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Sustainability continued...

Conservation of the natural landscape

Not only has modern low-density development gobbled up unnecessarily large areas of farmland and natural landscape, but modern roads, designed with only speed, capacity and safety in mind, often ride roughshod over it, completely destroying its shape and character. Good, dense planning retains much more landscape automatically, but it should also incorporate streets of shapes and gradients which respect existing land forms.

A steep, curving street in our scheme for a site in central Tiverton between the Town Hall and the river Exe.

Renewable energy sources

If the patterns of new settlements and buildings are based on the principles outlined above they will be fundamentally sustainable and as such will provide a suitable context for the provision of energy sources which are either renewable or make no more than modest demands on our scarce resources. The technology involved in many renewable sources is relatively new, so deciding on which to adopt is not usually simple. Probably the main criteria must be effectiveness, payback period and scale. For example, their payback period currently makes solar panels providing water heating more viable than photovoltaic arrays, while large wind turbines on open hillsides or out at sea make much more sense than small ones in sheltered urban settings. It is also important to take wider implications into account. The use of biomass systems on a large scale, for instance, may well make unacceptable demands on land which would otherwise be available for food production, and it may well not be possible to guarantee future supplies. Ground source heat pumps, which are extensively used in Sweden, seem one of the best small scale systems.

Aesthetics

In conclusion we should draw attention to a key aspect of sustainability which is usually forgotten. If what we build is ugly, people are only too anxious for it to be demolished as soon as possible, whereas if it is beautiful they soon grow to love it, and want to preserve it.

Building Design

So much of the energy expended in buildings is due to the way in which the external environment impacts on the building facades. We therefore work with our M&E Engineers to establish the key parameters on building orientation, massing and fenestration, on building materials, insulation methods and construction techniques to minimize embodied CO² and create the internal environment necessary for really low energy building services installations. The users of buildings are essential parts of the environmental control systems, opening windows and doors, dressing to suit the weather, turning lights on and off. We use our understanding of human factors to develop designs that are responsive to both people and to the seasons. This creates internal environments that are both delightful and stimulating, but also are cheaper to run and maintain. Our initial task on any project is to establish a detailed understanding of the operational requirements for the buildings and identify opportunities afforded by the location and balance of uses. We will work to determine the range of uses for the buildings and in the site evaluation with regard to the local infrastructure, and opportunities for sustainable development. We would discuss the space planning decisions by examining key criteria such as access to daylight, natural ventilation and building adjacencies in order to promote beneficial use of any microclimate created by site location.

Design Process

During the first stage of this project we will establish environmental performance targets for the development in agreement with the Client and team. We will then work with our M&E Engineers to develop a series of option appraisals for key aspects for the environmental design in order to establish the optimum approach to achieving the targets. This might include opportunities for wind or solar renewable power and water management. We will ask that our engineers make extensive use of modelling and analysis at these early stages in order to properly evaluate the options. These findings will be communicated to the Client using written and graphical means.

Built Form

To achieve both sustainability and value for money we would favour a 'passive' approach to energy conservation concentrating on high insulation values, low airtightness and thermal mass, and a compact building form narrow enough to avoid air-conditioning while minimising the external envelope subject to heat loss. We would also arrange the buildings in such a way as to ease walking, cycling and access to public transport, so discourage the use of private cars.

Conclusion

The above factors inform ESHA Architects' approach to sustainable design. It is our policy to encourage our clients to:

1. Use low embodied energy materials (both in manufacture and transport).
2. Adopt solutions which result in low energy consumption in use.
3. Allow for the incorporation of renewable energy sources.
4. Install water saving components and techniques.
5. Use environmentally benign/non-polluting materials.
6. Use timber from sustainable sources.
7. Adopt insulation standards above the current building regulations.
8. Use components and materials that can be safely recycled.
9. Minimise waste in the construction process.

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