All RDAs across England are closing by March 2012
(see transition and closure section).
With our resources reducing steadily, this page has not been recently updated and the information below may not be current.
If in doubt, please contact us directly.
Sustainable construction
As well as supporting and encouraging the principles of
sustainable development, the South West RDA works to spread
the word of the benefits of using sustainable construction
techniques. These help ensure that environmental and social
criteria are considered as an integral part of construction - from
planning to completion.
The RDA has supported the publication of 'Future Foundations: A
Sustainable Construction Charter' developed by Sustainability South
West. It was one of the first organisations to sign up to the
principles of the charter for its own construction
projects.
Examples of sustainable construction techniques include sourcing
'environmentally-friendly' materials, using the most efficient ways
of disposing of waste, recycling water and other resources and
using renewable energy sources.
Future Foundations was
launched by Sustainability South West in 2001.
March 2009: A study has identified the
potential to drastically reduce the amount of construction waste on
civil engineering projects across the region. The report ‘Towards Zero
Waste for Civil Engineering' was funded by the South West RDA
and the Defra BREW programme, with the research carried out by
Future Foundations and the Civil Engineering Contractors
Association. The report includes a five-point action plan which
will go some way to reducing the 90 million tonnes of inert
construction waste, much of which is sent to landfill.
March 2011: The South West RDA commissioned a
year long study (2010 - 2011) into the performance of four
microgeneration technologies at a few of its funded projects in
Okehampton and St Austell. The report is available to
read here: Renewable
Energy Technologies - March 2011 (pdf document)
July 2011: As part of the transition activities
of the Agency our Sustainable Construction Team have created a
guide to
Sustainable Development in the Built Environment. The aim of
the guide is to capture the last ten years of our sustainable
construction and development experiences to generate a vision of
what sustainable development principles and approaches could be in
2020.
Case studies
A variety of case studies are
available to view.