Leicester City Council is the latest local authority to be recognised for its commitment to sustainable construction, in an award from the <\/u>World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) under the \u2018What Wood You Choose\u2019 scheme, and also recognised the role of its historic market and its next development phase in sustainability of the city.<\/u><\/p>\n
Leicester City Council writes:
\n<\/u>The city council has been recognised by a wildlife charity for its policy on using sustainable timber.\u00a0 WWF \u2013 the World Wide Fund for Nature \u2013 ran a campaign in the UK called \u2018What Wood You Choose\u2019, encouraging businesses and organisations to help reduce unsustainable forest management and illegal felling by making certain that any timber or paper they buy for council projects is sustainably sourced.<\/p>\n
Leicester City Council signed up to the charity\u2019s Silver Pledge, committing to using sustainably-managed timber in all relevant projects.\u00a0 The pledge covers everything from recycled paper and office furniture to big building schemes. It means that the council has a clause written into contracts to ensure any contractors it employs use timber from sustainable sources.<\/p>\n
To demonstrate its work matched up to WWF\u2019s Silver Pledge, the city council submitted Leicester Market\u2019s new food hall as an example of a specific project where the timber used came from well-managed forests.<\/p>\n
The contemporary glass, steel and timber building, which opened last year, includes a beautiful feature roof of sustainably-sourced glulam wooden beams spanning the ceiling.\u00a0 To get the award from WWF, the council had to gather evidence of the supply chain for the project, demonstrating that it complied with the policy on sustainably-managed timber.<\/p>\n
Assistant city mayor responsible for jobs and skills, Cllr Sue Waddington, said: \u2018We know that we have an important role to play in helping to protect forests through the products and services we buy as a council. That\u2019s why we\u2019re requesting all our contractors and suppliers source timber from sustainable sources.\u00a0 The new food hall is a fantastic example of how we\u2019ve put this into practice, and I\u2019m delighted that the WWF has recognised our efforts in signing up to their pledge.\u2019<\/p>\n
To mark the achievement, Julia Young from WWF presented Cllr Waddington with a \u2018silver pledge\u2019 certificate at Leicester Market\u2019s food hall on July 21.\u00a0 Julia said \u2018Every time a council buys sustainably they are using public funds to support a better future for people and nature, and also supporting other businesses who have invested in sustainable supply.\u00a0 We are really happy Leicester used timber in this great project, as it is an excellent renewable resource, if managed well. Congratulations are due to the council team for their success, and we hope of course they keep up the great work!\u2019<\/p>\n
The council is currently investigating how the system for collecting supply chain evidence could be expanded to meet the requirements of the WWF\u2019s Gold Pledge award.<\/p>\n
View the press release<\/a><\/p>\n View more information <\/a>about the WWF project for businesses and Local Authorities<\/p>\n View more information<\/a> about the Leicester Market project<\/p>\n IHBC NewsBlogs on sustainability<\/a><\/p>\n See \u00a0IHBC \u2018Awards etc\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Leicester City Council is the latest local authority to be recognised for its commitment to sustainable construction, in an award from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) under the \u2018What Wood You Choose\u2019 scheme, and also recognised the role … Continue reading