
News / Sustainability
Green award for Filwood’s new business park
Filwood Green Business Park has been awarded the New Building of the Year award at the 2Degrees Network Champions Awards, seen to reflect the best innovations in sustainable business and development. The design of the business park had already achieved a BREEAM Outstanding status in 2013, the only one of its kind in the South West, and was awarded with a ‘Highly Commended’ judgement at the 2014 BREEAM awards.
A commitment to reducing green house emissions was critical to its success, aiming to save the emissions equivalent to those from 276 double deckers annually. Solar panels, low water use appliances, grassed roofs, vehicle charging points, and secure cycle storage ensure streamlined consumption of resources.
“This is an excellent achievement and one that the Filwood Green Business Park fully deserves,” said George Ferguson. “The project is a testament to our ambition as European Green Capital to reduce our impact on the climate and our local environment.
“The park is a leading project in the regeneration of South Bristol; a site developed in conjunction with the community and based upon the ideas borne out of the Knowle West Regeneration Framework. I believe that the site is now the South West’s prime example of the benefits that can be achieved through collaborative working and long term environmental planning, and long may it continue.”
Filwood Green Business Park opened in May this year on the site of an old Hangar as part of the wider regeneration plan for Knowle West and has eco-values at the heart of its design and operational ethos. The concept of building a green business park came from the community during consultation on local regeneration as a part of the Knowle West Regeneration Framework. It forms a key cornerstone of the regeneration plans in place.
The £11.671 million funding for the project is in part met by Bristol City Council with £5.495 million coming from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).