Drivers Jonas LLP (DJ), is celebrating being crowned Green Property Advisor of the Year in the Estates Gazette Green Awards.

Alasdair Ramsay, partner in charge of DJ Scotland, said: "We were the first commercial property company to achieve Carbon Neutral status and DJ has focused on broader environmental management, with a commitment to achieving ISO 14001 across all UK locations in 2008.

"This means we are committed to real, measurable improvements in a number of areas, including: reducing energy consumption and promoting energy efficiency; use of ‘environmentally responsible’ suppliers and the procurement of ‘green’ products; and delivery of refresher awareness training. This also includes a recycling programme, a switch to clean fuel and even purchasing tea and coffee from fair trade suppliers.

-- Advertisement --

The Scottish planning team, along with their colleagues across the UK, are advising Living Villages - a specialist residential developer, designing and building energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly and socially-sustainable new communities. DJ has been appointed to submit a planning application on a six hectare site for Living Villages' first development in Scotland, which will be in North Ayrshire.

In 2007, DJ sponsored Scotland’s first National Green Day, encouraging over 70 nursery and primary schools across Scotland - from Dumfries and Galloway to North Uist - to take part in a competition to design and make an environmentally-friendly flower arrangement entirely from recycled materials. Secondary schools also took part and were tasked to come up with the ‘best green idea’, showing innovation and providing benefit to their community. The winning school won a wind turbine for their school, provided and installed by environmental firm Windsave Ltd.

(GK/KMcA)