Last chance to nominate for the Sanctuary Awards!

Picture of a silver and black award. The award is a black block with silver writing stating the Sanctuary Award and the top of the block has a Silver Otter on it with a silver fish in it's mouth. — The Silver Otter, given to the overall winner. [Crown Copyright/MOD2017]

Nominations for the MOD Sanctuary Awards close on 31 July and we’re still looking for entries for some of our new award categories.

The Sanctuary Awards showcases MOD’s commitment to a sustainable estate and recognises groups and individual commitments to sustainability, energy saving measures, wildlife, archaeology, conservation and environmental protection throughout the Defence estate.

The award categories have been refreshed to reflect the MOD’s sustainability agenda and the new awards help to demonstrate the MOD’s commitment to its climate change, environmental and sustainability goals. We’re still looking for nominations in the following categories.

Sustainable Construction

This looks at new build and refurbishment projects that innovate in fields such as new materials or designs, resource management, reuse of historic buildings and climate resilience. Here are some examples of winning projects that would fit in this new category.

Project Anvil

Pictured is an F35 Lightning jet. The Jet is facing the front and is grey with a window at the front and 3 wheels, one at the front and two at the back.It has two grey wings at the back and is pictured on a road with a field behind it. The sky is pink/blue. — An F35 at RAF Marham [Crown Copyright/MOD2019]

The Galliford Try Lagan construction joint venture won an award for improving existing facilities at RAF Marham for the arrival of the F-35B stealth Lightning aircraft. The team won their award for Work Package E of the programme which involved construction detail and design. The project also achieved 100% diversion from landfill of excavated materials and used solar powered lightning columns during construction.

Sandhurst Block Project

This project won an award for creating a modern, fit-for-purpose office space for 21st century soldiers in a Grade II listed 1930s building. Around 750 historic timber sash windows were refurbished to include modern draught-proofing and meet MOD requirements for protections from explosions. Care was taken to maintain original features, while still making the facility modern for the needs of today’s soldiers.

Pictured are 4 people from the Project Anvil team. On the left is a white male in a grey suit with a green tie and brown shoes, next to him is a white female with brown curly hair dressed all in black, she is holding up a brown shielded award with the male. Next to her is an asian male dressed in a black suit, black shoes, white shirt and blue tie and is wearing black glasses he is holding up a square photo framed award with a male dressed in black suit next to him. Behind them is a screem with Sanctuary Awards on it and two banners on each side of the individuals. — The Sustainability Project Award was won by Project Anvil for their work on Package E at RAF Marham [Crown Copyright/MOD2019]

Sustainable procurement

These are projects that improve sustainability of equipment or services, management of supply chains or product life cycles.

Improving supply chain to achieve zero waste to landfill

Aspire Defence Limited Services won an award for implementing sustainability throughout their supply chain, which included renewing their waste contract to achieve zero waste to landfill. The team achieved large increases in recycling and power extraction resulting in a 100% diversion from landfill.

Managing mattresses in a sustainable way

The team also won an award for developing a process to find a more sustainable way to manage 18,000 mattresses. They returned old mattresses to suppliers who removed and recycled fabrics and reused the steel springs.

Energy, Low Carbon and Resource Efficiency

These are projects that have reduced energy, water or resource consumption, championed recycling, used renewable energy or contributed to the MOD’s net zero carbon emission target.

Duke of York’s Military School Wind Turbine Project

Pictured is 9 wind turbines behind each other on a field. The sky is cloudy. — The project won an award for becoming the first grid connected wind turbine to be installed on land owned by the MOD. [Günther Schneider/Pixabay]

This project won an award for implementing the largest and first grid connected wind turbine on the Defence estate. The board was particularly impressed with the team’s dedication in this project despite many setbacks during the planning process. An educational programme was put together to inform MOD staff about wind development opportunities on the Defence estate, planning permissions and processes to overcome. The wind turbine provides long-term electricity for the school.

Saving energy at the Duke of Gloucester Barracks

Pictured are five individuals. On the left is a white male i a black suit, pink shirt and tie, next to him is another white male in a dark grey suit, white shirt and grey tie holding up a square framed award, next to him is a white female with short blonde hair wearing a grey dress and long black boots holding up a brown shield shape award with mini silver shields around it. On the right of her is a white male dressed in brown military wear and next to him was then Minister for Defence People and Veterans Tobias Ellwood dressed in a black suit and white shirt. — 29 Regiment, The Royal Logistic Corps Energy Management Team [MOD Crown Copyright/2018]

The Royal Logistics Corps energy management team, part of the 29 Regiment, won an award for implementing several energy saving measures to help against rising energy costs.

The team empowered staff to make behavioural changes at their offices and delivered over 200 training sessions. They also monitored energy usage on site monthly and commissioned a survey to highlight opportunities where savings could be made. This led to considerable savings being made during peak times of energy usage, when the National Grid is under pressure.

You can find more examples of award winners in the Sanctuary Magazines. To nominate a project for an award please email DIO-Sanctuary@mod.gov.uk for an entry form. For more information on the awards and nomination process, please read our previous blog.

This blog post was published under the 2015-2024 Conservative Administration

Last chance to nominate for the Sanctuary Awards!