County Council bosses and developers met this week to inspect their ground breaking new eco-offices in Northallerton after external construction works completed earlier this month.

The £2.7m project, developed by Castlevale Properties and built by the Richmond and Leeds based York House Construction, will provide over 2,000 sq ft of eco-friendly office accommodation for more than 200 of North Yorkshire County Councils staff. A raft of green measures will also see the Council slashing its bills and cutting carbon emissions by more than 330 tons per year.

Measures to improve the developments use of water, light and heat will be supplemented by an electricity-generating wind turbine donated in part by Castlevale Properties to ensure that the building is the greenest in the County Council’s portfolio.

The new office will bring together staff from four separate office sites, which the council has deemed to be outdated and inefficient. The Council is now selling three of these buildings and giving up its lease on the fourth. This, combined with the efficiency savings achieved through the environmental measures, will mean that the building more than pays for itself.

Speaking after the inspection, County Councillor Mike Knaggs, chairman of North Yorkshire County Council, said: “This is a groundbreaking scheme that will see the County Council reduce its carbon emissions by the amount produced by 64 typical households.

“I believe it is the responsibility of local authorities to lead by example when it comes to reducing their area’s carbon footprint - and that's exactly what were doing here.

“We hope our impressive new eco-offices will demonstrate to organisations across North Yorkshire and beyond that it is possible to have comfortable office accommodation that doesn’t cost the earth.”

Martin Foster, managing director of Castlevale Properties said: This has been an ambitious scheme in which we have balanced the twin priorities of maximising the buildings impressive green credentials against a need to provide the best possible value for money.

The resulting development achieves on both counts with green measures designed, not only to reduce the projects environmental footprint but also to increase the value of the property as an investment for the County Council.

Staff begin to move into the new offices within the next two weeks.

The new offices environmentally friendly measures include:

· Daylight-linking controls which automatically raise and lower lighting levels according to the level of natural light;
· Occupancy sensors which automatically turn off lights when no longer needed;
· Rainwater harvesting and flow restrictors on taps to conserve tap water
· Solar shading which will reduce the heating effect of the sun in the summer months, reducing the need for expensive air conditioning;
· A natural ventilation system to provide a healthy working environment for staff and again reduce the need for expensive air conditioning;
· Sun pipes to the top floor to provide free lighting;
· Trees positioned to the front of the office to provide shade to the lower floor and a pleasant outdoor space for staff and visitors.
· A 6kW Eoltec Scirocco wind turbine will generate the equivalent of 5 households’ electricity needs.

Email: sam.o@watersidecomms.com