Part L of Building Regulations & EPCs
A building or dwelling needs an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) on construction, sale or let. An EPC provides an energy rating for a building on a scale of A+ to G, allowing prospective buyers or occupiers to gauge the energy efficiency of a building.
As a qualified LCEA with CIBSE, GALEAStudio can provide EPCs for any complexity of building. This also means we can provide assessment against Part L of Building Regulations for submission to Building Control, for new-construction or refurbishment projects.
Energy Strategy and Low- and Zero-Carbon Feasibility
Energy Strategies and LZC Feasibility Studies establish the concept of how a development will be energised, heated and cooled efficiently, and how LZC technologies can feed into that process productively.
GALEAStudio can provide consultancy, modelling and reporting to satisfy Energy Strategy and LZC Feasibility requirements for planning applications.
With extensive knowledge of London Boroughs, the Greater London Authority and beyond, we aim to make the planning process with regard to energy and carbon targets as smooth as possible, while providing key advice to maximise the technical and financial performance of a development.
Thermal Comfort and Daylight Studies
These studies provide quantitative assessment to help design buildings that are both thermally comfortable and provide optimal daylight conditions for occupant wellbeing and energy reduction.
Increasingly a requirement of planning applications and BREEAM assessments, GALEAStudio can provide high-quality input to help develop design, and provide the necessary documentation to satisfy planning conditions, BREEAM targets or similar.
Building Physics, Passive Design and Natural Ventilation
GALEAStudio can play an essential role from design inception by providing crucial advice on how the form, function and physics of a development can achieve carbon and energy goals. Our advice can extend to incorporate natural ventilation and other passive design measures.
We can offer qualitative advice from the outset to avoid larger costs, providing over-arching advice and ‘rules of thumb’. As the design progresses, this can develop into quantitative input to provide higher-fidelity information and to fully inform the design process.
Dynamic Simulation Modelling (DSM) Analysis
3-Dimensional Dynamic Simulation is one of the sophisticated design tools we use to provide quantitative analysis and add rigour to the design process, to help shape and inform the building and optimise performance.
This tool generally provides zonal and whole-building analysis, as well as information on energy consumption, carbon emissions, thermal performance, internal light levels and air movement and more. It is an essential tool in designing a well-optimised building.
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Analysis
CFD analysis, in 2D and 3D is used for complex areas of buildings to provide higher fidelity information than DSM Analysis can achieve. This is often used in areas such as Atria, Data Centres, or where knowledge of exact airflow behaviour is required.
Masterplanning
Energy Efficiency is not just a consideration on a building-by-building basis. Therefore, GALEAStudio provides advice on masterplanning schemes, both in terms of the most efficient ways to energise the site, and on how massing and building placement can affect the performance of the site.
Intelligent Buildings and Smart Development
Approximately 80% of the energy a building consumes in its lifetime is in occupation, so important steps towards a low-carbon economy include the construction of buildings that can monitor and correct themselves, as well as distribution networks that are responsive to energy generation and demand.
GALEAStudio can advise on how developments can use energy in a smart way. We believe energy distribution should be regarded as give-and-take relationship with the National Grid and, with input from trusted partners, we aim to incorporate intelligent building design to help reduce energy consumption.
CIBSE TM54
The issue of the ‘Performance Gap’ is due to the discrepancy between the energy consumed by a building ‘In Use’ (once occupied) and that ‘predicted’ as part of the Part L compliance modelling exercise.
Ultimately, the Part L methodology is only a compliance tool used to compare a wide variety of buildings, rather than an accurate reflection of each individual building. For this, detailed, bespoke modelling is required and CIBSE TM54 provides the template.
Energy Audits
A huge amount of energy is wasted every year as a result of buildings being mismanaged or not functioning as they should, faulty equipment and inadequate monitoring systems to highlight these problems.
GALEAStudio can conduct building surveys to highlight the areas requiring attention and offer detailed recommendations to save on energy costs.
BREEAM
BREEAM is an audit process and assessment tool used to evaluate the environmental, wellbeing and sustainability credentials of a development.
Now an integral part of the construction process to secure planning consent, GALEAStudio with our trusted partners, can provide the full suite of BREEAM assessment from inception to practical completion. We have a wealth of experience achieving all BREEAM ratings, including ‘Outstanding’, as well as the energy and modelling work required to support the process.
