Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
it has been stated that 40% of materials were supplied from
within 35 miles of the site.
principle' of clothing and that the building will be cooler in the
mornings. In the summer it will be warm throughout the day
and in the winter an extra layer might need to be worn. The
layering principle also applies to building skins in the winter;
more insulation is required throughout the day and in the sum-
mer solar gains need to be kept out through external shading
and increased air change rates.
The HEELIS design focused on delivering an environment
where people want to work and can work through good day-
lighting, good thermal response and showcases the National
Trust's policies. The building was delivered with a limited
budget and built for the same cost as a standard building but
it only produces 28 kg of CO
2
/m
2
/yr which is below the BRE
benchmark of 32 kg. For further information on the Building
Awards see Building (3 May 2012).
4.6 Operation
4.6.1 Design factors
After going through the design process to deliver any project,
handing it over is just the start of that building's life, the begin-
ning of a new phase in its life cycle. To optimise the benefits of
creating adaptable and flexible buildings it is recommended to
consult with the building users before design starts to appreciate
the operational issues so that problems can be solved through
the design process. CDM regulations have always asked for an
operation and maintenance manual (OMM) manual; however, a
building user's guide is a non-technical guide so that the build-
ing occupiers can understand the impact of putting up internal
partitions when the building operates on cross ventilation or
that the floor loading cannot cope with concentrated line loads.
4.7 Reuse and demolition
4.7.1 Design factors
It could be argued this should be where the design process
starts, in considering how any project is to be demolished so
it can be reused and recycled, which comes back to where we
started with the site's location and client's brief. However,
building reuse represents the biggest structural design problem
to be solved - forward thinking would include demountable
and temporary structures and the question of how designs can
be completely dismantled back into component parts. This is
the ultimate challenge and throughout this manual it is a point
for consideration.
4.6.1.1 Significant sustainable wins
1. Seasonal commissioning of renewable energy sources,
building management systems, ventilation, in line with
Building Regulations and BSRIA/CIBSE guidelines.
2. Building user guide to include information on the
environmental and energy strategy of the building, emergency
information, water use, transport and ease of maintenance.
3. Increasing the use of the building by shared facilities and
offering the local community a space for clubs and groups
and building this into the access, security and operational
hours of the building.
4.7.1.1 Sustainable urban renewal
Globally there are at least 20 megacities (Pearce, 2006) that
have a population of over 10 million each - all with their own
unique climates, urban environments and infrastructure. The
global population is soon to hit the 9 billion mark (United
Nations, 2004) and we are all competing for energy, food,
water and resources. A sustainable community will ideally
be self-sufficient, or rely on cooperative trading agreements.
The idea might sound utopian but it is not new. In
Cities of
Tomorrow
Peter Hall discusses architectural theory in urban
planning from Le Corbusier's (1887-1965) vision of a 'city of
towers' and his design of Unite d'habitation for multi-storey
residential use to Ebenezer Howard's (1850-1928) 'Garden
City' concept (Hall, 2002). The modern architectural response
is captured in Ken Yeang's design of 'Eco Skyscrapers' to
increase the growth of high rise buildings in cities and increase
the population density in urban areas, so that land becomes
available for other uses. Within the urban environment there
is an increase in mixed-use developments so that people can
live close to work and travel less far, such as Wilkinson Eyre
Architects' redevelopment of 20 Blackfriars Road, London. In
urban areas we are seeing urban regeneration being promoted
with developers like Urban Splash, a rise in allotments along
with development of multi-storey green houses such as the
4.6.1.2 Focus 5: People
Consideration of people in buildings typically means to the
structural engineer: what is the appropriate live load to be
used from BS 6399 (BSI, 1996) or what is the existing build-
ings floor load capacity suitable for change of use? It might
be a surprising thing for an engineer to consider but struc-
tural engineers ultimately dictate how existing buildings can
be reused and how a building's life can be extended. We con-
sciously understand the human impact on the buildings we
design. Sustainable buildings require that understanding to be
taken a step further to consider not only the dynamics of build-
ing physics but also what will happen in the cities of tomorrow.
It is quite extraordinary, for example, to think that Victorian
industrial sheds have become luxury penthouse apartments for
our generation.
4.6.1.3 Case study: National Trust HEELIS
The National Trust's HEELIS building in Swindon won
Sustainable Building of the Year in 2007 at the Building
Awards and it now has five years' worth of post-occupancy
data (Building, 20 September 2007). It is a passively designed
building and carbon neutral but it could not maintain that status
if the people in the building did not understand the 'layering
