CHIPPING Sodbury’s first supermarket has been shortlisted for a national building award.

The Waitrose store, on Barnhill Quarry, opened in October last year as the company’s greenest ever project.

The branch, which features a biomass boiled, kerbs made out of recycled plastic bags, LED lighting and a low carbon refrigeration system, has been shortlisted for the Sustainable Project of the Year award at this year’s prestigious Building Awards.

Waitrose focused on lowering carbon emissions and enhancing local biodiversity in the design process and since construction started in January 2013.

Inside the branch, a state-of-the-art low carbon refrigeration system makes use of cooled water to keep temperatures low. Both the branch and the car park are lit with LED lights in an effort to reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by up to 70 tonnes per annum.

The company said the branch has also been designed with local ecosystems and the environment in mind with local varieties of apple and plum trees grown outside the branch with bat and bird boxes located around the car parks.

In addition, donations have been made to local groups in order to support an array of environmental projects from installing an otter holt to building a community beehive A Waitrose spokesman said: “Chipping Sodbury branch is a prime example of Waitrose’s commitment to tread lightly on the environment, one of its key corporate social responsibility commitments.

“The store is also on target for a rating of excellent from BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology) - the world’s longest established method of assessment for sustainable buildings.”

Branch manager Richard Clare said: “We’re thrilled that the innovative features of this branch have been recognised by an organisation as prestigious as the Building Awards.”

The Building Awards, which reward outstanding performance in the UK construction industry, will be revealed at a ceremony in London on April 2.