This is an on-going program of understanding and countering potential for biodiversity loss on our sites and finding nature-based solutions where possible.
This program is about embedding small scale industrial activity at a local scale. These include;
- sustainable drainage – where we’ve used recycled plastic grids packed with permeable gravel to provide a stable, drainable surface instead of a concrete pad and drains
- countering dust generation – where we’ve been seeding salt-tolerant wildflowers to provide dust suppression cover and reduce surface temperatures. Prior to the project we were seeing 45C surface temperatures and issues of dust re-contamination in our end product. This also has the benefit of providing pollinator habitat
- using recycled (and recyclable) shipping containers as our building method of choice, so reducing the need for concrete foundations and long term structures
- providing researchers a platform to monitor the wider environment via remote video feeds.
The idea is to reduce the environmental footprint of our sites around the world and to be able to provide a wider ‘handbook’ of tested approaches to issues that might be encountered.