The B&ES (the Building & Engineering Services Association) is linking up with Kings College London to sponsor the Air Quality category at the City of London Corporation’s National Sustainable Cities Awards 2015/16.

All of the categories in the awards, which are run by the Corporation together with a range of prestigious partners, seek to recognise organisations that can demonstrate excellence in sustainable development anywhere in the UK, and are free to enter.

A winner, runner-up and three shortlisted candidates will be selected for each category and all applicants will be invited to attend the awards ceremony, which will take place at the Mansion House in the City of London on 3 March 2016.

One organisation will also be chosen from the category winners and runners-up to receive the overall prize of the coveted Liveable City Trophy.

Previous winners of the Air Quality Award have included international financial giant Nomura, the Greater London Authority and Inmidtown.

Entries will be judged by representatives of Kings College London and of the Indoor Air Quality Action Group, which was established by B&ES last year, with membership comprising representation from across the wider building engineering services sector.

Chairman of the IAQ Action Group, Giuseppe Borgese (pictured above), said: “A building should be a haven from harmful outside air – but many building managers don’t take the necessary steps to protect occupants from the effects of outdoor air pollutants entering the building. Poorly maintained ventilation systems, clogged or missing filters, dirty ductwork and ageing and inefficient air conditioning systems are all contributing to a huge health and wellbeing problem.”

He continued: “It is such concerns that have prompted B&ES to involve itself in the National Sustainable Cities Awards in general and the Air Quality category in particular. I hope, therefore, that Association members and others with an interest in and commitment to the improvement of air quality in the workplace will be sure either to enter themselves, or persuade some of their more enlightened clients to do so.”

For application forms for all Sustainable Cities Awards categories, please e-mail sca@cityoflondon.gov.uk, or telephone 020 7332 3598.

The deadline for entries is Monday 30 November 2015.