What We Do

Our team of proactive engineers work with our sustainability consultants and the wider project team to deliver the best holistic solution for our clients.  In deriving the end solution we consider ways to negate the need for high energy consumption systems to reduce the carbon emissions of a development.  The solutions are specific to each building to suit the building form, the use of the facilities and our client’s aspirations.   The services literally put life into the building.  They create a suitable environment where we can work, live and play.

Our team of engineers will review and develop systems to suit your building.  These systems include:

Incoming services, gas, water and electrical (be they grid or locally generated)

Ventilation

Heating and cooling

Hot and cold water services

Above ground drainage

Electrical power wiring

Design of lighting, daylighting or artificial, and controls

Data Services – communications and IT networks

Fire detection systems and protection

Security systems – access control, CCTV and alarm system.

Facade engineering

Renewable technologies

You might require some assistance to develop a heating system within a house, or at the other end of the spectrum, provide a range of services to a more complex operating theatre or laboratory.  Both extremes require the right level of attention to ensure the system can be installed.  They create the correct environment and they can be maintained and replaced in the future.  We have the experience to design the right level of services to suit your project – now and to ensure it remains able to cope into the future.

As well as design we can provide advice in terms of condition of services, maintenance and construction monitoring.  We can also monitor the design of services by others as an independent client advisor.  We would be pleased to tailor our services to suit your exact needs.

Our specialists use dynamic thermal modelling software to see how your building will perform, before it’s even built!  Using award winning IES Virtual Environment software we can evaluate:

Thermal comfort

Energy consumption & CO₂ emissions

Overheating

Passive design strategies

Ventilation strategies

Internal daylight

Solar gain analysis

Glare analysis

Overshadowing

Building fabric choices

Renewable energy feasibility

Building regulations compliance (Part L & EPCs)

BB101 compliance

Involving our sustainable design consultants at the very earliest stage in the design process can help ensure that our team can mitigate wherever possible the use of active Building Engineering Solutions in pursuit of the correct internal environments. Our team utilise dynamic thermal modelling to accurately simulate a buildings energy use and carbon emissions. With this tool our consultants can change the building easily, working with the whole design team to see what effect a change in construction may have to the carbon emissions and the internal environmental conditions.

Our team use the energy hierarchy framework to assist our approach

Minimise the use of energy

Working with our clients to educate and review via audits and analysis to reduce wasteful behavior and improve management.

Improve energy efficiency

By the minimisation of heat losses and heat gains by the correct specification of buildings, from orientation, to material specification to the use of blinds

By maximising the use natural daylighting

To reduce the use of mechanical ventilation by the use of natural ventilation

Utilise Renewable Resources

Utilise photovoltaic panels, solar thermal, air and ground source heat pumps, biomass, harnessing wind energy or hydro electric.

Use of non sustainable resource via low carbon technologies

Delivery of energy from fossil fuels but utilisation of delivery using low carbon technology

Our low carbon consultants can undertake a feasibility study to allow the team to understand any viable low energy solutions, to understand the pros and cons, and to give the client an understanding of costs, both in terms of capital and in the future.  This study will consider the energy demand of the development, review the low and zero carbon technologies appropriate to the specific site or development, provide a cost review including life cycle analysis of solutions or proposals and provide information to understand local planning requirements.  We can carry out a detailed review of carbon savings and provide information on availability of grants or wider incentives.

Energy statements, or energy strategy reports, are a requirement for planning in an increasing number of authorities in the UK.  This study can be submitted as part of the planning application to demonstrate the carbon reduction that will be achieved in your development.

Utilising dynamic thermal modelling enables Delta Green to see how your building will work before its even built!

We use thermal modelling to test if the proposed building form and construction will enable natural ventilation to be utilised.  We can include the appropriate internal heat gains from people, lighting and equipment for your building type and test different types of openings to see if thermal comfort can be maintained.  If overheating does occur we can assess alternative construction materials, shading devices, opening strategies and even management options to improve the comfort levels in the building.

Using thermal modelling software enables us to evaluate the design of natural ventilation, seeing if singled sided, cross or stack ventilation is the most appropriate solution, demonstrating the ventilation rates achieved in each space.

We work hard to make a building design work for its future occupants and for our clients, developing practical, cost-effective solutions to achieve successful passive design.

Our Sustainability Consultants are accredited BREEAM and Code for Sustainable Homes Assessors with many years’ experience achieving tough targets on challenging projects.  Our Assessors lead project teams through the assessments, providing in-depth guidance on how to design in credit scoring features to achieve credits and aim to simplify the process for all involved. The earlier we can be involved in a project, the more successful the assessment is and this also minimises the financial burden of achieving an assessment.

Our experienced BREEAM Assessors cover all sectors and are also BREEAM Accredited Professionals (AP) which demonstrates their professional specialism in sustainability and environmental design and gains you an extra 3 credits if they are appointed sufficiently early in an assessment.

We also provide a number of other services that can provide evidence for your BREEAM and Code Assessments including:

Daylight Calculations

Energy Performance Certificates (EPC)

Energy Statements

Dynamic thermal modelling for thermal comfort

You might not be developing a building – you might be relocating, in or out of accommodation, residential or commercial or seeking guidance in terms of reducing energy or maintenance, or improving internal conditions. With this in mind we offer a wide suite of surveys:

Condition Surveys

Aimed at property owners, developers, landlords, tenants and business owners so that they can make informed decisions having an understanding of the installed building engineering services within a building.  This will cover the age and condition of the services, taking into account maintenance and  concluding any issues in terms of compliance with legislation, long terms issues and risks including ability to use systems in the future.

Acquisition Surveys

Aimed at potential purchasers or tenants so that they can understand the installed engineering systems to their potential building or demise.  Such a survey reviews the age of the services, their age and condition following a maintenance regime.  It identifies any issues which might be pertinent to our clients’ required use or intentions for the building, such as flexibility for fit out.  This allows our clients to understand and address any risks associated with their building choice.

Dilapidation Surveys

At the end of a lease a tenant might require some assistance to negotiate a settlement with their landlord, or the landlord might want to understand the costs of re-instatement works once their tenant leaves a property.  We prepare these reports in various schedules, be it a standard Scott Style Schedule or something more tailored to suit the exact needs of your clients.

Energy Survey

To assist our clients in understanding where they can make carbon savings by improving site management and or investment in the refurbishment or replacement of central plant or upgrading of fabric.  Payback periods might be expressed as either carbon or monetary savings.

Delta Green understands the challenges of making your building comply with the latest building regulations.  Our consultants can assist you with this by providing design targets at the outset of a project and undertaking initial calculations early in the design process to determine the optimum combination of efficient building fabric, services and if required low and zero carbon technologies.  We are always keen to provide cost effective compliance methods that work for your building.

Our energy assessors can produce Part L & EPC compliance calculations for submission to building control for both domestic and non-domestic buildings.  These might have been requested as part of your building regulations submission and referred to as SAP Calculations (Domestic) or SBEM Calculations (Non Domestic).

Local planning authorities often require calculations to demonstrate that the proposed building will not affect neighbouring properties and that the layouts will provide good levels of daylight for the occupants.  We can demonstrate this using the award winning IES Virtual Environment software.

We can provide detailed overshadowing studies, assess the sunlight availability using VSC and Sky Factors of existing and proposed developments to determine Right to Light compliance and provide internal average daylight factor and uniformity ratio calculations.

These studies can be used as part of a planning submission and/or the Daylight and Uniformity Ratio calculations can be used as evidence for BREEAM and Code for Sustainable Homes Assessments.