Smart City Malta appoints Hilson Moran as LEED consultant

Smart City Malta has appointed leading international firm of consulting engineers Hilson Moran as its consultants.

Hilson Moran provides a comprehensive range of services in connection with the built environment. Its multidisciplinary approach will enable Smart City Malta to tackle the sustainability issue with in-depth knowledge.

Hilson Moran is part of the Altran Group, the European leaders in innovative consulting with a network of international professionals across 20 countries. The firm is also a member of the US, the UK, Italian and Emirates Green Building Councils.

Smart City is the first development in Malta to register for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. Its LEED consulting will be handled by Hilson Moran Italia, in conjunction with Hilson Moran's United Arab Emirates office. Other Hilson Moran projects include the new Porta Nuova Development and Siemens headquarters in Milan, the iconic tower of 30th St Mary Axe, and the 300-metre tall Pinnacle building in London.

As a first step towards LEED Green Building Certification, Smart City Malta has registered Phase One of the self-sustained business township with the US Green Building Council. This rating system applies benchmarked guidelines for the design, construction and operation of high performance green building. LEED also uses advanced computer modelling techniques to simulate overall building performance. This allows informed decisions to be made on Smart City Malta's buildings and overall design.

Initial steps into Smart City Malta's LEED certification were completed with the support of a sustainability team led by Bovis Lend Lease Milan. The team carried out the general pre-requisites on site to comply with necessary requirements. Ongoing activities at Smart City Malta include monitoring pollution levels relating to construction and the implementation of a waste management strategy.

Hilson Moran will be liaising with the Green Building Certification Institute to submit credit information and to advise the design team members on strategies for achieving specific LEED requirements. LEED certified buildings use and maximise the use of key resources more efficiently than conventional buildings. This, in turn, creates healthier working and living environments which will be greatly beneficial to Smart City Malta's business partners and knowledge workers.

The first deliverables from the project will be the release of 12,000 square metres of office in 2010.