Meet the Team
Element Sustainability is committed to working closely with our clients and becoming part of your team.
We take great satisfaction from seeing design concepts followed through to completion. Clients benefit from our collaborative working practices, enabling us to pool many years of collective experience and a wide range of qualifications, equipping us to give you the best possible service.
We offer a personal, tailored approach that caters to the unique needs of your project. Based in the north-west of England, we enjoy working with local clients as well as travelling further afield to deliver projects all over the UK. We are currently working on projects in a range of locations, so no matter where your site is we are here to help.
Proposed strategies are developed and implemented by our experienced, in-house specialists. These incorporate key aspects of sustainability appraisal and certification to fulfil both the planning policy targets and our clients’ priorities.
On completion of the scheme, our team will provide the necessary reports and certification to speed up the discharge of conditions.
Our aim is to realise the potential of the site from both a commercial and environmental perspective.
Laurie Wills
Managing Director
BA (Hons), CEnv, MIEMA
Laurie is a Chartered Environmental Consultant with over 20 years’ experience in the environment sector. Having graduated from the University of Leeds with an honours degree in Environmental Management, he went on to work with a number of high-profile consultancies prior to establishing Element Sustainability in 2011. Laurie is an accredited Energy Assessor and licensed BREEAM, Code for Sustainable Homes and Home Quality Mark assessor.
When he eventually gets some time away from the office, Laurie enjoys spending it with his family, travelling, photographing the great outdoors, cycling in the woods where he lives and taking trusty hound Cooper on long walks. When he’s home he loves to cook, watch rugby and Formula 1, and listen to his eclectic music collection.
Laurie Wills
Managing Director
Caroline Wills
Director
BA (Hons)
Caroline has worked in the sales and marketing sector for more than 10 years, managing client relationships and negotiating high-value commercial agreements with large blue-chip organisations. She joined Element Sustainability in February 2016 and is busy looking after the company’s valued client base, seeking out new business opportunities and providing cost-effective solutions for those we have the privilege of working with. She manages third-party co-consultants, takes care of fees and invoicing, manages company cash flow and is always the first to volunteer to make the tea round!
After graduating from the University of Leeds with an honours degree in History, Caroline took a year out to travel the world, visiting New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia and Mexico, among other countries. She now enjoys travelling across Europe with her family in their campervan. She is a big fan of the outdoors and enjoys walks in the forest, gardening and bug hunting with her daughter, Charlotte. She is also a keen swimmer and takes part in open water competitions, both in good weather and bad (usually bad, let’s face it!).
Caroline Wills
Director
Stacey Downes
Principal Consultant & BREEAM AP
BSc (Hons), MSc, PIEMA, BREEAM AP
Stacey joined Element Sustainability in 2014. She is a qualified BREEAM assessor and provides consultancy services for non-residential and residential developments, managing a diverse range of projects. Stacey has always been interested in sustainability and protecting the wider physical environment. After graduating from Manchester Metropolitan University with a BSc in Geography, she recognised the impact the built environment has and decided to acquire a master’s degree in Environmental Management and Sustainable Development.
Prior to joining Element Sustainability, Stacey worked for an energy-efficiency pioneer community interest company (CIC), which was looking to improve existing housing stock. Through working with individuals, businesses and community groups across Cheshire, she helped to promote and deliver more sustainable, lower-impact residential living environments.
Stacey enjoys travelling and catching up with friends, however, now she is a mum to daughter Willow, most of her spare time is now taken up entertaining a little one!
Stacey Downes
Principal Consultant & BREEAM AP
Charles Atkins
Senior Sustainability Consultant
BSc (Hons), MSc, NDEA, PIEMA
Charles joined Element Sustainability in 2022 following previous environmental, planning and project management roles at some of the industry’s leading consultancies. He’s worked on a vast array of exciting projects within the built environment, of varying scale and geographical locations, seeking to identify and implement climate led solutions.
He applies his knowledge as a qualified non-domestic energy assessor (NDEA) and experience completing Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) to manage our clients’ embodied and operational carbon impacts, alongside planning stage input to support a wide range of developments.
His passion for environmental sustainability and the built environment stemmed from his time at Bangor University, where he graduated with an honours degree in Geography. He built upon this with a subsequent master’s degree in Environmental and Business Management, specialising in modules relating to EIA, energy and renewable technology, and circular economy principles.
Outside of work, Charles enjoys playing tennis… his greatest challenge to date has been scaling Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania!
Charles Atkins
Senior Sustainability Consultant
Luke Goodier
Lead Energy Assessor
BSc (Hons), MCD, OCDEA.
Luke graduated from the University of Sheffield with a degree in Physical Geography which he then followed up with a master’s degree in Town and Regional Planning from the University of Liverpool.
His long-held interest in the protection of the planet’s natural environment was sparked from a young age through his worldwide travels with his parents, inspiring him to firstly undertake an undergraduate degree in physical geography and ultimately pursuing a career within the sustainability industry.
Working as a qualified On-Construction Domestic Energy Assessor and also the company’s lead Home Quality Mark assessor, providing consultancy and sustainability appraisals for residential developments whilst also providing BREEAM support services, planning reports and water efficiency calculations.
Luke spends most of his free time with his girlfriend Lucy, travelling, cooking, and binging entire TV series in between playing badminton and football with friends, and walking his two dogs, Yogi and Blanket!
Luke Goodier
Lead Energy Assessor
Lucie Wallach
Sustainability Consultant & BREEAM AP
BSc (Hons)
Lucie joined Element Sustainability after graduating from the University of Liverpool with a degree in Physical Geography. She is a qualified BREEAM assessor and supports our BREEAM team on a range of projects including In Use, Refurbishment and New Construction schemes.
Lucie’s passionate about helping create a sustainable planet and has a love for nature and is working to develop her knowledge in this field.
In her free time, Lucie enjoys socialising with friends and family and walking her dog, Storm. She can be found taking a dip – wild swimming – every now and then, or just getting stuck into a new TV show.
Lucie Wallach
Sustainability Consultant & BREEAM AP
Chris Pimm
Sustainability Consultant & BREEAM
BSc, BREEAM AP, Fitwel Ambassador, GradIEMA
Chris has always had a keen interest in environmental protection which led to the pursuit of a degree in Geography at the University of Chester. It was there that he further developed a passion for sustainability, leading to him entering the construction sustainability industry shortly after graduating.
Having gained the required experience Chris is a qualified BREEAM Accredited Professional and Fitwel Ambassador with a strong track record in supporting the delivery of a range of high value projects across the UK, certifying buildings in both BREEAM and Fitwel.
Outside of work Chris enjoys spending time with family and friends as well as cooking and playing football. Travel and exploring new territory are of keen interest having previously backpacked and worked in Australia and trekked through South East Asia.
Chris Pimm
Sustainability Consultant & BREEAM
Esme Bridge
Sustainability Consultant
BSc (Hons), GradIEMA
Esme graduated from the University Liverpool with a degree in Biological Sciences and joined us at Element following experience in Geo-Environmental Consultancy and project management. Her interest in sustainable practices, particularly within the residential construction sector, stemmed from this previous position when undertaking ground investigations for a variety of large-scale new build developments.
Always embracing sustainable and environmental best practice, Esme focuses on client engagement and delivery of our Home Quality Mark assessments to ensure new build developments achieve their full potential. She also supports the team with BREEAM project coordination and sustainability reports.
Esme enjoys hiking and trail running – the bigger the hill, the better! She also loves travelling, particularly to areas of outstanding natural beauty. Her most recent trip was to New Zealand where she volunteered on a conservation project in Wellington.
Esme Bridge
Sustainability Consultant
Alex Benfield
Building Physics & Sustainability Engineer
BEng, GradIEMA
Alex is a graduate from Liverpool John Moores University with a degree in Architectural Engineering, focussing on mitigating the impact of our built environment through modelling and simulation of building energy and wellbeing performance.
Recognising the impact of the built environment he identifies opportunities to minimise energy consumption focusing on efficiency measures, low carbon technologies and reducing overall carbon emissions.
Outside of the office Alex enjoys playing the guitar and has a great love for music. He spends time exploring the outdoors with friends and frequently hits the gym to stay in shape.
Alex Benfield
Building Physics & Sustainability Engineer
Cooper
Morale Officer
WAG
No office is complete without a dog and Cooper, our chocolate Labrador, certainly completes our team. Originally from Derbyshire, he now resides in Delamere Forest, Cheshire. His main skills are relaxing and being fully house trained, although he also does an excellent job of being brown. He’s not great at fetching sticks as he has a very limited attention span, but he will happily shake a paw on request!
Cooper loves being around people, eating (virtually anything, including socks, crayons and hair bobbles), going for walks and swims, and generally being a great companion and stress reliever for the whole team.
Cooper
Morale Officer
Stanley
Apprentice
Grad. WAG
Learning from the best as Cooper’s apprentice, Stan is our lovely Fox Red Labrador. Pure in spirit with boundless adolescent energy, he enthuses the team with his lust for life and reminds us to simply be ‘more dog’ from time to time…
Although clearly not always sure what’s going on he nonetheless loves being part of the Element crew and keeps us all entertained with his tail chasing antics!
When not in the office Stan can usually be found swimming, running, or chasing a squirrel in the forest.
Stanley
Apprentice