Building Fabric & Comfort
We are able to advise on the building’s fabric, performance and comfort.
We focus on a Fabric-First approach to carbon/energy reduction. This involves getting the building’s design and fabric as good as possible to reduce the complexity of heating/ventilation systems and to improve thermal comfort. This review may be at high level or it might be using a more in-depth whole building energy model. A model provides detailed guidance on factors such as building massing, location, orientation, renewable options, improvement options and standards to aim for such as EnerPHit, AECB and Passivhaus as well as rules of thumb for items such as glazing.
Although we are able to offer complex simulations such as Wufi moisture risk assessments and dynamic overheating modelling, where possible we prefer to design out potential risk items to eliminate the risk, typically through desktop reviews of the proposal initially and then via a whole building energy model. We like to keep things as simple and robust as possible in the design and if we think that a risky decision has been made we are able to flag it up and provide improvement suggestions.
The type and extent of services we offer can be tailored to the project, which can range from just a quick check of a wall build-up to a full whole building energy model.