Sustainability

Our actions for sustainability

At The Lumen we recognise the importance of limiting our impact on the world around us. The structure is built to BREEAM Excellence standard giving our customers peace of mind that their impact on the environment is kept to the minimum possible. But our team go further than that to deliver a lower carbon footprint and a positive environmental impact.

Delivering for The Planet

The Lumen has been designed specifically for the environment it sits within. The windows have been positioned to make the most of the natural light available, without unnecessary solar gain. The building is linked to the District Energy Centre, which powers the majority of the Helix site using heat exchange technology. Our team constantly monitor and fine tune this system, to ensure it’s always working at optimum.

This in turn gives the Lumen a significantly lower carbon footprint than buildings of a similar size, averaging 7 tonnes less of carbon emissions each week. But there’s always more which can be done, particularly in working with our tenants to help them understand the impact their company has on the environment and how they can lower their carbon footprint. Therefore, each office is separately metered, and provided with individual monthly analyses of carbon footprint, giving visibility to office managers of their energy consumption. Plus, the benefit of being on a pioneering site like the Helix is that studies are always being undertaken to understand the impact of building occupancy and how this can be minimised. Within the Lumen this includes room sensors which detect if a room is occupied and, when empty, turns off unnecessary lighting.

Delivering for Nature

It is often thought that a city centre location can only have limited biodiversity, but at the Helix site this isn’t true. Our team work with a local bee conservation charity and our tenants to look after two beehives on the roof of the Lumen and a family of ducks have nested behind The Lumen for three years. The planting around the site supports this wildlife, including nectar rich plants such as Kniphofia, Achillea and Helenium. The variety of planting provides food for insects throughout the year.

Delivering for Humans

The Helix urban environment design, with an increased density of human-created structures, reduces congestion and improves public health. The environment encourages people to feel at ease and fosters a sense of community with plenty of areas to sit for al fresco meetings or sunny lunches. It’s designed so that walking, cycling, and public transport are the natural and attractive options. When considering the carbon footprint of a business, employee commuting can be one of the largest contributors to emissions. 

The Lumen has space for 100 bicycles, with showers, lockers, and a drying room available to all tenants. The building is constantly monitored by a management system ensuring offices are kept warm or cool depending on the season and ventilation is maintained throughout. The site was designed to make the most of natural light, without suffering from overheating on very sunny days.

Whether it’s cycling to work, going for a jog at lunch time or joining in a bee keeping session, our tenants say they find working at The Lumen enjoyable and fulfilling.