RammSanderson recently played a part in helping to control the pollution levels surrounding the Hunter’s Bar Infant School in Sheffield.
We were approached by our Urban Wilderness early this year to get involved in a project to install a barrier of plants and shrubs to filter air pollution from passing traffic and improve air quality for the school’s 270 pupils. We gladly offered our services as part of our CSR initiatives and our work involved surveying existing trees and the ground around them that needed to be excavated in order to plant the proposed air pollution barrier.
The pollution barrier was designed using the research of a Sheffield University Department of Landscape Architecture PhD student, María del Carmen Redondo Bermúdez, who carried out a four-year-long study, which was funded by the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures.
Maria has taken daily measurements of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5) from Hunter’s Bar Infant school playground and will be comparing the levels before and after the green barrier has been constructed. Landscape Architects from Urban Wilderness are working closely with Maria to incorporate early research findings into the plant selection and planting design.
The #GoGoGreen campaign was launched in March this year, by Hunter’s Bar Infant School and the Department of Landscape Architecture to raise awareness, funds and support for the 60m long barrier.
In April 2019, leading Sheffield Business Together (SBT) members, Arup and Henry Boot, offered their expertise and resources to support the #GoGoGreen initiative. SBT is a collaboration of Sheffield businesses that strategically connect and share resources with charities in order to address key city challenges.
By raising awareness of air quality challenges faced by inner city schools and partnering with Sheffield Business Together, there is an ambition to create a barrier blueprint, which will support other schools to install similar living screens.
As well as RammSanderson, a number of other Sheffield businesses joined forces to support the installation of the barrier by offering their services as part of their corporate social responsibility agenda included:
- Henry Boot Construction – principal contractors for groundworks
- Urban Wilderness – Green barrier designs; including hard landscape and planting proposals
- RB Alfree – sub contractors for groundworks
- Arup – structural drawings
- Subscan – ground surveys
- Urban Flows Observatory – the loan of specialist air quality measurement equipment
- RammSanderson – excavation around trees consultations
- Ecothrive – soil consultation and procurement
- Amey – waste removal
- Enzygo – reimagining the playground post planting
Many more businesses have gifted money and sponsored ivy fences, and their support will be celebrated during the #GoGoGreen planting parties in October 2019.
Businesses looking to support #GoGoGreen by sponsoring an Ivy Screen for just £100 can leave their details here http://bit.ly/ivyscreensponsor
Read the Article Here from the Sheffield Star