showhouse November 2011 |39

Encouraging, maintainingand managing biodiversityand ecosystems is a key

ingredient in new development.ROGER HUNT reports.

BUILDINGbiodiversity

sustainability

THIS IMAGEThe BRE living

wall byCityroofs

Sustainability(3)_Layout 1 24/10/2011 20:18 Page 1

40| November 2011 showhouse

Last year the General Assembly of the UnitedNations declared 2011 to 2020 to be the UNDecade on Biodiversity. Here in the UK, theDepartment for Environment, Food and RuralAffairs (Defra) has published a new WhitePaper on the natural environment – the first forover 20 years – along with the NationalEcosystem Assessment and ‘Biodiversity 2020:A strategy for England’s wildlife andecosystem services’. The government is alsoexploring biodiversity offsetting.Housebuilders need to take note because

encouraging, maintaining and managingbiodiversity and ecosystems is increasinglyacknowledged as a key ingredient in both newdevelopment and existing built environments. Theissue is not only about trying to keep what we havebut restoring and recreating habitat. This poseschallenges and presents opportunities. What has tobe remembered is that building biodiversity benefitsboth wildlife and people and contributes to creatingsustainable places where people want to live,potentially making them more valuable.This theme is endorsed by Nick Hartley, principal

consultant and managing director at EbsfordEnvironmental, a company specialising inenvironmental and ecological solutions. He believesmore housebuilders need to understand theenvironmental value of their sites and think aboutthe issues from day one.“They should figure out a mitigation and biodiversity

plan for a site before they even go for planningbecause it is going to look great when they make theapplication and it’s going to highlight problems andissues well before they get on site. If they make thecall just before building is about to start it’s going toquadruple the cost of mitigation.”The benefits of incorporating biodiversity at the

conceptual stage are also understood by PaulHinkin, managing director of Black Architecture.One of the schemes Black Architecture is involvedwith is a mixed-use development of 146 residentialapartments above a large retail store in Harrow,north-west London. The residential scheme iselevated onto a landscaped and bio-diverse privatepodium deck above the busy street so offers asecure family environment and views.“It’s a full blown garden some 14 metres in the air

so the residents are lifted away from the noise andparticulate pollution of the city,” explains Hinkin.“We’re working in close collaboration with thelandscape architect and the landscaping contractorand part of the discussion is the small scale, low levelopportunities. Things like leaving pieces of untreatedtimber in rough form that can be inhabited by insects,looking at places where bugs and creepy crawliescan shelter and set up their colonies and also thinkingabout different shrub plantings to provide foodsources for birds.”Living roofs and walls offer important opportunities

to encourage biodiversity in urban areas within thebuilding footprint and a variety of techniques can beused. “All types of living roofs encourage biodiversity,including ‘intensive’ roof-gardens for use byoccupants as well as the popular sedum-planted,typical ‘extensive’ green roofs,” explains MatthewHoddinott, commercial director of Cityroofs.“Dedicated biodiversity or ‘brown’ roofs probably

offer the greatest scope for encouraging local floraand fauna. Designed to encourage naturalcolonisation, they can be seeded with an appropriatewild flower seed mix or simply covered with various

sustainability

Sustainability(3)_Layout 1 24/10/2011 20:18 Page 2

showhouse November 2011 |41

aggregates or other material – sometimes from thesite itself – to create natural habitats and conditions,”says Hoddinott.Justin Bere, of Bere Architects, points out that the

UV protection provided by incorporating green roofsinto a development will extend the life of a flat roofcovering and means lower maintenance. “Althoughthis may require a modest increase in investment, itwill save money in the long run. Furthermore, a greenroof, left in a natural, undisturbed, wild state, may wellprovide a more diverse habitat for nesting birds andother wildlife than the land lost to the buildingoriginally provided. A good example of the value ofthis increase in habitat is the recovery of the blackredstart. A ground nesting bird which was nearingextinction in London, it is now making a comeback,due largely to the London Biodiversity Partnership’scampaign begun in 1997 to encourage a particulartype of green roof to help increase the number ofundisturbed nesting sites available.”Along with roofs, Matthew Hoddinott emphasises

the advantages of living walls. “These can be plantedwith a diversity of plants, as our 12 metre highdemonstration wall at the BRE Innovation Park shows.

Here we have grown a range of edible plantsincluding watercress, lettuce varieties and leafybrassicas, as well as grasses and clovers.” Another example of the huge range of systems

available is Flag-Soprema’s Optigreen Wall Gardenfaçade greening system. The company claims thisinsulates, weatherproofs and retains rainwater whilealso absorbing and reflecting sound. It can be usedwith rainwater harvesting or attenuation systems and,once established, helps cool and moisten the air,capture and filter fine particles and absorb CO2. Itultimately improves the microclimate and provideshabitat for insects and birds. Among the housebuilders that have seen the

value of encouraging biodiversity is CountrysideProperties. It is taking forward the lessons learnt atits developments at Greenwich Millennium Villageand Great Notley Garden Village, in Braintree,Essex, to new communities such as GreatKneighton in South Cambridge. At Great Notley, the Essex Wildlife Trust undertook a

survey to record and interpret how wildlife and habitatrehabilitate after the creation of a large newdevelopment. The findings showed that there hasbeen a major recovery in both habitat and wildlife andthe survey highlighted the fact that biodiversity can beenhanced by good design. “At Great Notley we put in a country park and

sustainability▲

OPPOSITE PAGE

LEFT Bere Architects used nativewild flower and tree species on theroofs to established a bio-diversewildlife habitat on an efficient homeTOP RIGHT Ebsford Environmentaluse native plants to offer highdiversity and low maintenanceBOTTOM RIGHT At BarkingRiverside, a joint venture betweenthe Homes and CommunitiesAgency (HCA) and Bellway Homes acolony of water voles has beenrelocated

THIS PAGE

TOP Ebsford Environmentalinstallation coir and plants to createriver bank biodiversity MIDDLEGreen roofs by Bere ArchitectsBOTTOM Flag-Soprema Optigreenpitched roof system used with roofwindows and rainwater harvesting

Sustainability(3)_Layout 1 24/10/2011 20:18 Page 3

42| November 2011 showhouse

CONTACTSBere Architects www.bere.co.uk

Black Architecture www.black-architecture.com

Cityroofs www.cityroofs.com

Ebsford Environmental www.ebsford.co.uk

Flag-Soprema www.flag-soprema.co.uk

IHS BRE Press www.brebookshop.com

RIBA Publishing www.ribabookshops.com

RSK www.rsk.co.uk

Wienerberger www.wienerberger.co.uk

Read Roger Hunt’s blog: www.huntwriter.com or follow him: www.twitter.com/huntwriter

which will see the regeneration of a brownfield siteinto a community of 26,000 people, a colony of watervoles has been relocated. In addition, Bellway hasworked with the London Wildlife Trust and localcommunity to build the world’s biggest bee house toprovide thousands of valuable nesting sites forsolitary bees. Making up 90 per cent of our beepopulation, they look for small tunnels or holes tomake their individual nest cells. Acknowledging the need to disseminate knowledge

on these issues, RIBA Publishing has produced theexcellent Biodiversity for Low and Zero CarbonBuildings: A Technical Guide for New Build by DrCarol Williams. This offers detailed information aboutdifferent species, legislation and bespoke roost andnesting solutions so, as we move through thedecade, it is likely to be an essential read forhousebuilders and their consultants.

some big lakes and there was a lot of green spacewithin the overall development with village greensand the like,”explains Guy Lambert, CountrysideProperties’ corporate communications manager. “Itadds value and gives the feeling that people havecome to a place that will be good to live in. Withlarger schemes the environment is a very importantpart of trying to create communities and it doesn’thave to cost the earth.”At Ebsford Environmental, Nick Hartley agrees,

arguing that bio-diverse solutions can be very costefficient. “A much cheaper option than laying andhaving to mow turf is to create a wildflower meadow.You then give it to the local nature or conservationgroup, they’ll manage it for you in perpetuity.”Protected species are another key concern in the

biodiversity equation. All 17 native species of bat areprotected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act and theconservation regulations so the Code for SustainableHomes promotes their conservation by awardingextra credits under its ecology criteria.Jan Collins, principal bat ecologist at the

multidisciplinary environmental consultancy RSK andauthor of Bats and Refurbishment, an IHS BRE Pressguide, believes many owners are keen on havingwildlife around their homes.“Bats and birds just need a crevice where they can

roost or nest but quite often there’s a conflict and theneed to seal houses up,” explains Collins. “Theproblem with new houses is that they don’t haveenough nooks and crannies. An understanding ofhow to provide wildlife habitat is the important thingand it’s often quite simple. For example, if there arehanging tiles on a house you can wedge up a tile ortwo and the bats can then roost behind the tiles.Swifts are another species suffering from the loss ofbuildings with high crevices that they can nest on soinstalling swift boxes can be a positive move.”Responding to the demand for alternative roosting

sites for bat colonies, brick manufacturerWienerberger and environmental consultantancyEcoSurv have developed a box specifically for thepipistrelle bat, although it is easily adapted for theneeds of other UK bat species.Many other species also need help. At Barking

Riverside, a joint venture between the Homes andCommunities Agency (HCA) and Bellway Homes

LEFT Wildlife is protected at a Bellway Homes’development BELOW A natterer’s bat roosting in acrevice in brickwork BOTTOM LEFT EbsfordEnvironmental work with volunteers to prepare coirand plants for river bank biodiversity BOTTOMRIGHT A flood alleviation scheme benefitingreptiles and plant life

sh

sustainability

Pict

ure

cred

it: J

an C

ollin

s

Pict

ure

cred

it: E

bsfo

rd E

nviro

nmen

t

Sustainability(3)_Layout 1 24/10/2011 20:18 Page 4