BSEE


Beverly Quinn, Environmental Engineer at TÜV SÜD, an internaonal building services engineering consultancy, specialising in sustainable MEP (mechanical, electrical and public health), BIM (Building Informaon Modelling), lighng design, and vercal transportaon


he International Energy Agency’s (IEA) most recent Energy Efficiency Report showed that global energy demand rose by nearly 2.3% in 2018, the fastest rise in the decade. The report also showed that while primary energy intensity, a measure of the energy inefficiency of an economy, improved by 1.2%, it was the slowest rate since 2010. The IEA also states that the buildings and construction sectors combined are responsible for over one-third of global final energy consumption and nearly 40 per cent of total direct and indirect CO2 emissions. The good news is that something can be done to address these issues. Specifically, effective mechanical, electrical and public health (MEP) design can minimise environmental impact and save money, on even the most complex building projects. For example, there have been major improvements in end-use equipment, energy efficiency performance and distributed generation technologies, which have helped slow the growth of energy consumption within the built environment.


T A balancing act


Set against the global drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the construction industry must balance environmental legislation compliance and its own corporate responsibilities against commercial pressures to minimise cost and maximise profit. However, the harsh commercial reality is that building owners expect better designs for less money within a shorter time period.


While there are compelling benefits for building green, the investment community wants proof of the financial value. Therefore, architects and engineers are under pressure to streamline design and delivery procedures and are constantly searching for ways to enhance productivity and deliver quality services at lower costs. To provide a competitive and attractive real estate portfolio, it is therefore vital that the reliability and cost effectiveness of MEP systems are a core focus at the earliest design stage.


Employing predictive energy modelling early in the planning stage is a method we regularly adopt to achieve this. This allows informed decision making from the outset, taking into account the full environmental performance of the developing design, such as daylight access, thermal comfort, energy consumption and utility cost predictions. Robust modelling allows the operating costs of the completed project to be estimated and reduced at the earliest stages, based on the most cost-effective methods identified through lifecycle analysis. This means that building green does not necessarily need to cost more, particularly when cost planning, programme management and environmental strategies are integrated into the development process from the start. It can often mean a passive approach is adopted, enabling the building form and fabric to influence the internal environment, while reducing capital equipment costs and associated maintenance costs. Building green can also deliver added value to assets, as buildings with


28 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER APRIL 2020


superior sustainability credentials are increasingly enjoying greater marketability and long-term operating costs reductions. This is because green buildings save money through reduced energy and water use and have lower long-term operations and maintenance costs. Owners and tenants in green buildings also benefit from improved employee health, which delivers greater workplace productivity. However, to realise these benefits, the capital cost of introducing energy- efficient measures into the design and implementation of MEP systems must be thoroughly evaluated.


TÜV SÜD was involved with the recently completely Bertha Park High School project in Perth & Kinross. This achieved an Energy Performance Certificate rating of ‘A’, which was down to a collaborative design effort from the design team and careful design consideration of the MEP systems.


Meeting expectations


Engineers use Building Information Modelling (BIM) for creating and using coordinated, consistent, and quantifiable information about a building's MEP system for design and construction purposes. The success of BIM technology in construction projects has redefined customers’ expectations of what MEP design can achieve, in terms of delivering fit for purpose and sustainable solutions, as well as facilitating processes and operations that support the different stages of a construction project. This includes post occupancy evaluation and energy monitoring, as well as targeting where clients can quantify savings and evaluate benefits achieved through the design.


BIM delivers a multitude of benefits to MEP engineers, allowing them to economically deliver sophisticated and sustainable buildings within a shorter time period. This is because BIM delivers the ability to predict the end results of work more accurately, before the completion of a project. Improved coordination and collaboration among architects and engineers also increase accuracy of designs and reduces errors, especially as the unification of all MEP disciplines (design, documentation and analysis) enables automatic clash detection during the building design process.


There are also a wide range of country-specific Green Building rating schemes across the world, which both product manufacturers and building developers can use to prove their green credentials. Two examples are the Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) and Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED). However, to successfully navigate the different international green building standards and incorporate them into a sustainable design, specialised technical and engineering expertise is required. BREEAM is the property industry’s recognised benchmark for the environmental rating of new and major refurbished buildings. It addresses wide-ranging environmental and sustainability issues, enabling developers and designers to prove the environmental credentials of their buildings to planners and the marketplace. This voluntary certification scheme aims to reduce maintenance and running costs, while providing affordable warmth within a healthy, and conformable environment. The scheme can be applied to a wide range of projects and used for benchmarking at the design and procurement stage, as well as to support a post-construction review. LEED is a green building certification programme that recognises best-in- class building strategies and practices and is recognised across the globe as the premier mark of achievement in green building. To receive LEED certification, building projects satisfy prerequisites and earn points to achieve different levels of certification. There are four levels of certification (certified, silver, gold, platinum) - the number of points a project earns determines the level of LEED certification that the project will receive The drive to balance environmental responsibilities with commercial pressures need not be mutually exclusive, as effective MEP design can deliver both from the outset, with improved environmental building credentials delivering long-term cost savings. However, the correct implementation of energy efficiency measures requires a strong degree of technical know-how, which must deliver fit for purpose MEP solutions.


uBertha Park High School has achieved an Energy Performance Cerficate rang of ‘A’ and a BREEAM Rang of ‘Very Good’


ENERGY OPTIMISATION The ‘green versus cost’ building dichotomy


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Architects and engineers are under pressure to streamline design and are constantly searching for ways to enhance producvity and deliver quality services at lower costs


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