In the management of our business

As a leading consultant King Sturge is committed to minimising, as far as reasonably possible, its adverse environmental impact and maximising the opportunities to enhance the environment. These principles are applied to both those impacts King Sturge has control of and those activities it seeks to influence through the advice given to clients.

A formal environmental policy has been adopted by the firm and is available on both our website and intranet.

King Sturge continues to develop awareness of environmental matters by providing information, training and support for employees.

We aim to achieve the most economical use of all materials, supplies and energy, using renewable or recyclable materials and products wherever possible. We have implemented the following initiatives and measures throughout all our UK offices.

• Purchasing of environmentally sustainable goods and services as far as is practicable
• The use of energy efficient light bulbs are used wherever possible
• The use of batteries containing lead or cadmium is avoided
• Turning off lighting and heating when not required
• Turning off printers and pc’s ensuring they are not left on overnight. All other electrical equipment is turned off when not in use
• Use of lower grade paper for internal documents marked either recyclable or from sustainable forests)
• Use of double-sided copying for internal purposes and re-use of unwanted documents for scrap paper
• Provision of collection bins for recycling paper in office areas
• Recycling glass bottles and batteries
• Provision of facilities to encourage cycling to work
• Recycling of printer toner cartridges

We recognise that these initiatives are, however, only a starting point. Over the next year we will be aiming to identify further ways for improvement.

In the advice we give to our clients

Environmental issues are considered in our work across the wide variety of professional disciplines; from residential development to project management work, and from asset management to planning. We endeavour to work with our clients to understand their commitment to environmental issues and to encourage and assist them to improve environmental performance.

King Sturge has been a corporate member of the Property Environment Group since 2001 and was one of the original managing agent members. This group is run by Upstream, an established environmental and sustainability consultancy. We are assessed annually by Upstream and are benchmarked against participants in our immediate peer group and the wider property industry. The process provides us with recommended action points for the following year.

King Sturge is anxious to contribute to the latest thinking in corporate responsibility and its application to the built environment. We are also keen to ensure that our staff have an understanding of the environmental issues to allow them to provide the very best advice to our clients.

We have recently led two major initiatives to improve our understanding of the issues, these being; "Building Sustainability in the Balance; promoting stakeholder dialogue" was published by Estates Gazette in 2004. Dr. Angus McIntosh of King Sturge is co-author, along with Sarah Sayce and Anthony Walker. The book addresses the issue of why some buildings survive, and if they survive whether they are socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. It explains the concept of the "Building Sustainable Assessment Tool" to assist stakeholders decide whether to retain or rebuild.

"Property Sustainability Matters 2004", published by King Sturge, provides a definitive guide on UN, EU and UK directives and legislation likely to impact on occupiers, investors, developers and financiers of property.