Green Travel Planning

October 15th 2009 at the CREATE Centre, Bristol
With guest speakers from North Bristol NHS and the Highways Agency, this seminar will show you how to approach this, often contentious, subject to get employees on-side and actively helping your business to reduce it's Carbon Footprint.
We will offer suggestions on how to streamline commuter and business travel, and you will learn how to calculate the carbon savings in the process. Among the case studies, will be the award winning project undertaken by the new Southmead hospital.
For more information, contact Nick on 0117 930 4111

Bats, Great Crested Newts and other Wildlife surveys now available at Abricon

Did you know that Abricon has a team of in-house specialists that can undertake bat, bird, newt, badger, slow worm and other protected species surveys?

Abricon has experience in dealing with all aspects of protected species and habitat mitigation, and will guide you through the different stages of the planning process - avoiding disruption and delays.

We offer the following services:
- Desk Studies
- Phase 1 Habitat and Wildlife Surveys
- Extended Phase 1 Habitat Surveys
- Hedgerow Surveys
- Protected Species Surveys e.g. Great Crested Newts, Reptiles
- Ecology chapters of EIAs
- Development of Mitigation Strategies

Our ecological services support your planning needs!

Contact Abricon for free initial advice on your ecological and other environmental issues.

Reduce your business waste costs

After energy bills, waste management can be the biggest utility bill for many businesses. Environmental concerns compound this further as steps are taken to reduce, re-use or recycle waste- but often the options appear both confusing and costly. This seminar aims to explain exactly why sending waste to landfill is so expensive, will help make sense of the recycling options available, and demonstrate that in doing so, the business costs can be reduced along with the impact on the environment.

The seminar will be held on August 13th 2009, running from 08:00 - 13:00 at the CREATE Centre, B Bond Warehouse, Smeaton Road, Bristol BS1 6XN. The session will be suitable for all business types, and is aimed to appeal to anyone within the organisation who is interested in reducing waste whether for financial or environmental reasons. The cost? £100+vat.

To book, telephone 0117 930 4111, or e-mail carbon@abricon.com

For more information on Abricon, please click here to visit the website.

Special Offer On Desk Top Studies!

To celebrate their commendation at the prestigious Carbon Positive Awards, Abricon are pleased to offer HALF PRICE Desk Top Studies until August.

The desk study is often considered to be the most important element of the investigation because it examines the past history of the site in conjunction with likely ground, groundwater and ecological conditions. It therefore allows early identification and appropriate management of risk.

Desk Studies are always the first point of review when assessing a site for potential contamination, and in many cases can used to disclose planning permission conditions without the need for expensive physical site investigation. Read more at http://www.abricon.com/DeskStudies.asp

Please contact Richard or Tamsin on 0117 9330 411 for more details on the special offer.

Abricon is Highly Commended at the Carbon Positive Awards

Abricon are pleased to accept the Highly Commended award for organisations in, or providing services to, the greater Bristol area that are positively influencing and impacting on climate change.

Abricon has a wealth of hands on experience in the field of carbon management, and are proud to point out that their advice and guidance is continually being revised and updated to keep pace with new developments and incentives entering the market.

Visit our website at http://www.abricon.com/resource-efficiency.asp for more details, and to find out more about saving your company money while you help protect the environment.

Waste & Recycling Management

Have you calculated the benefits of Refusing, Reducing, Re-using and Recycling before you bin it? Our next training event will teach you how to calculate when it is cost effective to segregate and "RRRR" your waste, rather than send it to landfill. We will look at a fifth "R" - Re-design - and how waste includes so much more than what goes into your bins. By the end of the seminar, you'll know how waste management equals waste minimisation, and the carbon savings which will be made. We will also show you market conditions and sources of information for current recycling prices.

Click here to download a registration form, or visit our website for more information on Abricon

Green Supply Chain

We have been supporting Bristol City Council’s bid to get the city recognised as a European Capital, and leader in the fight against climate change. As part of this, they will be helping local organisations to reduce their Carbon Footprint by holding a new training event at the CREATE Centre on June 11^th 2009. This is the latest in a series of scheduled advice sessions which will help to dispel the confusion surrounding terms such as Carbon Footprint and Climate Change.

Many businesses have already developed their own ‘green’ procedures by becoming energy efficient and recycling the waste they produce, but are their suppliers equally environment conscious? This event will look at the many benefits of buying green, plus some of the tax advantages and public funding available to them, and how to go about applying for them.

The aim of this training day will be to give business owners and managers a clear understanding of the importance of tracking the carbon embodied in goods and services, and also ways to plan ahead for greener workplaces in the future. Ultimately, the goal is to tackle climate change on a local level, and to demonstrate to local businesses that being green can also save costs in the long term.

For more information contact carbon@abricon.com for more details.

Go Green and win more contracts

A recent study of UK construction firms stated that 95% of contractors are more likely to use your services if you can show you are a 'green' business.

Many companies who deal with the public sector can only tender for work now if they have some recognised accreditation. More and more, being environmentally friendly as a business has become a requirement to get more work, and with the current economic climate, winning new business means staying ahead.

How green are you? Have you looked at environmental accreditation? There is the Acorn Scheme, which works through a staged approach to get SME's to a recognised standard, but at an affordable budget. For details on training, contact our advisors on 0117 930 4111.

Vehicle Scrappage Scheme

The Government has launched a new incentive scheme offering £2000 discount on a new vehicle if you scrap your old car or van. As long as the vehicle is over 10 years old, and you have been the registered keeper for over 12 months, then you are eligible for the discount. New cars & vans (up to 3.5 tonnes) are purchased through participating dealers, who arrange for your old vehicle to be scrapped through an authorised facility.

The idea behind it is to reduce the number of older, less efficient vehicles on our roads, and helps you to reduce your emissions, and save money through lower fuel costs. Your scrapped vehicle will be broken up and as much of it recycled as possible. If you are considering a new purchase for your business, this is a great way of reducing your carbon footprint.

To find out more about reducing your carbon footprint, contact us to find out about the latest training events running in Bristol

Bat Emergence Survey Alert

Sometimes a bat assessment of a building is not enough for local planning authorities to grant planning permission. They often request emergence bat surveys for those buildings which have high potential to roost bats. Emergence surveys are seasonally constrained from April to October, so now is the time to start thinking about booking in these surveys.

Great Crested Newt Survey Alert!

Great crested newts are particularly important to consider at this time of year because their survey season is restricted from mid-March to mid-June. Further time restrictions mean that 50% of surveys must take place between mid-April and mid-May. So don’t delay. Book your newt survey today!

Ecology Surveys

Now spring is upon us, the warmer weather and sprouting vegetation means that the ecological survey season is in full swing! Don’t delay your development; make sure you know your ecological planning requirements at the earliest possible stage.

Abricon’s ecologists can undertake a range of surveys including:

· Great crested newts
· Bats
· Reptiles
· Badgers
· Dormice
· Birds
· Otters

For more information please contact ecology@abricon.com