Elementa’s Green Sky Thinking Event: Resiliency “Unplugged”
On Thursday 28th April we were delighted to welcome some of the industry’s most progressive thinkers for our annual Green Sky Thinking event hosted at the award-winning LeSoCo Phase 1 for which we are proud to be MEP and Sustainability Consultants.
2016’s themes for Green Sky Thinking are threefold – Urban Resilience, Green Tech and Health & Wellbeing. We presented three distinct perspectives that span these issues, looking at how buildings and communities cope when they are ‘unplugged’ from the power grid. Our speakers explored how designing for resilience can go beyond bouncing back in the face of adversity – to ‘bounce forwards’ to new models of development that are healthier, more efficient and build stronger communities.
Resilience & Passive Survivability
Edward Garrod is Elementa’s Head of Sustainability and Integrated Design . He explored how in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy, North American cities and designers are beginning to focus on the concept of ‘passive survivability’. He went on to talk about emerging standards from the Resilient Design Institute allow us to stress test ‘unplugged’ buildings under extreme summer and winter conditions: citing the heatwave of 2003 which saw mortality rates for Londoners over the age of 75 soar by 59% . He explained this new approach reveals opportunities for retrofits and redesigns that not only offer increased resilience, but save energy and improve wellbeing.
Pioneering Net Zero energy Buildings
Benjamin J Galuza is a Sustainability Engineer and Principal at Elementa and a Living Building Challenge Ambassador. In 2015 Ben relocated to London from our Bay Area office in California. There we have built a reputation as pioneers of the wave of net zero energy buildings that are sweeping the region and now across US – including the CIBSE Building Performance Award-winning Packard Foundation Headquarters. Ben showed the audience how ‘simplicity’ is the key ingredient in Net Zero projects – combining cost-effective passive design strategies, demonstrating high performance systems, driving down plug loads and optimising renewable energy systems.
WindAid – Renewables for communities that are healthier, more efficient & stronger
Clara Bagenal George is an Environmental Engineer at Elementa and a WindAid Ambassador. In 2014 Clara worked with WindAid on a renewable energy project in an off-grid fishing community in Playa Blanca, Peru. She shared with the group how distributing renewable energy within a community turns out to be surprisingly complex. Clara’s first hand experiences illustrated how community engagement is critical to sharing the benefits of a future free of fossil fuels, whilst better connecting us to our personal energy footprint. She introduced fascinating insights into “Social Resilience”.
If you want to know more about our events or join in the conversation follow us on Linkedin, Twitter @elementa_uk or see www.elementaconsulting.com/events