BioRegional Development Group, an independent environmental organisation which aims to increase local production for local needs has helped set up an eco-housing development called the Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED) in Sutton. The organisation developed the “Local Paper for London” scheme.
The construction project is a partnership initiative between BioRegional and the Peabody Trust housing association. It has been developed because construction provides 7% of economic activity and the industry generates one-fifth of the UK’s non-mining waste.
All construction materials were selected from sustainable sources and the project saw a wide variety of materials reclaimed and recycled. Preference was given to materials sourced within a 35-mile radius.
Reclaimed timber was used for studwork to partitions and weatherboarding and reclaimed steel was used as structural steel frame in workspaces. Regionally-sourced bricks were used for brick cladding and timber waste was used for oak weatherboard cladding and ash floorboards. Gravel was used for aggregate concrete and road construction, pre-cast concrete for floor panels, floor slabs and roof slabs and recycled aggregate as the sub-base for roads.
Pooran Desai, director of BioRegional, said: “It wouldn’t have worked if everyone on the project wasn’t 100% committed. It’s too easy to default to the old way of doing things, It’s all about setting up networks. We have to work at the interface to build-up the suppliers and the clients and specifiers.”
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