ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY
Environmentally Sustainable Design Solutions
Abel & Brown Pty Ltd is well placed to undertake sustainable building design covering the entire spectrum of environmental issues associated with building design, operation and management.
Sustainability impacts on all building design disciplines, and our team is experienced in the identification, assessment, and incorporation of environmental initiatives during the early phases of the design process. Utilising a client, site and project specific approach, our aim is to incorporate sustainable design measures that are both economically and environmentally sustainable so that the benefits of environmentally sustainable design (ESD) are gained for the long term. Options are selected on the basis of those that are not only environmentally sustainable, but also present a sound business case for the client.
The three main energy consumption components of a building:
- Building Design, Fabric and Construction
- Building Services
- Occupant Behaviour
As a building services engineering firm, NBA specifically targets the building services area as the basis from which significant energy minimisation and recovery can be achieved in both new and existing commercial and residential buildings. For example, a well designed centralised, gas boosted solar hot water system with a small, gas-fired cogeneration system to augment the hot water while providing base load power and chilled/warm water will provide the building with long-term energy efficiency advantages and provide ongoing reliability of services.
Our personnel undertake continuing professional development with respect to environmental design and are accredited with the Greenplumbers and Enviroplumber programs; as such this provides NBA with both the current knowledge of sustainable best practice plumbing systems, as well as the practical knowledge of appropriate application and installation of sustainable plumbing systems components and their integration with common plumbing practice.
Our experience with environmentally sustainable plumbing systems includes:
- BCA section J energy efficiency Compliance
- Rainwater Harvesting Systems
- Greywater (wastewater) Recycling Systems
- Trade Waste Recovery and Reuse / Disposal
- Biolytix Sewer Treatment System
- Reedbeds
- Waste Water Recycling and Recovery
- Natural Gas Co-Generation (electricity and heating from a single fuel source)
- Solar Hot Water Generation
- Passive Solar Thermal Design
- Natural and Mixed-mode Ventilation
- Activated Building Mass Cooling
- Daylight Simulated Design
- Water Sensitive Urban Design
- Recycling and Waste Management
- Design for Occupant Comfort
- Passive Thermal Storage Systems
- On-site and Renewable Energy Production including solar and wind energy
- Selection & specification of appropriate water conservation measures
- Rainwater Reuse Systems
- Blackwater (Sewer) Reuse & Disposal Systems and Sewer Mining
- On-site Wastewater Management (Decentralised solutions)
- Aerated Wastewater Treatment System
- Sand filters
- Waste Water Heat Recovery
- Tri Generation (electricity, heating and cooling from a single fuel source)
- Solar Hot Water Underfloor Heating Systems
- Indoor Environment Quality
- Radiant Cooling and Heating
- Active and Passive Chilled Beam Systems
- Low Energy Lighting Controls
- Water Efficiency, Collection and Recycling
- Displacement and Underfloor Ventilation
- Design for Future Use & Flexibility
- Materials Selection Advice
- Geothermal Systems