University of Brighton lecturer shows green credentials to be contender for Achievement Award

Architect Duncan Baker-Brown dreamt up the project after Channel 4’s Grand Designs presenter, Kevin McCloud, constructed a house made from replenishable organic materials in 2008.

He said: “The original plan was to recreate Kevin’s house but things have moved on so we’ve tweaked the designs a fair bit.

“From working on other jobs, I’ve become aware of the vast amount of waste generated from building projects.

“One statistic, which is quite shocking, is that for every five houses built one goes to landfill in waste.

“It’s easier for builders to over-order on materials so there’s always waste.”

Mr Baker-Brown employed Cat Fletcher as his “chief scavenger” and they set about researching waste materials they could use.

The main structure is to be made of ply shuttering and timber with boxes of various waste products making up the wall cavity.

Mr Baker-Brown, who is also a senior lecturer at the University of Brighton, added: “We’ve been looking at this and we could use anything from toothbrushes and fluff from old sofas to videotapes or just rubble.”

The materials for the upstairs of the house are yet to be decided on but the designers are exploring using the likes of car registration plates and old road signs.

Mr Baker-Brownadded: “It may all seem like a bit of fun, but there is no reason why this type of construction can’t be used.

“We are aiming to make the house look good and to be able to function. We don’t just want it to look like a pile of rubbish.”

Last year's winner - Nicola Cunningham

The impact Nicola Cunningham has had on Jurys Inn hotel in Brighton is shown in the fact they had to change her job title to reflect her green credentials.

Originally she was simply accommodation manager, but she has done so much work for sustainability this was included in her title as accommodation and sustainability manager.

Since joining the hotel, Nicola has worked tirelessly to ensure it is as green as possible in every way.

She has implemented many initiatives and policies within the hotel to reduce energy and waste consumption as well as water use.

A colleague said: “Nik cares passionately about the environment, sustainability and sharing her knowledge with others – she is an inspiration.”

Miss Cunningham said: “Winning the award meant so much to me and my team – we work so hard here to run a sustainable hotel and this was a huge recognition for the work that we do.

I say “we” because without the support of my team and general manager it would not be possible for me to do what I do.”

“In the past year I have implemented a new food waste recycling programme with local firm Paper Round – continuing to send no waste to landfill. We have purchased sleeping bags for the local homeless charity Project Antifreeze.

“We have recently had our 3rd GTBS audit and are hoping to retain a gold rating for the 3rd time – we were successful in this year’s Beautiful South Awards bringing back awards for sustainable tourism, accessible tourism and customer service, and also received environmental inn of the year for the second year running at our own company annual awards.”

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You can also send your suggestion by email to ben.james@theargus.co.uk.