The facts are indisputable; climate change is happening and it’s happening fast.
The 4th Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that recent warming is not only ‘unequivocal’, but it is very likely (90%) that most of the changes in climate are caused by man-made greenhouse gas emissions.
The consequences of the predicted climate change will be felt globally and most acutely in developing nations. Couple this with increasing travel, energy, food and technology demands, and the International Energy Agency says the world will need almost 60% more energy in 2030 than in 2002. Fossil fuels will still account for most of these needs, which, coupled with the increased demand and the prospect of future supply shortages, adds a further driver for reducing energy use.
A recipe for disaster?
Climate change will have major implications for the built environment as well as ecology and agriculture: with over 50% of the world’s population living in cities, we need to both mitigate future environmental issues as well as adapt to the effects of the damage already caused. Engineering, along with appropriate social and economic measures can offer solutions to many of these concerns.
Infrastructure can hold the key
Infrastructure in particular will be the key to climatic adaptation and mitigation. In developed countries this will mean renewing often antiquated service facilities. Over half of London’s water pipes are more than a hundred years old, unable to cope with increasing consumption levels and prone to fracturing with temperature increases, so a thousand miles of the capital’s pipeline are scheduled to be replaced by 2010. In developing countries, new infrastructure must be installed to take account of rapid increases in demand, fluctuating weather conditions and environmental impact.
Wadi Hanifah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is an example of how new infrastructure can take the strain of growing populations. International multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy Buro Happold has worked on this award winning project to provide environmental remediation to the Wadi and its environs. The work includes flood and dry weather flow performance, water quality remediation, landscape restoration and enhancement, and utilities and highways upgrading and co-ordination. With the population of Riyadh projected to double to 10 million by 2021, a key aspect of the project is to improve the city's use of water, reducing its reliance on expensive desalinated water from the coast.
Valuing our resources
Water as well as energy will become scarce in some areas, requiring the sourcing of new supplies as well as a more efficient use of existing resources. Educational research centres such as the Eden Project, St Austell, Cornwall are paving the way forward with new sustainable, alternative energy technologies and innovative use of water. Buro Happold worked on many aspects of this award-winning world-class example of sustainability, including building services engineering, computation and simulation analysis, acoustic consultancy, sustainability and alternative technologies. The environmental strategies focus on thermal comfort (heating and natural cooling), indoor air quality (natural and mechanical ventilation), renewable energy and water conservation. Key to the solutions was careful design of the building fabric to conserve energy in winter, reduce heat gain in summer and provide fresh air and daylight in all rooms. Energy and water usage are monitored and fully integrated into the future site building management system
Corporate responsibility
Commercial and industrial premises and processes must also improve their carbon footprint and local impact. Designed ten years ago to be the greenest office in the UK, the Wessex Water Operations Centre in Bath consumes less than one third of the energy required to power a standard headquarters building.
As well as producing a low energy design, which received one of the first ‘Excellent’ ratings under the BREEAM 1998 assessment method, the building has been shown to deliver. In partnership with the client, Buro Happold carried out several years of monitoring work in the new offices. The initial analysis showed that performance was not as good as hoped for, but by working closely with the building users on the way in which they work with it, energy consumption has been managed down to target values. This process of post-occupancy evaluation of projects is vital to ensure that promises are delivered, and to enable everyone to learn properly from their experience.
The Genzyme Center, Massachusetts, USA, is the world headquarters for the biotechnology company Genzyme Corporation and is another stunning example of how the commercial world can achieve high environmental responsibility. It is the largest corporate office building to receive a LEED*** Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, the nation's foremost authority on environmentally responsible building practices.
Buro Happold's engineers set out to develop the Genzyme building ‘from the inside out'; from the individual working space to its overall complex structure. Due to the close collaboration of the design team, developer, client, and construction team, a balance was achieved between aesthetics, cost, ‘buildability' and functionality; resulting in a sustainable and people-friendly office where the occupants have a high degree of control over their personal working environments.
The future?
Buro Happold’s Andrew Cripps, sustainability and alternative technologies (SAT) group director, says:
”There are many techniques available to us to reduce the environmental impact of our lives. The challenge now is to deliver these effectively and quickly, and to overcome the many barriers that inhibit the use of the best engineering solutions. Central to this is learning to live within our limits, and helping people to use what is built for them correctly – the technologies are only part of the answer. We are doing our best to be part of the solution.”
About Buro Happold
Buro Happold is a multi-disciplinary international practice of consulting engineers established in 1976. Our aim is to produce high quality engineering design in concept, in detail and in execution, on time, to programme and delivering excellent value for money. Our distinctive culture and ethos is still based on the same principles of care, value and elegance that were established when the practice was founded.
We offer civil, structural, building services, environmental, infrastructure, traffic, ground, fire, façade, mechanical and electrical engineering, as well as quantity surveying, sustainability design, health and safety management, computational fluid dynamics analysis, inclusive design consultancy, project management, urban design and a range of specialist CAD services.
Ends
Notes to editor
* Source Environment Agency
** BREEAM - Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method
*** LEED - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Press office and practice information at www.burohappold.com
Images are available on request.
For more information, please contact:
Gill Sincock
Press and PR Manager
Tel +44 (0)1225 320600
Fax +44 (0)8707 874148
Email gill.sincock@burohappold.com
