Reduce, reuse and recycle is the waste management mantra of Northern Ireland. Equally valid, albeit of necessity in a different order, it could be the slogan of NISP management. Recycling brown land and buildings, designing and constructing reusable buildings for multiple and diverse tenants and reducing the carbon footprint and running cost of each have been the 3-Rs central to NISP strategy.

Buildings last for 40 years plus; science and engineering business cycles are much shorter. Efficient Science Park buildings, therefore have to be capable of accommodating diverse companies side by side or one after another, with minimal cost, little disruption to others and short time to "churn". NISP designs all include ready access to drain and roof for each tenant independently. ICT-based companies can start work within hours of arrival; other specialists need only a few weeks of customized fit-out (and hence rent-free period).

Many Science Park tenants are young and cash-strapped; even the more mature have learned to seek good value. NISP aims to reduce their running costs and environmental impact by designing into each structure good practice for minimum cost heating and cooling and maximum efficiency for the deployment of staff. In addition to standard practices (using efficient gas-powered boilers, good insulation and offering attractive break-out zones in common), NISP has pioneered two projects to reduce companies' costs and environmental footprint.

The Recycle, Reuse, Reduce strategy has produced, at 31st March 2007, a 25 acre estate with some 100,000 sq ft of lettable space fully occupied by a mixture of local and global knowledge-based companies and some 6000 sq ft of event and common-room space, together with serviced sites for ECIT, The New Development and more. There is a community of some 1000 knowledge creators and exploiters, increasingly working together to trade with the world at large. The cost was approximately £18M, the current notion cash value is estimated at £30M but the economic value far out strips both.

Clearly, sustainability pays dividends.