North Staffordshire’s G. Park Blue Planet opens for business

• Jun. 4 by Joseph Chapman (0)

Chatterley Valley’s G. Park Blue Planet is finally ready to open to the public. The logistics park, part funded by Advantage West Midlands, has already been awarded for its ability to run on green energy.

The park, which cost £50 million, has been awarded the new BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) “Outstanding” rating (design stage). This is the highest achievable award available in property development.

This is no mean feat, as the criteria to achieve this award became even stricter in 2008 and the park received an 85.49% rating. It excelled particularly in in the management, health & wellbeing and water (all 100%); energy (87.5%); and waste (85.71%).

Not only is the park extremely advanced in green technologies, but the low cost of running it will allow a hitherto unrivalled return of investment. This is due to a number of environmental measures, which allow 100% of the energy and heat to be supplied by renewable sources. These measures include:

• 15% Roof lights with ETFE and implanted photovoltaics
• Solar wall
• Solar thermal hot water system
• Bio-fuel plant
• Under floor heating in warehouse
• Energy efficient T5 lighting in offices
• Super air tightness and thermal efficiency
• Natural Ventilation in the offices
• Day light and motion detectors

Mick Laverty, Chief Executive at Advantage West Midlands, said, “G. Park Blue Planet is a truly remarkable example of how the West Midlands is raising the bar for world wide eco-standards and embracing the opportunities of the new low carbon era.

“This scheme is undoubtedly one of the most exciting developments we have in the region and is also an excellent example of how Advantage West Midlands is driving the West Midlands’ economic development by investing in projects where the greatest impact can be made.”

Paul Gibbon, Director of Sustainability at BRE Global, the developers of BREEAM, said, “This development scored very highly in all sections of BREEAM and achieved exemplary credits on the key areas of daylighting, reduced CO2 emissions, construction waste management and use of low carbon technologies. What is more the development shows that achieving a high BREEAM standard can also mean lower running costs.”

The park totals 70 hectares of land that will be transformed over the next decade, creating a total of around 4,000 jobs.