Atkins wins multiple recognition for carbon reduction drive - 05 February 2010
Atkins has been named Consultancy of the Year at the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Low Carbon Performance awards. On the same night, Atkins chief executive Keith Clarke was announced as lecturer for the next Brunel Lecture series – a platform he will use to engage debate on how to deliver a low carbon society.
To cap an impressive week for Atkins’ work in driving the low carbon agenda, the company has been awarded the first ever certification of the Carbon Trust Standard to an engineering consultancy in the construction and building management sector.
The industry leadership Atkins has shown during the last 12 months on issues of Carbon Critical Design was fundamental to its success in the CIBSE awards. Simon Hancock, Atkins design director, said: “Engineers and designers have a crucial role to play in delivering infrastructure for a low carbon world. We’re still just at the beginning of our journey but this award recognises the commitment and leadership we have shown to putting carbon at the heart of the way our sector plans, designs and procures capital projects.”
Atkins’ certification of the Carbon Trust Standard acknowledges the company’s implementation of good carbon management practices and its ongoing commitment to carbon reduction in its operations. Certification takes into account a company’s consumption of stationary energy supplies – gas, electricity and on-site fuel – and fuel through its company vehicle fleet over a three-year period. During this period, Atkins reduced its emissions in the UK by 11.5%.
Richard Hulland, director of Quality, Safety and Environment (QSE) for Atkins, says: “It is important for our work in carbon reduction to be recognised externally because this helps us measure the value of our efforts against others. Our goal now is to achieve this prestigious certification for our non-UK operations.”
Atkins began its journey into Carbon Critical Design in May 2008, when chief executive Keith Clarke launched an internal initiative to improve knowledge and understanding of carbon issues among its people. The aim was to ensure that everything the company does, either for clients or within its own operations, has carbon reduction as a central tenet. Since then, the company has been working at all levels with government, industry and academia to press home the importance of Carbon Critical Design issues.
Keith Clarke will begin his term as Brunel Lecturer this May. The Brunel Lecture Series was established by ICE in 1999 in memory of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, one of the world’s most respected pioneering engineers. Seven lecture series have been delivered around the world so far, covering issues of international importance and interest such as technology for the third millennium, sustainable development, poverty alleviation and water for the world.
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For more information:
Jane Sheils
PR Manager
01372 752350
jane.sheils@atkinsglobal.com
Notes to editors:
Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com) is one of the world's leading engineering and design consultancies. We have the depth and breadth of technical expertise to respond both to the complex challenges of major infrastructure projects, and the urgent transition to a low-carbon economy. Whether it’s the concept for a new skyscraper, the upgrade of a rail network, the modelling of a flood defence system or the improvement of a management process, we plan, design and enable solutions.
Recent projects include:
• Major infrastructure works, such as the design and programme management of the civil works for the Dubai Metro red and green lines;
• High profile transport planning and urban design – our innovative scheme to deliver a diagonal crossing at London’s Oxford Circus has helped tackle the problem of pedestrian crowding;
• Key rail projects – providing architectural and engineering design services on London’s Crossrail, Europe’s biggest civil engineering project, and designing stations, tunnelling and track systems on Gautrain, South Africa’s first high speed line;
• Multidisciplinary building design – North Road Primary School in Darlington is an exemplar project which raises standards for environmental design and community engagement;
• Vital water and environmental projects – as part of a joint venture, Atkins is providing technical assistance to the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme in Nigeria, which will benefit up to three million people.
Atkins was named among the 20 Best Big Companies to Work For 2009 by The Sunday Times; The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2009; and The Times Top 50 Companies Where Women Want to Work 2009. The company was construction and civil engineering sector winner for the fourth consecutive year in the Target National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2009.
Atkins is the official engineering design services provider for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.