AEROSPACE giant Airbus’s determination to reduced CO2 emission and energy consumption at its £400m North Factory has earned it a top honour.

The 46,000sq m Broughton plant – open for 12 months – is the largest factory to be built in the UK in the past six years and houses 650 workers.

It is bigger than Wembley Stadium and produces carbon fibre wings for the planemaker’s new aircraft, the A350.

The sheer size of the structure meant receiving the BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating from Wales’s environment minister John Griffiths was all the more impressive.

Mr Griffiths presented the aerospace giant with the accolade on a tour of the site. He said: “I would like to congratulate Airbus.

“This really is a significant achievement and it is clear that a determination to reduce C02 emissions, energy consumption and waste were at the very heart of this project.

“The construction sector has a major impact on the Welsh economy, its environment and the well-being of its people, so I am delighted the Welsh Government was able to support the construction and design of this building. I am hopeful the excellent facilities here at Broughton will help to cement a healthy future for the wider community, bringing training and skilled long-term employment to North Wales.”

Gareth Davies, head of the A350 wing division said the hard work of he and his colleagues had paid off.

“The achievement of a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating is a testament to our continued efforts to meet and exceed the highest standards of environmental management.

“Airbus strives to enhance the green credentials of aviation, and the assembly process is as much a part of this as when the aircraft is in service.”

Developed by a team that included Morgan Sindall and Balfour Beatty, BREEAM assessed the plant at the post-construction stage via the WYG Group.

It found the North Factory boasts a ‘wide range’ of sustainability features.

A small selection of these include the provision of heating by a mixture of biomass and gas fired boilers and electric heat pump systems, the inclusion of PV panels and solar water heaters, and the recycling of 50% of the total predicted rainwater run-off from the roof areas.