McBains launches dedicated ESG business unit with appointment of ESG-specialist Tassos Kougionis

The appointment of Tassos will allow McBains to further develop its approach to ESG and ensure that sustainability and social value are always central to the firm’s culture, operations, and initiatives.

With over ten years of experience in energy management and net zero solutions, Tassos will be able to utilise his skills in cost viability, technical analysis, lifecycle costing, options appraisal and strategy selection to assist clients in achieving their strategic and commercial objectives.

Clive Docwra, Managing Director commented: “I look forward to Tassos extending McBains’ commitment to environmental and social governance, so that it becomes fully embedded in everything that we do. His deep knowledge of and infectious enthusiasm for the subject will have a considerable influence on the development of our services, as we look to support our clients in their quest to align themselves with the environmental and social challenges that they face”.

Tassos joins McBains from Currie & Brown, having previously worked at BSRIA, The Buildings Hub and the Zero Carbon Hub (NHBC). Originally from Greece, where he achieved BEng and MEng degrees in Civil Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Tassos has a Master’s degree in Energy and Sustainability in Building Design from the University of Southampton and a Master’s degree in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (Biomedical) Engineering from University College London.

Tassos Kougionis, ESG Director commented: “It is with great pleasure that I join McBains. The concept of net zero, sustainability and environmental protection has never been more important. Translating the concept to standard construction industry practice, to secure and enable the protection of our future, is key.

The only way we can unlock the huge opportunities lying ahead of us is through multidisciplinary collaborations. McBains have all the prerequisites for ESG and sustainability to be embedded at the very core of everything we do and present our clients with some of the latest and most robust solutions available in the market, tailored for their unique needs”.

As a business, McBains is firmly committed to dramatically reducing its carbon footprint and achieving net carbon neutrality as outlined in the recently published carbon reduction plan.

Mark Leeson, Operations Director, commented: “Tassos brings with him a wealth of experience in the provision of complex and innovative energy management, including smart buildings, low carbon and clean technology, energy reduction measures and energy procurement.

His expertise will be invaluable in helping us to develop our approach to ESG and achieve our carbon neutrality objectives, whilst simultaneously enhancing our ability to support our clients' energy, sustainability and social value agendas, both as a standalone service but also to complement our wider workplace and property solutions”.

The new business unit will further bind together the company’s existing skills base and service offering around the firm’s and their clients’ carbon reduction plans, environmental targets and social value activities; utilising and leveraging the expertise of the firm’s design teams, engineers, sustainability experts and WELL-, PassivHaus- and BREEAM-accredited professionals.