Building with Nature is the UK’s first green infrastructure benchmark. It is a voluntary accreditation scheme that enables developers, who want to go beyond the statutory requirements, to create places that really deliver for people and wildlife. The scheme brings together guidance and good practice to recognise high quality green infrastructure at all stages of the development process. It has been developed by practitioners and policy makers, academic experts and end-users, and has been tried and tested in schemes from Cornwall to Scotland.
Applications are invited at any stage in the development process: pre-application, reserved matters application, and post-construction/in-use. If you decide to pursue Building with Nature accreditation, we, at Place Services, have an approved Building with Nature Assessor within our Landscape team who can work with you to assess the scheme and prepare your accreditation application. If you are successful, you will be awarded with the Building with Nature Accreditation and marque.
You will also be provided with an evaluation report which details the strengths of your scheme. This can be used to support a planning application for design awards or communicate the benefits of your scheme
Once the entire scheme or each phase of your scheme is completed, Place Services will also return to conduct a post-construction check. The report from this site visit will be used to see whether the commitments are being delivered and reported to Building with Nature for audit.
If successful, schemes signed off post-construction are invited to apply for a Building with Nature National Award which is a category within the annual Landscape Institute Awards.
If you would like to find out more about Building with Nature, the standards and the process, please visit the Building with Nature website.