Rookie talent committee to host inaugural event

A PROPERTY membership organisation set up to nurture rookie talent in the Midlands is holding its first meeting tonight.

The British Council for Offices ‘NextGen’ committee will be discussing zero carbon and how this agenda will shape the offices of the future.

NextGen Midlands, whose chairman is architect James Hall, is the second such group formed by the BCO and was officially launched in Birmingham in September.

The Government has said it wants all buildings to be zero carbon from 2019 which places a stern test at the hands of commercial property developers and builders.

The NextGen meeting will be asking whether the goal of a zero carbon office can be reached by the inclusion of ‘green’ features alone or does more need to be done to change occupier behaviour.

It will also focus on what zero carbon offices are, why they are needed and how developers are reacting to changing occupier demands.

Speakers will focus on four major office projects, which are either built, under construction or designed and about to go to tender.

These are Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council, Admiral Insurance Group, Staffordshire County Council and Severn Trent’s new HQ in Coventry which opened in September.

Presentations will outline drivers for sustainability, how these converted into technologies and what trends can be gleaned from client demand for greener buildings.

Among the speakers will be Tony Nash, a director with Birmingham-based property developer Stoford. The event starts at 5.30pm at Two Colmore Square, in Birmingham.