Sustainable Construction
Big Yellow care about the impact of our construction activities on the environment and seek to minimise noise and nuisance by following best practice. The Construction team follows sustainable construction principles and whenever practical, materials are recycled or selected from sustainable sources. The amount of waste and energy usage is monitored on each of our sites to identify potential efficiencies for introduction on future building projects. Our Health and Safety record is excellent. All our schemes are registered with the Considerate Construction Scheme and we are constantly challenging our site teams to exceed minimum standards.
Amongst our peer group in the Real Estate Sector, Big Yellow's green credentials were recognised for exemplar behaviour when we were presented with a Best Practice Award for the Built Environment. The unique quality about the award is that no company can put themselves forward to be nominated; 5000 companies in the south were tracked, with shortlists and winners identified from research, with their credentials independently evaluated against the following foundation attributes:
- Environmental responsibility being an intrinsic part of the company culture, defining interaction and relationship with employees, customers and suppliers
- Strategic consideration of the environment, with impact and improvement embedded as considerations within the business model and decision-making framework
- A desire to set benchmark standards rather than being driven by legislative/regulatory demands
- Tangible, demonstrative results - seeing the monitoring process as a measure of company performance
- Continuity - environmental responsibility as holistic in approach rather than a series of stand-alone activities
Our stores are designed to provide a safe, secure home for our customers’ possessions and we build them with all our key stakeholders in mind: our customers, our investors and the environment. Big Yellow care about the impact of our construction activities on the environment and seek to minimise noise and nuisance by following best practice.
The team follows sustainable construction principles and whenever practical, materials are recycled or selected from sustainable sources. The amount of waste and energy usage is monitored on each of our sites to identify potential efficiencies for introduction on future building projects.
Standards In Construction
BREEAM
Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (‘BREEAM’)
BREEAM certification is a local planning requirement for some of our stores, especially for new developments in high-density urban environments. The methodology assesses impacts and opportunities for enhancing the design and construction environmental aspects.
The certification includes a review of new store energy, sustainable building materials, water efficiency, waste recycling and ecology. The review also includes social aspects of the building life include its resource management, health, well-being, modes of transport and pollution reduction.
Our pre-construction BREEAM ratings are mainly ‘Excellent’ scoring in the 75 – 76% range and highest in the areas of land use and ecology; transport; waste; pollution; and energy efficiency. We commit to a minimum standard on all new built stores of pre-construction BREEAM ‘Very Good’.
Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS)
The Considerate Constructors Scheme is a non-profit-making, independent organisation founded in 1997 by the construction industry to improve its image. Construction sites, companies and suppliers voluntarily register with the Scheme and agree to abide by the Code of Considerate Practice, designed to encourage best practice beyond statutory requirements.
The Scheme is concerned about any area of construction activity that may have a direct or indirect impact on the image of the industry as a whole. The main areas of concern fall into three categories: the general public, the workforce and the environment.
We commit to all contractors signing up to the CCS scheme with a target score of 35 points for both the shell construction and fitting out of the facility .
Big Yellow Standards
We have been developing and constructing Big Yellow Stores for near on 2 decades and have always found that what makes long-term commercial sense is largely aligned to sound sustainable practices.
We have a long-standing commitment to a range of inbuilt features and believe that these contribute to making us an attractive, safe and long-term sustainable investment for our investor community and a pleasant environment to work and store for our customers and employees.
Our standards are a mix of: external best practice – internal expectations – external expectations (such as from local planning departments).
The configuration of an individual store may change from time to time or from location to location however all our stores are built to similar standards and we are committed to implementing the right solution for the environment we build in.
Our main commitments are:
| Best practice – internal / external expectation | Big Yellow’s commitment | Applicability |
|---|---|---|
| BREEAM | Very Good / Excellent | Where part of local planning |
| SUDS | Included | Across all new stores |
| Solar PV | 200 kwp roof mounted PV | Where technically feasible on all new stores |
| Renewable Energy Technologies | Interested in exploring & developing | Where technically feasible |
| Battery Storage | Install battery storage | Across all new stores |
| Ecology | Protect existing and improve bio diversity | Across all new stores |
| Energy | Efficient LED lighting Motion sensors Renewable energy generation where possible | Across all new stores |
| Security | Operate safe and secure facility |
Across existing and new estate |
| EV Charging | Operate safe and secure facility | Across all new stores |
Construction Resources and Waste
Construction Material: Recycled Content
We follow sustainable construction principles and whenever practical, materials are recycled or selected from sustainable sources.
Waste and Recycling
The amount of waste and energy usage is monitored on each of our sites to identify potential efficiencies for introduction on future building projects. Please refer to our yearly CSR Reports and our basis of reporting documentation for further information.
Enhancing our Living and Working Space
Sustainable Construction goes beyond building energy efficient stores or making sure we’re safe from flooding – it is as much about adding value to the local community, bringing benefits that go beyond somewhere to keep your things.
We understand that by investing in green roofs or walls we provide shade to our stores in the summer that are susceptible to the ‘urban heat island effect’. Green roofs can store moisture runoff after rainfall that evaporates in the spring and summer seasons and cools the upper floor levels. This makes the immediate surroundings much more pleasant to be in, not just for our customers and staff, but also for our neighbours.
The green spaces we create also help support our non-human community and neighbours – birds, bats, butterflies and other insects – that struggle to find enough food or a place to nest especially in high-density, urban areas. Each store is individually assessed for opportunities right from our Planning stage.
People and Construction
Health and Safety
Our Health and Safety record is excellent. All our schemes are registered with the Considerate Constructors Scheme and we are constantly challenging our teams to exceed minimum standards. Big Yellow has implemented a robust health and safety policy and we are very proud of our record in achieving very low incident levels compared with our peer group. For the year, the number of reportable incidents on our construction sites was zero.
We report our "Construction Fit-out Contractors and Visitors" Health and Safety Performance in our Annual Report.
Consultation Process
Our stores are designed to provide a safe, secure home for our customers possessions and we build them with all our key stakeholders in mind, our customers, our investors and the environment. As part of the town planning process, we consult widely amongst the community and those most likely to be affected by the development.
Working in Partnership
At Big Yellow Construction we know we can do more if we work in partnership with others; we rely on our partners and suppliers to help us deliver the kind of store that meets our high standards and expectations. This includes our social and community values, which we express through our work with our Big Yellow Foundation charity partners. We actively look for opportunities to engage our partners with our values.