Services Sustainability

S Sustainability

Sustainability is an essential element of all modern built environment developments and masterplans.

Sustainability

Our expertise, knowledge of relevant legislation and practical experience enables us to provide expert consultancy on integrating sustainable development thinking, design and practices into our client’s property investment, development and management activities.

Our capabilities include one of the industries most advanced building performance analysis teams, highly experienced building certification assessment teams and a broad range of sustainability, energy and environmental specialisms. Our sustainability team also incorporates a dedicated R&D group and a number of experienced experts ensuring we remain at the leading edge of legislation and technology.

All specialists we employ are primarily design consultants who take a proactive approach, working as part of multi-disciplinary project teams to ensure sustainability is integrated into the design of projects. We have the capability to assist in all phases of the project life cycle – from advice on developing masterplans in the most sustainable manner, to detailed environmental modelling to analyse the design of buildings and their engineering systems, through to ongoing consultancy to monitor and drive the continuous improvement of buildings in operation.

Our broad ranging service offer can be provided as part of an integrated multi-disciplinary design, or as standalone services.

For more information, please contact our Director of Sustainability, Chris Birch cbirch@hilsonmoran.com

SUSTAINABILITY CONSULTANCY SERVICES:

Sustainable masterplanning
Energy & sustainability strategies
Whole Life Carbon Assessments
Building certification assessment Standards: BREEAM, LEED, SKA, CEEQUAL, WELL™, Fitwel, Energy Performance Certificates, Home Quality Mark, Estidama, and GSAS
Building Performance Analysis & Modelling: Building Regulation L1/L2 Assessments, Site Climatic Studies, Building Form & Massing Optimisation, Façade Environmental Performance Optimisation, Pedestrian Comfort Studies, Daylight & Shadow Studies and Indoor Thermal Comfort Assessments.
Corporate sustainability consultancy
Post occupancy evaluation
Research & development

Sustainability Case studies

240 Blackfriars: Dual BREEAM and LEED certification, Sustainability

Completed in 2014, the 240 Blackfriars development provides 230,000 sq ft of commercial office space over 19 storeys, a 10 unit residential block and ground floor retail units. Working closely with developers Great Portland Estates and architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris we delivered a scheme with engineering systems developed to accommodate a range of tenancy profiles across the 19 storey office.

As part of our scope we developed an engineering services and energy strategy which included highly efficient chillers and boilers and low energy LED lighting system with intelligent lighting controls, allowing the development to achieve a 25% improvement over Part L and a BREEAM Excellent Rating post construction

Since completion of the base building we have also supported a number of fit outs for tenants including law firm Boodle Hatfield and international publisher UBM.

On UBM’s fit out, we were appointed LEED Assessors with a brief to target LEED Platinum, the highest LEED certification. The fit out scored very highly in all categories including water, sustainable sites, the energy categories, environmental quality, materials and resources, also earning 5 innovation credits for the project design and construction. The project achieved a Platinum rating, with the highest LEED-CI rating in London and second highest LEED-CI rating of any project in the UK.

Neo Building, Manchester: WELL Assessment, Sustainability

Hilson Moran has led the MEP and sustainability design and implementation for the base build of their new office, the NEO building in Manchester. Formerly known as Bank Tower, the building has been completely refurbished for developer Bruntwood, following which we have completed the fit out design of our own office on the 5th floor.

The fit out was designed to the WELL Standard™, a newly released standard that addresses health and wellbeing. With accreditation now underway, the project is on route to be the first WELL Gold Standard™ accredited office in the North of England. This commercial standard enhances occupier experience and creates a healthier working environment.

A key element of the standard is to reduce the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from products and furniture in order to improve air quality. This involved extensive research to source suitable products and was reinforced with the continuous measurement of air quality, to meet the required standards and ensure long-term compliance. In addition, our own acoustics experts used digital modelling to create the acoustic signature of the working environment and help to create optimum acoustic conditions – rarely achieved within an open plan office.

Google Fit Out, 6 St Pancras Square: Sustainability

Hilson Moran were appointed by Google to manage and deliver a dual environmental certification process comprising of LEED and BREEAM for their fit out of 6 Pancras Square, along with creating and managing a bespoke Project Performance Metric and Innovation (PPMI) tracker. The PPMI brought the certification criteria, Google’s sustainability priorities and aspirations for innovation together into one live document accessible to the whole project delivery team through to completion.

We managed the dual certification process through key challenges, from early interfaces with the landlord about the base building, through significant scope changes relating to the tenant demise and spatial uses, up to completion at three ends of a staggered fit out programme. The process was managed effectively with frequent, concise, graphical and themed updates provided to the design team, contractor, novated design team, specialist consultants and sub-contractors, accounting for complexities arising from contractual divisions of specialist scopes. The fit out has achieved LEED 2009 CI ‘Platinum’ and BREEAM 2008 Offices ‘Excellent’ ratings. This makes it the second highest LEED rated interiors project in the UK.

Opportunities for environmental innovation were developed with the architect and contractor, for which our certified assessors managed the formal application process to enable their recognition by the US Green Building Council. These included Project Jack (a sustainable, demountable, adaptable and mobile meeting room), the Healthy Materials Tool (a registration portal for sub-contractors disclosure of product content during procurement), Carbon Profiling (a continuously updated process for reducing the embodied carbon of the fit out) and a Low Mercury Lighting plan (limiting the mercury content to 70 picograms per lumen-hour for the whole fit out).

We also managed visits from Google’s [e]Team, providing them with sustainability updates as the project progressed.

Ordnance Survey HQ, Southampton: Sustainability

This environmentally-progressive building within prestigious new business park Adanac Park in Southampton, is the new headquarters for Ordnance Survey. The building provides offices, a data centre and staff facilities totalling 16,300 sq m, including staff dining within a feature atrium.

We incorporated a number of sustainable and energy efficient features into our engineering systems design, including a mixed mode office design allowing natural heating and cooling during significant periods of the year. In addition, a large ground source heat pump system incorporating a closed loop network covers 80% of the annual cooling demand.

As the office is in close proximity to a busy main road, air quality and noise at the site were a potential constraint to the design of the building and the use of mixed mode engineering systems. However we applied state of the art environmental modelling techniques to ensure that air quality and noise limits were achieved within the building at all times.

Hilson Moran @HilsonMoran

- 1 Jan 1970