Veolia Environmental Services is building the 40,000sq ft environmentally-friendly regional office in Cannock, Staffordshire.

The company’s chief operating officer, Tom Spaul, said: “By working closely with Opus Land and Staffordshire County Council we have managed to push forward this development at pace and plan to move in to our environmentally friendly offices by summer 2011.

“We believe that this move and our recent successful waste contract bid demonstrates our long term commitment to the Staffordshire economy.”

The Kingswood Lakeside development will be built to a Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) excellent rating.

BREEAM is a voluntary measurement rating for green buildings used to assess the environmental sustainability of their design.

The new building will feature roof mounted solar panels to provide hot water, a rainwater collection system for toilet flushing and sensors to ensure lights are only used when people are in the office.

It will house more than 400 staff from Veolia’s offices in Wolverhampton and Walsall.

Councillor Mike Lawrence, Staffordshire County Council cabinet member for economy, skills and enterprise, described the project as “a major investment into Cannock, an area that has been badly hit by the recession”.

He said: “Veolia is right at the cutting edge in modelling low carbon and high performance business.”

The office planning application was approved by Cannock Chase District Council in March.

Gareth Williams, of Opus Development, which will build the office, said: “We are delighted to have progressed this scheme so rapidly from our initial site acquisition at the beginning of the year, through the planning process and to our start on site.

“We look forward to maintaining our efficient schedule and delivering this landmark building in good time for its scheduled occupation.”

David Gibbs

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