Commissioning
As part of our Development Brief and Basis of Design documents we include enhanced commissioning of the energy, water and indoor environmental quality following ASHRAE 0-2005 and 1.1-2007 for HVAC&R, including ongoing monitoring-based commissioning of the energy and water systems. Retro commissioning of existing buildings allows us to monitor real time performance.
Energy Performance & Monitoring
Close collaboration with an engineering firm early on in any refurb or new build project allows us to implement a stringent brief to not only assess the building’s energy requirements but also seek out innovative solutions for an overall reduction in the building’s carbon footprint.
We look to follow the London Plan strategy of lean, clean and green:
- Be lean: use less energy
- Be clean: supply energy efficiently
- Be green: use renewable energy
In the case of new build projects, we assume a starting position of the building hitting Net Zero via a combination of smart building strategies and carbon offsets.
For redevelopment projects, we look for thermal efficiencies in the building envelope, such as installing secondary glazing in a historic building, as well as energy efficient ventilation systems such as Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) heat pumps and LED lighting in office areas combined with presence detection and prioritising daylighting.
Ensuring there are building level meters or sub-meters to give us whole building energy consumption data (essentially, electricity use for our ideal green building).
This in turn allows us to share with the USGBC or other certification body the data they require for a five year period for certification.
Tenant engagement such as preventive maintenance programs and regular feedback on energy performance is intended to help encourage greater awareness around energy conservation.
Refrigerant Management
We do not allow the use of CFC-based refrigerants in our HVAC systems, opting instead for natural refrigerant solutions for their vastly reduced environmental impact. This also brings us into line with the objectives of the Montreal Protocol on eliminating both CFCs and HCFS by 2030.
VRF systems for example use a non ozone depleting refrigerant.
Green Power & Offsets
To hit our Net Zero targets for new build projects, we comply with LEED specifications around green power and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) being Green e-Energy certified or Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO).
For clarity, we assume ‘renewable energy’ here to mean photovoltaics, solar thermal, wind, tidal, hydro-electric, geothermal and some biofuels.
For more on our Environmental Policy, see here.