Bouygues UK’s site team at Pentre Awel has received top marks in its first Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) assessment, honouring the projects’ commitment to sustainability and social value.
The Considerate Constructors Scheme helps support the construction industry to raise its standards in being a considerate constructor and build trust with the public. The site team at Pentre Awel has scored 45/45 across all the examination criteria including Respect for the Community (15/15), Care for the Environment (15/15) and Valuing our Workforce (15/15) in the CCS assessment.
The multi-million-pound Pentre Awel development is being delivered by Carmarthenshire County Council and will bring together life science and business innovation, community healthcare and modern leisure facilities at the 83-acre Delta Lakes site on the Llanelli coastline. It is part-funded by the Swansea Bay City Deal (£40million) and is the largest regeneration scheme in south west Wales.
Lead contractor Bouygues UK has had to face significant environmental challenges due to its location on former industrial land, dealing with varied ground conditions and water while maintaining wildlife and ecology. The team has surpassed its initial sustainability goals by implementing a number of innovative and efficient environmental measures.
Peter Sharpe, Bouygues UK’s Pentre Awel Project Director,
“Developing a project of such scale right on the Llanelli coast does not come without environmental challenges but we are proud to have been recognised by CCS for our ability to overcome these, scoring full marks in this area.
“To keep carbon emissions on site to a minimum, we have partnered with Gaia, a Carmarthenshire-based company that helps to identify, monitor and reduce power consumption, using AI and motion sensor software. It allows us to find smarter, cleaner solutions to how we power our site. All the measures we’ve introduced such as this, have been recognised through our exceptional CCS score are feeding into our sustainability strategy and roadmap becoming net zero by 2025.
“Our achievement in this CCS assessment at Pentre Awel reflects the exceptional delivery standards that we have at Bouygues UK. We are thrilled that our concern for the well-being of flora, fauna and our local communities has been so highly recognised.”
Carbon reduction is at the heart of Pentre Awel, with many initiatives to help reduce carbon emissions, waste and energy for the duration of the project. One such success is the installation of solar panel powered site offices and cabins. When not powered by the sun, they convert to a hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) powered generator – this alone has reduced the carbon footprint of this part of the project by 76% in around 15 weeks on site. The team have also converted all of their onsite CCTV systems to solar powered.
The Pentre Awel site has, with the help of Alun Griffiths and Pritchard’s, also fully converted to HVO fuel. It has sourced a local HVO fuel provider, and although HVO is more expensive than white diesel, it can reduce carbon emissions by up to 90%, and has therefore been adopted for Pentre Awel. Excavated material and soil from the surface of the site has also been taken to a local recycling facility where the material can be segregated, treated and reused, reducing the amount of waste going to landfill. The project is on a green tariff and is currently carbon neutral in operation.
The site team at Pentre Awel is also wholly dedicated to adapting the site to minimise any potential disturbance to the surrounding ecosystems. A lagoon has been created for the discharge of water to prevent contamination and spillage equipment is kept on the site. All works carried out on site closely follow the guidelines of Registered Activity identifying, maintaining and improving the local natural environment. The Pentre Awel team has worked closely with stakeholders, including Carmarthenshire County Council’s ecology officers and Natural Resources Wales to ensure the development would not impact on the ecology and waterbodies that surround the site. In fact, a significant part of their committed landscape and public realm works will enhance ecological habitat and improve biodiversity.
Following pre-construction ecology surveys, Bouygues UK has put measures in place to safeguard reptiles, watervole, otter, nesting birds and bats during the works.
In addition to praising the commitment to the environment, the assessors at CCS also commended Bouygues UK on its community engagement, describing Pentre Awel as “an excellent site which presents a very positive image of the industry.”
Bouygues UK was praised for promoting opportunities for local-subcontractors and the positive engagement with educational establishments and the community around the site. It has partnered with Ysgol Bryngwyn and Go Construct to establish a Real World work experience scheme with five other local schools as well as engaging community ambassadors and regularly updating community noticeboards and sending out newsletters.
Cllr Aled Vaughan Owen, Carmarthenshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Decarbonisation and Sustainability, added:
“From the early master planning and design stages, the Council has taken action to create a sustainable and inclusive development at Pentre Awel and this important work continues during the construction stage. It is great to see the project team recognised for their conscientious efforts to engage the local community, manage biodiversity and minimise the environmental impact of the Zone 1 construction works onsite. Once the Zone 1 building is open, it will use air source heat pumps, over 800 solar panels, Electric Vehicle (EV) charging and have a focus on active travel – all contributing to a targeted BREAAM ‘Excellent’ accreditation (a widely recognised industry framework which evaluates a range of design, construction and in-use criteria to assess a building’s environmental and sustainability performance).
“As with all our Council capital projects, we endeavour to be environmentally responsible and reduce carbon emissions, in so doing addressing the climate change emergency declared in 2019.”
