NDY Environment

Norman Disney & Young has considerable experience and expertise in Environmental Engineering and the attainment of Ecologically Sustainable Development within the natural and built environments.

In conjunction with our Building Engineering Services disciplines, Norman Disney & Young is capable of providing total integrated solutions focusing on energy conservation, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

Services provided by our Environmental Engineering team include:

• Ecologically Sustainable Developments
• Integrated Solutions
• Thermal Modelling
• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Modeling
• Environmental Performance Assessments
• Recyclability
• Emission Trading Assessments

Norman Disney & Young is committed to energy efficient and environmentally responsible design practices and adopts the following basic principles:

Biodiversity - Maintain, protect and restore biodiversity and natural ecosystems

Energy & Resources - Minimise the consumption of energy and non-renewable resources

Recycling - Promote the use and re-cycling of materials

Pollution - Minimise waste and minimise the pollution of air, water and land

Health & Safety - Maximise health, safety and comfort of users of the built environment

Knowledge Transfer - Transfer ESD knowledge and experience to clients, other consultants and to the broader community.

Integrated Solutions

There is growing evidence that industrialised countries need to focus on methods by which to reduce the output of greenhouse gases.

One of the key means of achieving this is by designing and building environmentally sustainable buildings which consume less energy and produce less waste and fewer greenhouse gases.

For commercial buildings, the specific building services principally responsible for greenhouse gas emissions are cooling (28%), air handling (22%), lighting (21%) and heating (13%). Thus, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and lighting account for 84% of commercial building sector greenhouse emissions. Reductions in power required for these services can produce significant gains through lower operating costs, in addition to reduced greenhouse gas production.

The shell performance of a building has a major bearing on its heating, cooling and illumination requirements.

By carrying out innovative and practical engineering, with enhancements in the thermal, day lighting and natural ventilation performance of building shells, significant reductions in energy costs can be achieved. For instance, increasing the efficiency of artificial lighting will directly lower energy consumption and at the same time lower cooling requirements, which will further reduce emissions. A successful process requires an integrated design approach.

With NDY' s multidisciplinary services capability, optimum solutions can be achieved.

Sustainable Development

To achieve sustainable energy conservation, the process for a new project or major refurbishment needs to start at the initial concept stage. Building orientation, inclusion of internal and external shading, adoption of the most appropriate type of building materials and selection of energy efficient building services all play a significant part in meeting the requirements for a sustainable development.

Specific areas that need to be addressed include:

• Building orientation and shading analysis - thermal modelling software programs allow such evaluation in a cost effective manner
• Selection of the right facade including the most suitable type of glazing. This requires an in depth study of various options including use of Smart Windows
• Evaluation of the most energy efficient lighting including natural day lighting and automatic lighting control features where economically feasible
• Adoption of the most energy efficient air conditioning systems such as Variable Air Volume (VAV) and Hybrid Ventilation
• Utilisation of renewable energies such as solar, wind and geothermal
• Evaluation of co-generation techniques
• Minimisation of use of ozone depleting substances.
• Water and waste management

Environmentally Integrated Interiors

NDY provides a total design package for integrated interiors for a better work environment and at the same time prevent sick building syndrome. The design package takes into account the following key aspects:

• Lighting comfort
• Thermal comfort
• High indoor air quality
• Appliance specification; photocopiers, printers and computers
• Environmentally friendly finishes including paints, flooring, coverings, carpets, glues, adhesives, furnishings etc

Recyclability

NDY has compiled a database of core building materials with particular emphasis on environmental friendliness and recycability.

This would enable securing recyclable materials in a cost effective manner and allows selection of the most appropriate finishes and equipment within a building.

Emission Trading

An important consideration for property owners and managers is that the net carbon dioxide reduction could qualify as carbon credits that may be sold like securities on the emerging carbon credit market, providing an ongoing source of revenue.

This could mean that property owners and managers will benefit through lower operating costs, as well as selling the carbon credits they accrue on an annual basis.

For new developments or major refurbishments, values of potential CO2 savings may be obtained by using thermal modeling techniques, which can forecast the energy and CO2 savings based on actual weather data for a region along with other required parameters.

In each case, the processes will need to withstand the most rigorous third party scrutiny for the carbon credits to be accepted as tradable.

For more information on how NDY can help you create an environmentally sustainable development contact us online, or in person.