AIS has been formally acknowledged as a Ska Rating Development Partner.

The association will play an active role in the future development of the system, which provides an environmental assessment tool for sustainable fit outs, through positions on the Ska steering and technical committees.

AIS chief executive David Frise said: ‘AIS has supported the Ska Rating System since its launch. It won our Eco-Innovation award in 2009 and we featured the system in Interiors Focus magazine in 2010. Ska has gained momentum with hundreds of projects going through the assessment process, which is currently being extended from offices to cover restaurants and retail. In fact, only this month in its response to the Innovation and Growth Team’s (IGT) report, UK government announced that it will discuss using Ska on its fit out projects.’

Led and administered by RICS, the Ska Rating System is an environmental labelling method designed to rate and compare the environmental performance of fit out. Developed by industry for industry, Ska Rating is designed to encourage good practice in fit out work and has been developed collaboratively by consultants, contractors and occupiers.

Tim Robinson, RICS director of information products group, said: ‘We are very pleased to welcome AIS on board. It is essential that the Ska Rating benchmark evolves in line with market needs. AIS has both significant hands on technical knowledge and a practical understanding of the commercial interiors marketplace.’