Miller Construction sings praises of eco friendly modular buildings

Miller Construction is leading the way in eco-friendly site accommodation at the £250million Union Square project in Aberdeen.

The construction firm has set up its biggest ever site office – nicknamed ‘Miller Towers’ by staff – as work continues on the landmark retail development for Hammerson.

The site offices span more than 2,000 sq m and comprise one three-story block and one two-storey block, providing a range of facilities for site staff, including two kitchen areas and canteens, toilets and shower facilities, open plan offices, meeting rooms, and locker rooms.

The site accommodation – supplied by Speedy Hire’s accommodation division, Speedy Space – is steel, which in addition to being versatile and sustainable, boasts an impressive array of environmentally friendly features.

Each room is fitted with passive infra red (PIR) sensors, ensuring lights only switch on when rooms are in use, and in addition, the light fittings hold energy-saving light bulbs. Double glazing, added floor and wall insulation, and specially-fitted door closers ensure that rooms don’t loose heat and, in turn, waste energy.

The staff on-site are also committed to making this as sustainable a project as possible. All paper is disposed of in dedicated recycling bins while glass, plastic bottles and cardboard waste from the kitchen areas are recycled. A tank for the installation of a rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling system is also in place.

Brian McQuade, Joint Managing Director, Miller Construction, said: “We have taken great care to ensure that our site office at Union Square answers increasing environmental concerns, from the fabric of the units to the electrics, and Speedy Space has helped us to achieve this. This is our largest site office to date and we feel it is important to ensure that we are as environmentally responsible as possible.”

Campbell Rodden, Business Unit Director of Speedy Space’s modular division, said: “We are extremely proud to be working in association with Miller Construction on Union Square, one of the firm’s largest UK projects - Speedy is fully committed to promoting environmental best practice and works closely with its supply chain to help support customers’ environmental programmes.

“While these modular buildings can clearly help businesses demonstrate their commitment to sustainability, they also dramatically reduce operating costs of on-site temporary accommodation. With sharp rises in energy bills, it makes sound commercial sense.

“We have provided site accommodation for a wide range of Miller Construction’s multi-million pound developments across the UK and we look forward to getting involved in more of the firm’s projects in the future.”

In addition to being sustainable the site accommodation also boasts an Aurora facial recognition security gate for entry and exit to the site by all personnel.

Union Square will open in autumn 2009.

ENDS