with provision for heat export suitable for connection to district heating or industrial processes where viable.. We are also working with data centre clients on alternative sources of clean energy; an area where we see significant potential for data centres to become autonomous, and to promote the use of cleaner standby power systems.. A positive future for data centre design.
The industry needs to develop a material database to assist with this, but the more demand the quicker it will happen.. MEP: The LETI benchmarks are underestimated for high end offices.To meet the LETI benchmarks this means every other element in the building needs to perform better to offset the impact of MEP.
MEP calculations are still in their infancy compared with the rest of the building, meaning more research and data collection is required to create robust calculations and benchmarks.MEP has a short lifespan compared with other elements and as such it is even more important to consider the whole life impact of services, alongside the operational carbon impact..At two thirds of the whole life carbon, embodied carbon is critically important within an office building.
Decisions made during early design stages should prioritise embodied carbon alongside design, function, and aesthetics..The brainstorming sessions on how to move from the BaU scheme to a platform-led scheme (back in 2019) included embodied carbon as one of the technical indicators, giving as much weight to carbon as other metrics such as productivity, safety, and cost..
The data collected on this project is valuable, not because it shows how well the buildings perform against benchmarks, but because the data can influence future projects right now.
If every project was able to reduce embodied carbon by nearly 40% it would revolutionise the industry..And yet the system we use has not changed since the 1940s.
It is arcane, complex, fragmented and hard to access and navigate – especially for the public who are, ultimately, its most important stakeholder.It has not even adopted technology that is virtually standard in other areas.. As such, planning is an excellent example of a process ready for digitisation.
Many elements could be digitised and therefore automated, reducing friction (which causes delay and cost) and streamlining activity from project design through consultation, to planning approval and construction.Modernising the planning process in this way would drive efficiency, enhance quality and benefit everyone involved, directly and indirectly..