Sustainability

With a Post-Graduate Diploma in Sustainable Development and Climate Change from De Montfort University in Leicester, and with the design and construction of two low-energy houses under my belt, I feel passionately about low-energy design, and I concur with the above statement, and I believe that architects need to play their part in helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

I appreciate that low-energy buildings can only be made real where designer and client work together. There needs to be a partnership of enthusiasm and belief, to create a building that answers the brief but also embraces a sound low-energy approach from the very beginning. As architects, we would work with like-minded clients in applying the principles of fabric first, low embedded energy, optimal orientation, and sizing to suit. The best low-energy buildings would have minimal wastage in materials and in scale.

With a Bachelor of Science (BSc) Degree in Environmental Design from Sheffield Hallam University, I feel We must therefore act swiftly and play our part in limiting the further exacerbation of climate change whether that is through careful and considered low energy design or through retrofit. I believe we need to find alternatives to carbon intensive materials and prioritize the use of renewable, low energy & locally sourced materials in all construction projects. Therefore ‘Business as usual’ is no longer an option for the construction industry and I strongly believe clients are becoming more and more aware of this importance.