Building Project: Balfour Place
Project Info Client: Urban & Country Completion Year: 2018 Building Services Location: Balfour Place, Mayfair, London When one of London’s most expensive individual properties was sold and subsequently refurbished, we were delighted to be awarded the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) survey contract. Once on-site at the Mayfair mansion, bought (in cash) for £42 […]
Building Project: The Shard
Project Info Client: Renzo Piano Completion Year: 2016 BREEAM Rating: Very good Location: London Dominating the London skyline, The Shard was conceived as a building with multiple uses: a vertical city where people could live, work and relax. Our team were commissioned to carry out a BREEAM assessment for Levels 4, 5 and 6 of […]
Building Project: Barretts Grove
Project Info Client: Amin Taha Architects Completion Year: 2016 M&E design and acoustic design. Location: Dalston, London N16 Syntegra roles: Energy and Sustainability consultants, CDM, M&E design and acoustic design. Our project ‘Barretts Grove’, which we worked on with Amin Taha Architects, has been a winner at the Hackney Design Awards 2016, London & National RIBA 2017 […]
Brexit Boasts Business As Usual For Building Services
The building services industry should assume that European regulations that currently affect the UK will still be in force immediately after Brexit in 2019, says CIBSE technical director Hywel Davies. ‘Brexit will change nothing immediately – at least in terms of legislation that affects our industry,’ said Davies, who supplied a list of regulations that […]
Coal-fired power stations cease by 2025
Prior to the announcement of the General Election, the Government vowed to see all ‘unabated’ coal-fired power stations cease operation by 2025 – those without carbon capture equipment. The Government gave an undertaking to spend £730 million in support of renewable electricity projects during the Parliament’s lifetime. It remains to be seen whether that pledge […]
Why the UK is Better Off Inside the EU Internal Energy Market Post-Brexit
Access to the single energy market was one of the priorities identified by energy professionals during a Question Time-style debate hosted by The Energy Institute in relation to Brexit negotiations. KPMG head of power and utilities Simon Virley also believes the key negotiating point in relation to energy is continued access to the Internal Energy […]
New international standard to help measure greenhouse gas emissions from buildings
A new international standard has been introduced to help measure and report greenhouse gas emissions from buildings. The International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) 16745 framework will provide a system to calculate, report, communicate and verify carbon metrics for emissions arising from the measured energy use during the activity of an existing building. The simplicity of its […]
Electricity Storage To Stabilise Grid
As increasing volumes of power are being generated by renewables across the UK, research and investment is moving towards finding a solution to keep the grid stable as production levels and usage with wind and solar fluctuate dramatically. One answer could be electricity storage – switching availability from time of production (daytime for solar) to […]
ProPG: Planning and Noise – Professional Practice Guidance on Planning & Noise for New Residential Development
The new professional practice guidance on planning and noise for new residential development was finally launched in Birmingham on the 22nd June 2017. This document has been a long time coming – since late 2011 when it became clear that the forthcoming National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) would revoke the previous technical planning guidance […]
Building cladding under the spotlight
Unfortunately, the issue of building cladding is currently in the headlines for all the wrong reasons – and it looks set to stay there for a while. Cladding is essential to the exterior of a building and plays a variety of roles in the overall efficient construction. First and foremost it keeps the building weatherproof […]
Syntegra Acoustics Division Strengthened
Syntegra have recently appointed David Yates to the position of Associate Acoustic Consultant in order to strengthen the acoustics division of the company. David is based in the Reading and London offices and brings ten years’ experience to Syntegra’s in-house acoustic team. He has particular expertise in environmental noise, and has a wealth of experience […]
Syntegra shortlisted for industry award
The Syntegra team has been shortlisted for an architectural industry award for one of its projects. Consultants worked on the retrofit development of Print Works House in Great Titchfield Street in Fitzrovia, London, providing advice on issues of mechanical and electrical design, acoustics, energy and sustainability ahead of the planning application submission. The project comprised separate […]
How to avoid a tiny creature putting the brakes on your building development
While not always at the top of a developer’s mind when renovating a site, in today’s planning applications, bats and other rare or endangered species are a material consideration. Criminal prosecutions can be brought against builders who ignore the creatures’ presence and destroy roosts with unlimited fines and/or six months in prison the punishments available […]
Get Your Energy House in Order to Avoid Heavy Fines
Organisations are being urged to begin critical energy audits to avoid heavy fines for non-compliance with a Government scheme. The mandatory Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) is moving into its second phase – but the Environment Agency has revealed that hundreds of organisations are facing financial penalties for failing to comply with Phase 1. The […]
We should all follow corporate America and say ‘non’ to Trump’s Paris withdrawal
With all the drama and fall-out from last week’s UK General Election, the other momentous news appears to have fallen off our front pages and off the menu at dinner parties. Donald Trump might just be thanking his new friend Theresa May for the convenient distraction to his announcement that he is pulling the US […]
Former head of ISG appointed Chairman
International construction industry expert David Lawther has been appointed Non-executive Chairman of Syntegra to help us take our business to the next level. David, who was CEO of global construction services ISG, was attracted to join Syntegra because of the ‘excellent platform’ MD Alan King has created to provide sustainable services sought by clients. ‘Syntegra […]
Energy manifesto review
Syntegra energy sector manifesto review Energy costs and regulation plus attitudes to climate change and renewables feature in all the main political party manifestos for this week’s election. Here we offer Syntegra’s unbiased review of some of the key themes relating to this policy area plus a selection of comments from the Parties around their […]
General Election Impact on Planning
A general election on 8 June places a question mark over key forthcoming planning policy changes. The news of the poll comes with the Neighbourhood Planning Bill yet to receive Royal Assent, and revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework due to be published later this year. With the planning policy changes legislated for in […]
Brexit Quick Wins Sought For House Builders
The Home Builders Federation (HBF) is to be consulted by a cross-party group of MPs seeking a series of quick wins to boost business productivity on the back of Brexit. Lifting the burdens on the house building sector will be one of the areas politicians look at to see where EU regulations can be sidelined […]
Future Energy Efficiency Policy
The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology has published its Future Energy Efficiency Policy document which outlines the benefits and costs of future improvements in energy efficiency across various UK sectors. It then describes the barriers to energy efficiency measures, outlines options for future policy and summarises analyses of the effectiveness of various options. http://image.email-cibse.org/lib/fe9c13727463047c74/m/1/0f412841-9087-4152-9f06-08a1ae310997.pdf
School Air Quality Should be Valued
Poor indoor air quality can have a negative impact on children’s health and ability to learn. Department of Education figures show children were absent for 54.5million schooldays in England in 2014/15, mainly due to sicknesses such as colds and sore throats and schools paid out £1.26 billion to hire supply staff to cover staff sickness. […]
Businesses Shutting Down During Peak Power Costs
Many businesses have been shutting down between 4pm and 7pm, the time of peak power costs, to curb energy bills, suppliers have said. But they warned many are ill-prepared for energy price rises in the region of 20-25% in the coming year. Wholesale price increases coupled with uncertainty surrounding Brexit indicate a period of instability […]
Energy Sector Emissions Fall But Household Levels Rise
Greenhouse gas emissions attributed to the energy sector in the UK fell by 12 per cent in 2015. Emissions from business in general fell by three per cent but emissions from households rose by four per cent and from transportation by two per cent. Transport is set to overtake energy as the biggest source of […]
Heat Network Case Studies Published
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has published case studies showing the targets and positive impact of implementing a heat network. Cranbrook and Skylark in East Devon is one of the largest district heating systems outside London. When the development is completed in 2031, 8,000 homes, shops and businesses and 20,000 people will […]
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