Environmental engineering consultancy services

Tender description

Powys County Council is testing the market with a view to appointing a suitably qualified partner to lead the Home Grown Homes project — a longitudinal study into supply chain development in Wales' timber industry to: — Build supply-chain capacity along established processing chain to increase local/homegrown market share; — Work with ‘clients’ increasing local/homegrown product demands in high performance, low carbon, new build/retrofit social housing; — Increase higher value local/homegrown timber availability; — Support use in broader construction developments; — Liberate socio-economic value. The project will be project managed by Powys County Council on behalf of the Home Grown Homes Partnership, which includes housing associations, Natural Resources Wales, WLGA and Community Housing Cymru which will be expanded overtime to include other key stakeholders. Interested parties must express their interest by emailing commercialservices@powys.gov.uk by no later than 12:00 on 31.3.2017. The project which seeks to increase the use of home grown and locally grown timber in the construction process, will contribute to the objectives of the Well Being of Future Generations Act 2014 in the following ways: A prosperous Wales — the study will develop an effective supply chain mechanism for the timber industry resulting in increased local and home grown timber being used in construction projects. This will help boost business growth, training and job opportunities, particularly in rural communities, thus contributing to increased prosperity. A resilient Wales — increased use of sustainable timber products is underpinned by further and sustainable forestry planting. This will support flood protection measures for key risk areas. Economic development in rural areas of Wales will help to build more cohesive communities. A healthier Wales — increased forestry planting brings about multiple health benefits. Timber buildings have recently been demonstrated as providing healthier living and learning environments in a number of Scandinavian studies. A more equal Wales — the study will help to bring economic prosperity to rural communities in Wales, thus supporting greater wealth equality across the regions of Wales. A Wales of cohesive communities — increased wealth in our rural communities will help to stabilise populations as in particular, young people are able to find well paid employment rather than having to leave rural communities to find work. In addition, the availability of increased affordable housing in our rural communities will support young people and key workers to find accommodation. A Wales of vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language — the study and project will follow the principles of Welsh Government Welsh language policy bringing the findings to a wider audience in Wales. A globally responsible Wales — the use of locally sourced product (timber) will help to reduce Wales' carbon footprint as we work to enable the construction industry to use increased amounts of local and homegrown timber. An application has recently been submitted by Powys County Council, on behalf of the partnership, for Regional Development Programme Funding, under the Co-Operation and Supply Chain Development Scheme. The application, which if successful, has total project costs of 1 500 000 GBP. The proposed funding has been apportioned in the following ways: Project management — 76 962 GBP, Project Delivery — 723 038 GBP, Research — 300 000 GBP, Demonstrator pilot — 300 000 GBP, Independent evaluation — 100 000 GBP. The role of the delivery and co-ordination partner will be to run a supply chain development service testing via the various pilot projects. It will also involve assessment of the effectiveness in delivery of these pilots, making recommendations over time in terms increasing the effectiveness of supply chain intervention. The selected partner should be able to demonstrate expertise in the following areas: — forestry, — forest industry science and technology, — timber products and markets (particularly construction), — the economic, social, environmental and cultural impact of forestry and forest industries. The selected partner will also need to demonstrate that they have experience and knowledge in the following areas: — the forestry sector in Wales and the UK, — the Welsh social housing sector, — securing social value from investment, — hardwood and softwood timber supply chain from forest to finished product, including: species; specification; supplies; traceability; grading; product innovation, testing and certification. — creation and expansion of an adding value network of companies and organisations necessary for sector development. — development and execution of events geared to specific audiences — toolbox talks, CPD's, workshops, knowledge transfer and conferences. — leading and project managing large multi-partner supply chain development projects.