Data-driven design can reduce energy consumption by reducing the oversizing of plant. Ramboll’s Andrew Henderson shares building performance data that suggests 30% of heating and cooling plant capacity will never be required
Category: General
Heightened awareness: Avoiding cold draughts in offices with exposed ceilings
The trend for exposed ceilings in offices can have serious consequences for occupant comfort if designers don’t take into account the impact they have on air movement. Gilbert’s Roy Jones explains how draughts and cold spots can be avoided by using special plates added to diffusers
How audio visualisation can drive the natural ventilation of buildings
Acoustics and ventilation should be designed in tandem to ensure optimal performance in naturally ventilated buildings, says Mach’s Ze Nunes, who shares research on software that visualises noise to give designers a sound basis for their decision-making
In the hot seat: Interview with Dave Pearson
Large heat pump installations could change the way heat is generated in the UK and help decarbonise existing buildings in cities, says Star Renewable Energy’s David Pearson, who speaks to our journalist Andy Pearson
Intranets for heat: Introducing BEN networks
The balanced energy network at London South Bank University has been part-funded by Innovate UK to help accelerate the creation of smart heat-sharing networks. These balance the heating and cooling needs of different buildings and act as a virtual energy store to help the National Grid match supply and demand. Andy Pearson reports
On the right track: services retrofit saves TfL’s Palestra £400,000
Like most large offices, TfL’s Palestra building is complex. To realise its true potential, it underwent significant interventions resulting in £400,000 of energy savings. Andy Pearson explains how an energy performance contract made the building 6% better than good practice
Industry wakes up to reality at Futurebuild
At the conference formerly known as Ecobuild, there was a large focus on housing and monitoring performance, as well as debates on the future of heat and integration of electric vehicles. Alex Smith and Andy Pearson report
How using turmeric waste as biomass cut carbon emissions by 60%
In 2018, GSH Group India won a major environmental award for a project with FMCG firm Kaleesuwari to replace coal with turmeric and mixed biomass at two refineries. Director of operations Anand G D Chennai explains how
Researching new methods for estimating design water flowrate
It is recognised that using the traditional loading units method overestimates the design flow for hot and cold water systems. Heriot-Watt University’s Achala Wickramasinghe explains how the Luna project aims to address the issue and calls for data to help validate a new method
To close the performance gap, choose Option D
IPMVP Option D offers robust measurement and verification to give building services engineers and their clients a better insight into how a design energy performance rating can be validated during operation. Nazli Dabidian explains how