creative design : sustainable approach email: office@bell-architects.com phone: 028 2766 6406

Environmental

Environmental Policy & Intelligent approach to energy, sustainability, Architecture & Development

We are aware of the approach taken by James Lovelock which appears to suggest that our modern environmental activity is 'too little too late', however our perspective on ecological design is based on stewardship of the planet - if we don't attempt to look after it, then who will? We do not support Lovelocks notion that the earth is a live being, but we do believe its systems have a degree of self-correction, and we would rather help that process than hinder it.

Our sustainable design approach embraces the latest advances in engineering and environmental technology which are intelligent, relevant and use less energy in processing the materials involved, which means appreciating historical models as well. We also include, as standard practice since our inception, the intelligent and long-term economic exploitation of the resources of topography, vegetation, solar, wind and water energy. From our first project in 2000 to the present we have maintained a commitment to sustainable values.

Environmental objectives need to be established clearly with a client in order to address particular sensitivities and provide a reference framework for the designers.

Specific design characteristics result from this approach, many of which are incorporated in our realised projects:

1. Flexible designs that increase the building’s longevity and value.
2. Buildings that exploit passive solar energy for space heating, solar hot water and/or create their own self-sufficient microclimate.
3. Demonstration of sensitivity to the beneficial and detrimental effects of macro-climate and local micro-climate through siting and organisation.
4. Energy efficiency better than regulation standards while ensuring thermal comfort levels.
5. Reduction of overall energy consumption and running costs through careful design of the building fabric, mechanical and electrical systems and building management systems.
6. The creation of indoor environments that respond positively to our main senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.
7. Less-processed materials that have achieved architectural design value despite their basic nature.
8. Where possible, to encourage the use of natural ventilation/air supply.
9. Incorporation of building water retention in the building or landscape to reduce demand upon the local infrastructure.
10. Buildings that encourage ‘occupation’ by wildlife.
11. An understanding of how the building and its materials may be demolished and recycled in the future.
12. To encourage use of the BREEAM environmental assessment method.
13. To encourage clients to look at all aspects of their day to day operation including inventory from the point of view of sustainability, recyclability and energy consumption.

Sustainable development has become both an aspiration not to deny future generations the quality of life and environment that we have enjoyed and a euphemism for survival. The whole picture must involve not only the way in which we design – for our philosophical and moral concern for the Earth’s welfare is essentially the same foundation for design as for living – but also the entire process of collaboration, where altruism can be even more valid an approach than competitiveness, to the end where the occupants are imbued with the same sense of respect for the environment and their fellow human beings. This may sound optimistic, but it is essentially an approach that we believe to be consistent with the underlying meaning of sustainability.

The building of shelter consumes one sixth of the world's fresh water supply, one quarter of its wood harvest and two fifths of its fossil fuels and manufactured materials.

As a result, building has become one of the primary targets of ecological reform.

On the basis that brownfield sites have been chosen to promote liveable communities, we consider that the following basic generic tenets characterise a better sustainable design approach. However, they are perhaps expedient measures and a more fundamental shift in the nature our society’s behaviour will become far more significant in the longer term in achieving the environmental quality that sustainability demands.

1. Use of recycled and renewable materials.
2. Use of low-embodied energy materials, or high embodied energy materials spread thinly.
3. Use of harvested timber.
4. Water management systems.
5. Low maintenance.
6. Recycling buildings.
7. Reduction of ozone-depleting chemicals.
8. Preservation of the natural environment.
9. Energy efficiency.
10. Solar orientation.
11. Access to public transportation.