The re-development of Marischal College has seen almost everything removed from the landmark building recycled, helping it to earn an "excellent" BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) score.

Ninety-one per cent of the 4,242 tonnes of wood (421 tonnes), metal (30 tonnes) and mixed general waste (3,791 tonnes) removed from Aberdeen City Council's future headquarters has been taken away to be recycled instead of being dumped in a landfill site.

The council will store granite and slate which can still be used for use in other buildings. Other stone will be ground down for use in construction, such as road surfaces, while timber will be chipped and used as fuel for eco-friendly biomass boilers.

Ove Arup and Partners International Ltd was commissioned to carry out the BREEAM assessment on the building. It achieved an "excellent" score of 72.43%,


Categories are: pass 25%+; good 40%+; very good 55%+; and excellent 70%+.

Councillor John Stewart, who chairs the Marischal College Advisory and Monitoring Board, said: "I'm delighted to see the remarkably high recycling rate and the top 'green' rating achieved by the Marischal College redevelopment. Both are a testament to the city council's commitment to the environment and to creating a building to be proud of.

"The city council is leading the way on sustainability and setting an example to other developers of what can be achieved. The new council headquarters within the A-listed facade is going to be a credit to the city, a pleasant and productive place for our staff to work, and a pleasure for citizens to visit."

BREEAM assesses wide-ranging environmental and sustainability issues and allows developers and designers to prove the environmental credentials of their buildings to planners and clients. It looks at management, energy, transport, health and wellbeing, water usage, materials and waste, land use, site ecological value and pollution.

It is the leading and most widely-used environmental assessment method for buildings. BREEAM sets the standard for best practice in sustainable design and has become the de facto measure used to describe a building's environmental performance.

(GK/JM)