Arup’s all-electric office at 80 Charlotte Street London is developer Derwent London’s first net zero office scheme. Andy Pearson examines the heat and cooling strategy that combines heat pumps and chillers, and looks at how Covid affected the design and delivery of the project
Category: Technical
Made to measure: using digital twins to calculate heating demand in a Sussex village
A digital twin of an East Sussex village is being created by Buro Happold to assess how demand for heating and electric vehicle charging will affect the electrification strategy for rural communities. Andy Pearson reports
Work-light balance: key changes to workplace lighting guidance
The most influential guide to lighting the workplace has had its first update for a decade. Helen Loomes outlines the key changes
Panel gains: supplementing heat pumps with solar panels
Incorporating solar energy arrays in district energy networks powered by heat pumps has the potential to reduce carbon emissions, but by how much and at what cost? FairHeat’s Mark Reynolds crunches the numbers and considers the options
Eyes on energy: Carbon Intelligence’s award-winning data analysis platform
Building Performance Awards winner Carbon Intelligence has helped its clients save more than 17,000 tonnes CO2e from 2019 to 2010, while readying buildings for safe reoccupation following the pandemic lockdowns. Andy Pearson finds out how its data platform uses non-invasive technology to monitor and manage building energy use
Breathing space: managing and assessing indoor air quality
New guidance designed to assess and improve indoor air quality has been published by the Institute of Air Quality Management, with input from CIBSE. Co-authors Emma Gibbons and Chris Rush explain how a new assessment approach aims to identify issues affecting air quality
Black to the future: BDP’s ‘hygge’ office lighting design
There has been a shift to lower light levels and use of darkness in the workplace, according to BDP’s Colin Ball, who cites the refurbished London office building LDN-W as a prime example
How the Orkney Islands transitioned to heat pumps
Orkney Islands Council has been installing heat pumps in schools and public buildings for more than 15 years in a bid to decarbonise heating and end reliance on oil. Andy Pearson looks at the lessons learnt and how a smart electric grid could soon take advantage of the relentless winds that batter the Islands
Perfecting Passivhaus: Max Fordham’s experience of the fabric-first building method
Max Fordham has been designing Passivhaus projects for nine years, including two very different housing projects that won the residential CIBSE Building Performance Award in consecutive years. Gwilym Still chronicles the development of Passivhaus at the practice, and explains why it is integral to Max Fordham’s net zero strategy
Dark matters: SLL’s Guide to protecting the night time environment
The SLL has published its first, full-blown lighting guide on illumination and the night-time environment. Co-author Benedict Cadbury summarises the new LG 21: Guide to protecting the night-time environment, following a summary by Jill Entwistle