Public Funding for Wsp UK Limited

There are growing calls and policies demanding environmental net-gain from new developments. This is because the environment is increasingly seen as a valuable and multi-functional asset that benefits people's health, well-being and prosperity. Environmental net-gain is an approach to leave the natural environment in a measurably better state than before, in line with HM Government's 25 Year Environment Plan. As recognized by the Prime Minister, the built environment is central to the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as future sustainable growth. A key challenge for the built environment sector which is yet to be resolved is how environmental net-gain can be objectively measured and assessed. The aim of this experimental research project lead by WSP and the Ecosystems Knowledge Network (EKN) is to co-develop a Net Gain Planning Tool (NGPT) to enable built environment professionals to objectively assess and measure to what extent new plans or developments achieve environmental net-gain. We will establish a strong cross-disciplinary partnership to develop the NGPT with the aim to become a widely accepted UK industry standard -- a game changer for the built environment sector. The NGPT will be made publicly available and free to use. The NGPT-user will need to enter a range of simple indicators sch as land-use and green space accessibility before and after development. On that basis the tool will calculate the impact of the land-use change on up to 20 ecosystem services, physical and mental health, biodiversity and assess to what extent environmental net-gain has been achieved. The biodiversity assessment will only apply outside England as England already has a tool to assess biodiversity net-gain. Some tools to assess the impact of land-use changes on environmental services are already available and provide a springboard for the NGPT development. However, none of these tools answers the crucial question of whether environmental net-gain has been achieved. The NGPT will advance existing tools by combining the best features of existing tools, adding value by for example also assessing physical and mental health benefits, being evidence-based and yet easy to use, providing outcomes that are easy to interpret, answering the critical question of whether a plan or development achieves environmental net-gain based on national and local policies, allowing local planning authorities to pre-define what is expected from new development in terms of net-gain which will also enhance planning security for developers, setting incentives for going above and beyond minimum net-gain requirements, and becoming a widely accepted industry standard co-developed with the sector. Overall, the NGPT will not only help to make future land-use more sustainable, but also to enable the built environment sector to play a more positive role by becoming a net-contributor to tackling environmental issues -- a potential game-changer for the sector as well as people and wildlife in the UK and beyond. As we aim to establish a sector-wide partnership to co-develop the NGPT, we invite interested built environment professionals and stakeholders to contact our project manager Oliver Hoelzinger (oliver.hoelzinger@wsp.com) regarding involvement opportunities.

"This project aims to improve construction sector productivity through the use of offsite manufactured integrated steel modules and will help meet government objectives to reduce onsite construction time, increase construction productivity, improve safety on construction sites and address onsite skills shortages. Steel is the original offsite framing material with up to 90% of structural steelwork already manufactured offsite. This project will provide the steel construction supply chain with the knowledge, confidence and incentives to take the transformational step of including integrated offsite steel modules into the design, manufacture and construction of mainstream steel framed buildings. The project will develop and publish, in a free online guide, design prototypes that can be used by engineers, main contractors, steelwork contractors, M&E contractors and others to design, manufacture and construct mainstream steel framed buildings that include integrated offsite steel modules. This will drive the rapid take up of integrated offsite steel modules and increase the rate of offsite manufacturing and assembly in the mainstream steel building market."

Carbon dioxide is a major greenhouse gas and methods of capturing these emissions from power stations and industry are being developed. Studies have shown that without capturing our carbon emissions it will be very much more expensive to meet our decarbonisation commitments. However the changing mix of power plant and growing role of renewable technologies is making conventional carbon capture processes appear less attractive while industrial application is restricted by process complexity and high costs. The future generation mix will comprise renewable and nuclear generation supported by fossil fuelled power stations working when power from nuclear and intermittent sources cannot meet demand. PMW Technology has brought together concepts from other sectors to create a disruptive carbon capture technology that is about half the cost of the alternatives when applied to this future generation mix. Working with academics from Chester and Sheffield Universities and industrial partners, PMW Technology will validate the process and map its characteristics to target future development on the most effective design to remove carbon cheaply.

To develop an optimisation engine for a system which manages freshwater in the environment to deliver multiple water services to multiple stakeholders through storage of excess freshwater in a network of automatically controlled storage systems.

There is currently significant concern in some segments of the public about the potential impact of shale gas exploitation on water. By taking a more holistic approach to local water management, these concerns can be addressed and appropriate water infrastructure can be created which benefits local communities and the environment as well as making gas development safer and more sustainable. Concepture, along with its commercial partners WSP and academic partners Imperial College London, the University of Surrey and Cardiff University, are undertaking a study of an innovative new water management system which monitors and controls the quality of water across the locality where fracking operations are under way. Part of the management system is developed on behalf of local communities and can also be used for other freshwater services, such as flood prevention. The other part is dedicated to controlling the quality of water within a shale gas site and intended for use by the gas industry. Both systems are controlled by a 'smart' central control system, taking into account the overall needs of a catchment area and the prevailing water conditions.

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