About Bio-Nordic Build
Sustainable Building & Engineering Design Bio-Nordic offers a full range of ‘sustainable’ low and zero carbon heating, cooling and ventilating solutions and our primary focus is on biomass water and air heating and solar thermal water heating, core energy needs. However, our aim is also to ensure that our clients have access to information and products that minimise their own energy consumption and economic outlay and indirectly their overall impact on the environmental climate. To this end, our first priority is to help our clients identify how to reduce their demand for energy by adopting practices and energy reduction measures that actively save energy. This working ethos frequently results in delivering smaller capacity engineering based solutions than would otherwise have been the case. Although this could appear contrary to a sound business strategy we disregard this view, believing instead that offering the best and least partial advice we can for the benefit of both client and environment actually promotes good business. The better we tune buildings and their engineering solutions, the better the overall outcome and the greater our clients’ interest and contentedness. Building thermal and ventilation performance therefore occupies a key stage of our initial consultations. In order to be able to offer expert advice as well as sound stratagems, we work in close partnership with one of Britain’s leading sustainable building design practices , LEDA Ltd, a consulting co-operative based centrally in Leeds, Yorkshire. LEDA were the first practice in the UK to gain the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the category of Sustainable Development, a reflection of their pioneering work in the field of low energy/low carbon design and architectural and building services integration. LEDA consist of specialist sustainable design architects and professional design engineers working side-by-side to provide the most up-to-date advice in the industry.
Examples of those elements of performance we would seek to influence are: Fabric thermal insulation performance (both external and intermediate) Fittings performance (glazing, doors, ventilation terminals, etc) Building Air Tightness (Reduced energy leakage with controlled ventilation) Choice of equipment and its location (I.T.and infrastructure, washing, catering and cooling equipment, lighting and specialist electrical services) New-build: strategic planning, orientation, layout, structure, room designations, Building materials (sustainable product sourcing, controlled vapour transfer, etc) Engineering Options: Reviewing the entire servicing strategy.
In their own words: LEDA Low & Zero Carbon Building Design Services: Design Advice There are a number of ways that LEDA can help the design team to improve the environmental performance of the project design. We can assist in your response to bids and expressions of interest where there are requirements to achieve high environmental standards and BREEAM ratings. We can help at the feasibility stage of projects to prioritise options for reducing carbon emissions and the incorporation of renewable energy to achieve specific planning requirements. At subsequent project stages we are able to continue our role as advisors or to undertake detailed environmental services design. Environmental Strategy We can assist in formulating a strategic approach on large developments working with the project brief and demands imposed by planning authorities. We can model options, quantify and compare the cost benefits as well as help evaluate the longer term advantages from an operational and life cycle perspective. The wider social and economic issues are included in our assessment of the best sustainable options and the benefits that may arise in these areas.
Integrated design for sustainability LEDA offers a team of advisors including engineers and architects who are used to working in a multidisciplinary environment. We have the experience of applying our specialised knowledge in sustainable building design working alongside other design teams. Our aim is to integrate the sustainable design approach with the wider design aims to ensure that all aspects are working together to achieve the best outcome. We work within budgets and project programmes and look to maximise the benefit of the investment in time and resource. BREEAM We have trained in BREEAM assessment and can advise on the design requirements to achieve Very Good, Excellent and Outstanding ratings. Code for Sustainable Homes We are Code for Sustainable Homes assessors and can advise on how to achieve Codes 4, 5 and 6. The combinations and options that best suit the project based on considerable experience with renewable energy systems in buildings. Standards and Analysis We use various engineering methods to model and asses designs including SAP, NHER, SBEM, Passivhaus PHP, Dynamic Simulation and others to meet regulation compliance and to develop understanding of daylight, thermal and overall comfort performance. Design and Operation Issues -Designing Buildings for People The built environment comprises of a number of overlapping systems that provide the comfort conditions inside and around buildings. People interact with these systems in various ways. It is important to keep in mind their understanding and consequent ability to use the building to its full potential. We believe in designers working closely with clients and users in creating designs and spaces that are useable and beautiful in equal measure. This requires clear communication of the intended use and desired conditions so that the design is based on a full appreciation and understanding by all parties involved. Programme and Construction implications Low carbon strategies can pose problems for the construction phase of the project. We can help identify the risks that may arise from an innovative design approach to services and construction systems and assess impacts on the programme and costs. Visit : www.leda.coop for full details of their services and case history. Published by: Bio-Nordic Ltd, UK. Please visit www.bio-nordic.co.uk for further details.