Skansen

Innovation & Research

Skansen is committed to environmental best practice in minimising the environmental impact of our construction projects and our operations generally.

In 2005 Skansen implemented a Research & Development programme with the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) in search of practical measures to benchmark good practice. It became quickly evident that any real benefits would have to be measured and codified in order to remove the ambiguity prevalent in the fitting out and refurbishment industry. Skansen, RICS and AECOM collaborated to develop an environmental benchmarking tool for the fitting out industry which would enable clients and their advisers to achieve an environmental rating for their projects. This became known as the Ska Rating. The RICS have now launched the Ska Rating to the UK property industry and it is fast becoming the accepted industry standard.

The RICS have now taken full responsibility of Ska Rating for its continued development and governence. As the Ska Rating founder and 'Ska Development Committee Member' Skansen is still closely involved in this process.

Tim Robinson, Director of Strategic Business Development at RICS comments "Thanks to Skansen's insight, leadership and generosity as Founder RICS has been able to adopt and further develop a genuinely useful tool for industry".

Awards and Recognition

Ska Rating has recently received a number of industry awards for excellence and leadership in sustainability. These include

Winner: CoreNet Global, Industry Excellence Award 2009 (Leadership and Strategy) 

Paul Harrington, President of CoreNet Global's UK Chapter and Real Estate Director at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, commented, "It is great to see a UK project do so well in the global Industry Excellence Awards, and CoreNet Global's UK Chapter is delighted to have nominated Skansen and RICS for focusing attention on a sustainable approach and measure for fit out projects."

Winner: CoreNet Global UK, Land Securities Trillium Award 2008 (Sustainability)

Robin Harris, Como, Mace Group (immediate past President of CoreNet Global UK) commented "In 2008, Skansen's Ska Rating tool received the CoreNet Global UK award for Sustainability. The innovation is important as it specifically measures the environmental impact of fit-out projects, which will help both big and small companies improve their environmental performance and ultimately their bottom line. Skansen is now working with RICS to refine and launch the system to the industry, which is a commendable achievement."

Finalist: Construction News Quality Awards, 2009 (Sustainability)

The RICS is now providing accreditation and assessor training for the Ska Rating with a full UK & International . Ska and RICS logos to link to RICS and Ska websites Full details of the Ska Rating can be found at either www.ska-rating.com or http://www.rics.org/site/scripts/documents_info.aspx?documentID=629&pageNumber=1

Best Practice

The 99 measures identified within the Ska Rating cover every aspect or scope of work for a typical fitting out project. Not only do they form the backbone of the Ska Rating scoring systems, representing current Best Practice, but they are also enshrined within Skansen company procedures. Many are carried out as a matter of course on all Skansen projects, and we have the expertise to advise and work with our client and their adviserson many of the following environmental issues:

Energy & CO2
Waste
Water
Materials
Pollution
Wellbeing
Transport

At the outset of every project Skansen can advise the client and the professional team of all the environmental aspects of the project and how to minimise its environmental impact, in order that an accredited RICS Ska Rating can be obtained.

WRAP – Halving Waste to landfill. Skansen has committed to halving all waste to landfill by 2012.