Solar welfare units on 146 Willmott Dixon sites win National Sustainability Award

Welfare unit supplier Advanté, its parent Modulaire Group and contractor Willmott Dixon have won Partnership of the Year at the 2026 National Sustainability Awards for a solar-powered welfare fleet deployed across 146 UK construction projects.

The award was presented at the sixth annual National Sustainability Awards in London on 8 October 2026, Advanté said in a post on the Modular and Portable Building Association (MPBA) members' news site. The awards organiser lists the winner as Modulaire Group and Willmott Dixon; Advanté's own announcement names all three firms.

Willmott Dixon used Advanté's Oasis EcoLogic Solar units to provide canteens, offices, toilets and drying rooms on its sites. The cabins run on roof-mounted solar panels and battery storage, with lower-carbon liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as backup.

Darren Palmer, Managing Director at Advanté, said: "Willmott Dixon have pushed us to keep improving, and our team has delivered solar welfare that works reliably across a huge number of sites."

The figures

Advanté said that replacing diesel-powered cabins with the solar units meant the fleet ran on renewable energy for almost 90% of its running time, saving over 1,000 tonnes of carbon and £450,000 for Willmott Dixon.

Willmott Dixon's own case study gives the same headline numbers, saying solar-hybrid units on 146 of its sites avoided over 1,000 tonnes of carbon and saved £450,000 in energy costs. The contractor added that 50% of the units' total electrical energy came directly from solar power, and that the units ran on renewable energy for almost 90% of the time over the two-year monitoring period, including in winter.

Willmott Dixon said the programme supports its target of net zero operational carbon by 2030.

Modulaire Group said the award recognises a two-year programme that is reshaping how welfare facilities are powered on construction sites. Inder Poonaji, ESG & Sustainability Director at Modulaire Group, said: "Partnership is what turns good ideas into real change on site."

The supplier

Advanté says it has pioneered static, self-contained welfare units since 1998 and invented the instant start welfare unit concept. It became part of Modulaire Group in 2020. Companies House records Advante Limited's registered office in Basildon, Essex, and classifies its business as renting and leasing of other machinery, equipment and tangible goods.

The EcoLogic Solar range includes 32ft by 9ft units (9.75m x 2.7m) and 24ft by 9ft units (7.3m x 2.7m) in canteen, office and combined layouts, according to Advanté's product page. The company says the solar hybrid technology can generate renewable electricity all year round, reducing carbon and running costs.

Advanté said it has supplied welfare facilities to Willmott Dixon sites for many years.

What happens next

The same partnership was shortlisted for the Sustainable Supply Chain Award at the Supply Chain Excellence Awards, whose winners were due to be announced at a gala evening in London on Thursday 5 November 2026.

Jo Charles, National Head of Sustainability at Willmott Dixon, said at the time of the shortlisting that the nomination was recognition of the contractor's partnership with Modulaire Group. Poonaji said then that decarbonising the supply chain is not something any one business can do alone.

Willmott Dixon's monitoring of the fleet covered the two years from 2023 to 2025.