Andrew Pearson

The tool is also integrated into the Brick Link marketplace, so once a design is complete (and even as it is being developed) the price is constantly displayed, parts can be interrogated, and the bricks can be ordered direct from the marketplace.. What can we learn?.

The difficulty in installing adequate PV on multi residential developments will be even greater.The only immediate pathway for these dwellings to become net zero is to invest in either a zero carbon PPA or carbon offset scheme, both of which come with significant increases in the cost of purchased electricity..

Embodied carbon in sustainable building design.On one hand, a Passivhaus building will need triple glazing, additional insulation and airtight membranes.The heat pump may contain refrigerants with high global warming potential and the MVHR unit will require insulated ductwork.

Much of this may be made out of materials with high embodied carbon such as aluminium or blown plastics.This additional material volume becomes additional embodied carbon.. On the other hand, a Passivhaus design tends to be a more compact shape, thus less materials used.

Due to its more efficient envelope performance, a Passivhaus building needs a small heating system, and due to its reduced energy demand, it requires a smaller PV array.

These characteristics, when coupled with a focus on procuring low embodied carbon materials and equipment, can deliver objectively low embodied carbon designs, despite the additional material volume.. Based on the above, it can be observed that some of the inherent characteristics of Passivhaus increase embodied carbon whilst others reduce it.Chips help speed up the process, because we can move chunks of the design around very quickly and keep data associated with them.

We can do things like automate routing of certain utilities, based on the properties of the Chips.And that enables us to try lots of different options in a short amount of time.

As mentioned, this is a key element of our Design to Value approach, as it enables us to get closer to an optimum solution..Unfortunately, we sometimes find ourselves in the conventional engineering situation of having to limit the number of options that we look at because we haven't got the time or the resources to look at too many.