The Logistics Centre, which was the first building to be constructed on the DP World London Gateway Logistics Park, uses 33 per cent less carbon on average than other buildings serving a similar purpose and of a similar size.
To achieve this, carbon reduction was considered at each phase of the building’s life. The Logistics Centre has over 1000 solar panels to provide low carbon, renewable energy and the building itself is highly energy efficient thanks to its insulated cladding system which reduces carbon and running costs.
There were further important but less visible initiatives around how to construct the building using minimal carbon. These engineering solutions included reducing the number of pile foundations, using 25 per cent cement replacement in the concrete piles and recycling 95 per cent of waste materials on site.
The 19,280m² Logistics Centre opened in June 2015 and is full of cargo from Asia bound for the shop floors of major toy and homeware retailers in the UK. The Planet Mark accreditation scheme benchmarked the Logistics Centre against other warehouses of a similar size and serving a similar purpose. Comprising almost 17,000m² of warehouse space and 2,500m² of office space, the Logistics Centre uses one third less carbon than the “business as usual” baseline. It was built by DP World London Gateway and is operated by Import Services Limited.
Steve Malkin, CEO, Planet First, said: “We wish to congratulate DP World London Gateway on achieving The Planet Mark certification for its Logistics Centre by showing good practice in its sustainability.
“We measure the lifecycle carbon of developments and benchmark them against similar projects. Organisations must also show reductions in their carbon emissions to achieve the Planet Mark, while engaging with suppliers and stakeholders to implement improvement initiatives. DP World London Gateway Logistics Park has achieved all of these things.”
Simon Moore, CEO, DP World London Gateway said: “We are thrilled to have been recognised by The Planet Mark for the sustainable ways in which we build and operate our developments at DP World London Gateway.
“The Logistics Centre is the first of many logistics buildings on our 9million square foot Logistics Park and we hope that all of the buildings can achieve this accreditation as we continue to develop.
“One of the key propositions offered by this market-centric development is its ability to reduce CO2 emissions created by supply chains. There’s no better way of proving our intent in doing so than by being sustainable in the construction and operation of our buildings.”