The Ska Rating, which allows business owners to measure the environmental impact of fitting out or refurbishing their units, has been extended to the restaurant sector, after a successful pilot conducted by Wahaca, the Mexican street food chain.
Developed by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Ska Rating is a standard assessment method, which was originally launched into the office sector in 2009.
The system, which is freely available online, allows companies to monitor their fit outs and refurbishments against environmental targets and comes with the option of gaining a certification for a rating via a network of accredited assessors.
It assesses areas such as energy consumption, CO2 emissions, waste, water and material use to award a Gold, Silver or Bronze rating, and can be applied to projects of any size, to one-off projects or volume roll outs and in both existing and new buildings.
Tim Robinson, director of information products group at RICS, said: “Retailers have a growing appetite for demonstrating the enironmental performance of their store and the Ska Rating offers a simple way to measure and reward good practice.”
