Bryden Wood's female engineers make up 14% of the team, which is higher than the Women's Engineering Society's stats for 2018, which gives a figure of 12.37% female engineers in the UKSustainability has long been an integral part of our design approach.
The minefield of different terms means there is a tendency to assume that the landscape is complicated but there really is a simple relationship between all these different elements and it starts with DfMA.. DfMA is a design approach.The clue is in the name.
“Design for Manufacture and Assembly” is a design approach.Conventional design either has a presumption towards conventional construction or is agnostic regarding the construction method.Conversely, a DfMA design is developed to be constructed in a particular way..
When designing for manufacture and assembly, the designer must find the best way to meet the client’s requirements by considering the most efficient way to manufacture elements of the building and the most efficient way to assemble them on site.Manufacturing and assembly processes can be carried out in off-site or near-site factories and consolidation centres and also within the site itself.. DfMA means the designer needs to consider the construction methods that will be used from early in a project.
Furthermore, to construct a building that has been designed using DfMA the builder needs to understand the basis of the design and how it has informed the construction approach.
This means DfMA can be much more collaborative than conventional design, bringing the designer and builder closer together to pursue a common goal..In order to substantially reduce operational carbon, our designs will adopt the following hierarchy:.
Be Lean (passive): minimise the use of energy via passive design measures such as optimised form, orientation and window-to-wall ratio (WWR); design energy efficient facades that incorporate thermal insulation, high airtightness, external shading and solar control glazing; use of natural ventilation and thermal mass and design transitional spaces and low thermal expectation spaces.. Be Lean (active): minimise the use of energy via energy efficient lighting (LED, daylight and presence control sensors) and ventilation systems (demand control ventilation, low SFPs, heat recovery); use technologies such as waste-water heat recovery and specify energy efficient lifts and appliances/equipment.. Be Clean: connect to district heating networks that have plans for decarbonisation; explore plans and feasibility of local hydrogen district networks.. Be Green: use onsite low and zero carbon technologies such as air source heat pumps (ASHP), ground source heat pumps (GSHP), photovoltaic panels, solar collectors for domestic hot water and wind generation among others.. Be Smart: implement innovative technologies such as electric batteries, heat storage, post-occupancy evaluation and develop smart-metering systems..Offset: any remaining carbon should be offset via Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) or recognised carbon offset schemes.
Offsets used should be publicly disclosed.. An example of specific design strategies that Bryden Wood have adopted follow the proposed operational carbon hierarchy is shown in Figure 5 and is demonstrated with examples below..Step-by-step hierarchy for net zero operational carbon.