April’s journey at Encon Associates
We believe in building a greener future. As part of this commitment, we offer internship opportunities to students in both secondary school and university.
How was your work experience at Encon Associates this week?
Overall, I think that my work experience at Encon Associates was immensely interesting along with being enjoyable. I found that everyone at Encon was welcoming and friendly, which helped to lessen the anxiety of work experience along with improving the experience. I was able to learn more about the company and what they do, including noise assessments, BREEAM assessments, travel plans, ecology surveys, tree surveys and landscaping proposals.
What was your favourite activity/department?
Although all the activities were interesting and enjoyable, I found that some of the activities I most enjoyed were learning how to use SketchUp to create 3D floor plans and how it can be used when planning for construction sites. Additionally, I also enjoyed learning about protected species and how they are taken into account whilst planning for development.
What did you learn here?
Over the past week, I have learnt about environmental consultancy and what Encon does. I have learnt about different species of trees along with tree preservation orders and how to create a project management plan. I have also learnt about how ecology, such as protected species, impacts the development of a construction project.
Additionally, I have learnt about how transport is taken into account during the planning of a development site and how transport statements are created. I have learnt about BREEAM and how it is used to assess sustainability, along with learning how to draw floor plans and recreate them in 3D using SketchUp.
Do you think our work at Encon Associates is important to build a greener future?
I believe that the work at Encon Associates is important to build a greener future, I think this because it is essential that during the construction and development of areas we assess any impacts it may have on the environment and work to rectify any damages it may cause, such as with planting more trees and shrubs. This helps to build a greener future as it helps to reduce the removal of trees and green land and can even allow for more trees and shrubs to be planted, which further benefits the environment.
Encon also takes into account transportation, how development may impact the levels of transport and whether there are more environmentally sustainable modes of transport available, such as public transport or cycling. This is also important in building a greener future as it can be used to encourage the use of sustainable transport to help lower carbon emissions from the overuse of cars, which helps contribute to improving the future of the environment.
Encon Associates also uses BREEAM which helps to assess and improve the sustainability of development, aiming to reduce carbon emissions and improve biodiversity. This helps to build a greener future as if more development sites use BREEAM it can greatly increase sustainability and reduce carbon emissions which in turn benefits the environment.
