Robyn Lovelock was a Programme Manager at Ambition North Wales at the time of recording. She led the development of a methodology that aims to ensure that developments are built sustainably, working in partnership with Arup. 

Ambition North Wales is a partnership between the six north Wales local authorities, Grwp Llandrillo Menai, Coleg Cambria, Bangor and Wrexham Universities. The organisations came together in partnership to bid for and deliver the North Wales Growth Deal, a total investment package in the north Wales economy of £1bn over 10-15 years.  

They key growth areas are: 

• Agri-food and tourism 

• High value manufacturing 

• Digital connectivity 

• Land and property 

• Low-carbon energy 

The aim or the growth deal is to create the conditions for a vibrant low carbon economy in north Wales. 

Ambition North Wales is also acutely aware of the need for economic development to also be environmentally sustainable in the face of the climate crisis, and that that the carbon cost of the investment in the economy must be taken into account.  

The aim of the methodology is to enable to construction of buildings and development projects that result in building that have net zero carbon emissions when operational, reduce carbon emissions by 40% during construction and cause a 10% increase in biodiversity. 

The objective of the methodology is to ensure that nature positive and low carbon solutions are part of the design from the earliest stages and do not lead to needing to re design and retrofit later on. This provides a step by step guide, with increasingly rigorous assessments at every stage of a project design. 

The methodology also follows the structure of HM Treasury’s business case development method, and complements the Green Book’s economic appraisal approach. 

Although the methodology is still at the beginning of its journey in terms of application, it’s a positive step forward in terms of making carbon emissions, energy use and biodiversity impacts central to the design of new developments. 

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