News archive for August, 2016
Very Low Noise Levels Reduce Quality
Posted on August 19th 2016
It is common practice that Local Authorities set planning conditions to ensure internal noise levels meet appropriate acoustic targets. We have advised on projects where Local Authorities have set very low target noise levels on the basis that they expect this to provide higher quality dwellings and better living conditions. Where we have encountered such situations we liaised with the …
London Plan: Zero Carbon Homes Deadline Approaches
Posted on August 18th 2016
The commencement date for the implementation of the ‘Zero Carbon’ standard by the Greater London Authority (GLA) is drawing closer, with all residential Stage 1 schemes received by the Mayor after 1 October expected to achieve this standard. ‘Zero Carbon’ has been defined by the GLA as a 35% reduction over Part L 2013 achieved on site, with the remaining …
Delighted to Support Berkeley Group Deliver Southall Gas Works Redevelopment
Posted on August 15th 2016
We are delighted to support Berkeley Group in the delivery of Southall Waterside, the significant mixed-use redevelopment of the former Southall gasworks site in the London Borough of Ealing. We are providing extensive Energy and Environmental Consultancy, including the District Heating Masterplan and Low-Energy Façade Optimisation. On 18th May 2016, Phase A received a unanimous resolution to grant planning. As …
Health and Wellbeing in Homes – UK Green Building Council Report
Posted on August 15th 2016
We are pleased to have been a key contributor to the Health and Wellbeing in Homes report, launched by the UK Green Building Council in July this year. The report aims to increase the focus of the property industry on how they can positively improve the mental, social and physical health and wellbeing of home occupiers, by providing recommendations and …
The Value of Early Planning for Heat Metering and Billing
Posted on August 15th 2016
Failure to consider how to meter and bill customers for heat from communal heating at an early stage exposes developers to the risk of lost revenue, interruptions to customer heat supply and significant reputational damage if customers perceive that the billing system is not fair, accurate and competitive. From our recent experience we recommend that developers including a communal heating …
New Starters
Posted on August 15th 2016
We are delighted to welcome three new people to our team, Vasiliki Kourgiozou, Zoe Lowther and Russell Hodgson. Russell and Zoe have joined us as graduate trainees and Vasiliki as an energy specialist. Vasiliki joins us with a skill-set developed on her Masters in Environmental Design & Engineering at UCL, with a focus in building modelling and optimisation. Russell has …