4 created an occupant-focused lighting design solution for Cundall Birmingham’s office that, according to judges “breaks the general mold and is a significant achievement to make it work in a landlord-owned building.”
The LED lighting program Sainsbury’s Project Graphite by Sainsbury’s Supermarkets was described by the judges as “a strong, clever understanding of design intent.” The judges were particularly impressed to see a retail environment leading the way in sustainable lighting.
International Project of the Year
The International Project of the Year was recognized for the second year and saw four very different projects shortlisted in Australia, the United States and New Zealand. The winner was Beca for its artesian heating and cooling system installed at Christchurch International Airport. In the light of the 2011 earthquake that severely damaged New Zealand’s second largest city, this project is a testament of a now greener city on its road to a full recovery four years on, notes CIBSE.
The 2015 winners are:
- Carbon Champion / Energy Management Award: M&G Real Estate Shopping Centre Portfolio; M&G Real Estate
- Energy Saving Product of the Year: TurboChill chiller with low GWP refrigerant R1234ze (200-1360kW); Airedale International Airconditioning
- Lighting for Building Performance Award (Joint Winners): Cundall Birmingham; Cundall Light4; and Sainsbury’s Project Graphite, LED lighting program; Sainsbury’s Supermarkets
- Building Performance Training Programme Award: Data Centre Risk and Energy Reduction Programme and Data Centre Client Requirements Workshops; Operational Intelligence / Entel Chile
- Collaborative Working Partnership Award: The team behind Broadcasting House, London; AECOM
- Building Services Consultancy of the Year (up to 100 employees): BCM (Beverley Clifton Morris)
- Building Services Consultancy of the Year (over 100 employees): AECOM
- Refurbishment Project of the Year (value up to £5 million): Westborough Academy Zero Carbon Masterplan Refurbishment Project, Westcliff-on-Sea; OR Consulting Engineers
- Refurbishment Project of the Year (value over £5 million): Premier House, Twickenham; Flatt Consulting
- New Build Project of the Year (value up to £10 million): Stratford Library, University of East London, London; AECOM
- New Build Project of the Year (value over £10 million): The Quadrant:MK, Milton Keynes; URS
- International Project of the Year: Christchurch Airport Artesian Heating and Cooling, Christchurch, New Zealand; Beca
- Facilities Management Operations Award: International Commerce Centre (ICC), Hong Kong; Kai Shing Management Services
The CIBSE Building Performance Awards 2015 Winners page contains the complete list of winners with links to more details about the projects, as well as the complete Shortlist covering each category, and the Winners’ Brochure with more information about the winners.
