The retail and industrial markets' building stock is dominated by architecturally unambitious, visually intrusive steel portal frame sheds. The team has developed a lightweight, modular timber system that is cost effective, faster to build and intrinsically more sustainable. The system saves 30% of embodied carbon used in construction and 35% of energy in use and will suit large span retail distribution buildings, retail stores 'on Stilts’ and conventional retail buildings ‘at Grade’. Its gentle, distinctive form will enhance the built environment, reduce planning impacts and uplift customer experience. The 2-year programme includes: pre-planning, planning, prototype design, and then trialling of the system on a retail/distribution store; methodology for rollout by a global retailer on their wider UK and European stock and adaptability to suit food superstores. The outputs will show that low carbon, innovative and inspiring buildings can be delivered in the retail shed sector.

To develop a suite of novel commercial forecasting tools to provide accurate construction and other industry forecasts grounded in robust economic principles.

The OPTIMISE tool will be specifically designed to give better guidance on design decisions and will enable the delivery of low impact and zero carbon buildings in the UK. The innovative approach will be applicable at every design stage, with the most significant gains in building performance resulting through its application to the concept design stage (during which there is the greatest potential to explore alternative design solutions). The tool will be able to optimise complex design factors such as glazed area, choice of construction materials, building orientation and compliance based on objectives such as energy consumption, carbon emissions and cost and constraints such as achieving specific daylight factor values. The developed technology is a software tool that provides designers with a set of alternative optimised design solutions that aid decision making at any design stage. This takes advantage of existing 3D dynamic simulation modelling software (IES) and optimisation algorithms, designed specifically for use with a dynamic building design process (Loughborough University).

CarbonBuzz is the result of collaborative project between architects, engineers, professional bodies, policy makers and academics to develop more effective measures to reduce the energy consumption of existing and new building. This unique online platform, offers users a graphical interface to benchmark and track the energy use of building and building portfolios from design to operation. It encourages users to share expertise and compare forecast and actual energy use against CIBSE benchmarks as well as live data anonymously. CarbonBuzz provides a robust foundation for comparing energy use and CO2 emissions from different measurement and reporting standards spanning acquisition to operation (Part L, EPC, planning, DEC, CRC, Carbon Trust Standard). The project will broaden CarbonBuzz’s scope to create an authoritative database on design and actual energy use of buildings by: continuing to champion transparency in reporting energy use and fostering communication between experts, clients and operators; delivering a mechanism to manage energy use expectations for both publicly and privately funded projects from acquisition to design and operation; informing future policy making by providing evidence for scientific research into the factors affecting the real energy use of buildings; and delivering a collaborative interface that will link the database and reporting framework to other research, commercial and governmental programmes working towards the reduction of energy use in buildings.

Awaiting Public Summary

The Whole Life Carbon Management ‘Key’ project and application enables simple but robust analyses of whole life carbon performance from a very early stage in the design process. Specified jointly by Davis Langdon and Element Energy with a focus on early stage input by architects (as advised Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios) the system can provide very quick comparison of the whole life carbon impact of various design options. As the design develops, more detailed alternatives can be studied with the system forming a basis for more detailed options studies (with input from Cambridge Architectural Research). The initial implementation of the system will be available as part of the Southfacing Services Ltd and Element Energy Carbon Keys software platform.