Richard Summers visits wind developer’s sustainable headquarters before the RTPI’s Spring Conference
Wales-based wind energy developer West Coast Energy played host to the President of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Richard Summers at its Mold headquarters yesterday. The President visited the onshore wind developer’s offices, Mynydd Awel ’ dubbed the most sustainable commercial building in Wales ’ as part of his visit to Wales and en route to the RTPI Cymru Spring Conference, being held today in Llandudno.
West Coast Energy moved into their ’2M eco office building in the summer of 2009, and the office has already received prestigious environmental awards, including BREEAM Excellent Status and Best Sustainability Awards at the Local Authority Building Control Awards. West Coast Energy has submitted a planning application to Flintshire County Council for an onsite wind turbine which if permitted will allow the building to generate its own electricity and become self-sufficient.
The RTPI President commented: ’This new building demonstrates West Coast Energy’s commitment to the environment and to reducing their carbon footprint. It is an excellent example of sustainable construction and is a beacon for others to follow. I was impressed with several aspects, not least the sedum roof and the local sourcing of as many building and landscaping materials as possible.’
Richard Summers’ visit to the West Coast Energy site kicks off the RTPI Cymru’s Spring Conference, which will focus on the role planning can play in economic renewal for Wales. The conference, chaired by the RTPI President, will hear from the Assembly Government, businesses and practitioners on a range of economic development and spatial planning including green jobs in the renewables sector.
West Coast Energy’s Planning & Development Manager Jonathan Cawley will be one of the keynote speakers at the conference, speaking on the role of planning in supporting green jobs and the green economy, and on the decisions businesses can take to harness the green economy for their own benefit.
Cawley comments: ’Wind power’s contribution to the Welsh economy is significant, and will continue to help push the country’s economic revival through the creation of a highly skilled workforce, as well as being the main driver for achieving Wales’ renewable energy targets. The challenging objectives Wales has been set for renewable energy growth will require complete commitment from local authorities, and we very much look forward to discussing how planning can support the Wales’ green economy at tomorrow’s conference.
Stephen Salt, West Coast Energy’s Planning & Development Director comments: ’We are very grateful to the RTPI President for visiting our Mold headquarters and are obviously extremely pleased that he was impressed with what he saw. With onshore wind farm development being part of our core business, we believed it was important that we made a public commitment to invest in developing a low carbon office building to reflect our core environmental values. We sincerely hope this becomes a flagship building in Flintshire and the wider region.’
