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GBE CPD Seminar and workshops

  • CPD seminars on Specification approach (20 subjects available)
  • CPD seminars on Environmental construction issue (800 subjects available)
  • CPD seminars on Low Energy design issues
  • CPD seminars on Low Carbon Technology & Design
  • CPD seminars on Water Technologies & Design

GBE TRAINING COACHING

  • Training specification writers, architects and administrators in specification writing, inputting or editing

BRIEFING FOR DEVELOPMENT:

  • Feasibility Study
  • Brief development
  • Employers Requirement
  • Review, Audits & Proposals

DESIGN PREVIEWS & REVIEWS:

  • Brainstorming and Audits
  • Design Guide compliance

Project brainstorming

  • Any participating parties with GBE CONSULT
  • Getting all communications ports wide open
  • Disclosure of ambitions by ‘client body’
  • Disclosure of resistance or reluctance by ‘Design Team’
  • Searching for problems and symbiotic solutions
  • “That’s a great idea, but you won’t get a BREEAM credit for it” (BREEAM assessor)
  • Looking for valiency with Local context
  • Maximising Multi-functionality
  • Value Engineering good stuff into project
  • Not a BREEAM-like tick box exercise, much deeper
  • Real solutions to real problems
  • Recording as a Project Sustainability Checklist
  • “I wish we had audio recorded that, there was so much good stuff” (BDP facilitator)

SITE ANALYSIS

  • Resource Efficiency: Maximising use of existing on/in site resources
  • Biodiversity Surveys: Establish site’s Zone of Influence; existing fauna and flora,
  • Mitigation and Enhancement opportunities
  • Adaptation opportunities
  • Building potential: Solar & daylight access, wind access, prevailing weather & moisture
  • Servicing response: Passive, Active and Renewable service potential
  • Genus Loci: Landscape response
  • Flood Risk Assessment
  • UHIE Urban Heat Island Effect analysis: Proposals for Mitigation and Adaptation

EXISTING BUILDING ANALYSIS:

PRE-DEMOLITION & PRE-ALTERATION AUDITS

  • Architectural Salvage
  • Construction Reclaim
  • Reuse insitu
  • Bill of Pre-demolition/pre-alteration quantities

RECLAIM & REUSE:

  • Review, Proposals & Specifications

RECYCLED CONTENT PRODUCT SELECTION:

  • Review, Proposals & Specifications
  • GBE: BrianSpecMan

FULL ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN SERVICES:

  • Applying full complement of environmental expertise
  • Compliance with all relevant development controls, design guides, codes and/or beyond
  • T&C Planning, Building Regulations, Production Information: detailing, specification

GREEN INTERIOR DESIGN:

  • Finishes
  • FF&E Furniture Fittings & Equipment
  • GPP Green Public Procurement: compliance, specification audits, specification writing
  • OGC Office of Government Commerce: compliance, specification audits, specification writing
  • Best Practice Voluntary Criteria: compliance, specification audits, specification writing
  • Quick Wins Criteria: compliance, specification audits, specification writing
  • Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) assessments, reports, alternatives and specifications
  • Office Fit-out RICS Ska Assessments
  • Indoor thermal comfort conditions

FULL LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE DESIGN SERVICES:

  • Applying full complement of environmental expertise
  • Social & Environmental responsible sourcing of materials
  • Water saving landscape, drought tolerant planting, genus loci, biodiversity enhancement.
  • Environmentally sound materials choices
  • Compliance with all relevant development controls, design guides, codes or beyond
  • T&C Planning, Building Regulations (where required) Production Information: detailing, specification.
  • Swimming Ponds: construction, servicing, planting, wildlife
  • Beautiful Practical Sustainable Garden Design

CIVIL ENGINEERING ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS:

  • Design previews and reviews
  • CEEQUAL assessments
  • Social & Environmental responsible sourcing
  • Eco materials selection, specifications,
  • Enterprise Footprint analysis
  • Resource Efficiency & SWMP workshops

BIO ENGINEERING:

  • Design previews and reviews
  • Plant and natural engineering
  • Social & Environmental responsible sourcing
  • Eco materials selection, specifications

PRESENTATION SERVICES:

  • Computer Rendering (Sketch Up 07 Professional or Renderworks)
  • Artist impression perspectives (Watercolour)

TECHNICAL REVIEWS AND AUDITS

  • Proposals and Specifications
  • UHIE Urban Heat Island Effect analysis: Proposals for Mitigation and Adaptation
  • Methods of Construction & Material
  • Reviewing drawn, written, and scheduled information including briefing notes, outline specifications and production information from participating consultants, giving feedback on buildability, compatibility and quality; offering advice on alternative methods, materials and sustainable alternatives.
  • Eco Materials & Products
  • Run Sustainability Design Reviews round table brainstorming with the design team, Client, Contractor and Quantity Surveyor to review proposals and seek out opportunities to improve the use of site, methods or construction, choice of materials, services and use of resources in a cost effective manner to afford sustainable solutions.
  • Value Engineering
  • Not cost cutting but looking at the next size up ‘bigger picture’ and looking for cost saving opportunities by suggesting replacement with multi-functional products or materials and putting otherwise wasted resources to reuse or recycling

BUILDING REGULATION COMPLIANCE:

  • Specifications organised in regulation order for quick assessment and gap avoidance
  • Acoustic Robust Details Compliance
  • Approved Details Compliance

SITE WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN:

  • Workshops, Checklist, & Specification Preliminaries
  • Run Site Waste Management Plan Workshops round table brainstorming with the design team, Client, Contractor and Quantity Surveyor
  • review proposals and seek out opportunities to improve the use of site on-site resource, methods or construction, choice of materials, and reuse of resources in a cost effective manner to afford sustainable solutions

DESIGN REVIEW: RESOURCE EFFICIENCY

  • Review of design proposals to exploit as-found materials on the site, to modify design and details to reduce off cuts to seek out opportunities to minimise waste to landfill

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENTS:

  • Product Design Reviews For Manufacturers
  • Materials, Products, Assemblies and Buildings
  • Simplified Environmental Profiles,
  • EPDs Environmental Product Declarations
  • Materials selection & review

WHOLE LIFE COSTS ASSESSMENTS:

  • Materials, Products, Assemblies and Buildings
  • Product Design Reviews For Manufacturers
  • Durability, Component Life & Insurable Life assessments

SPECIFICATION AUDITS

Technical Audit of Specification: examples

  • Review Architects, Landscape, Interiors and/or Structure Specifications
    • o Sub and super structure, building fabric, insulation, finishes, external works
  • Specification approaches
  • Robust specification including the reason (characteristics and values) you chose the products
  • Robust and comprehensive product & accessories specification
  • Avoiding many questions from QS, tenderers & from site
  • Enabling lean and competitive pricing with tight specification
  • Avoiding ambiguity and guiding readers to application(s)
  • Avoidance of retaining irrelevant information and undermining confidence in specification’s relevance
  • Contractors design requirements and Preliminaries
  • Editing of manufacturer’s specifications added to the project specification
  • Cross referencing within and to other consultants documents e.g. acoustics, fire, M&E, structures, landscape
  • Missing information, missing clauses, missing work sections
  • Reference to standards, currency
  • Review choice of generic materials and products for functional performance
  • Performance Specification, Employers Requirement or Prescriptive Specification requirements

Technical Audit of Drawings: examples

  • Review choice of methods of construction, components and products
  • Preview or review details
  • Identify risk areas and explain risk to design team
  • Propose potential solutions
  • Propose methods, materials and products
  • Review drawing annotation

Technical Audit: Coordination between Specification and Drawings:

  • CPI Coordinated Project Information
  • Say it in the right place and cross reference to it
  • Ensuring all information is in the specification and not split
  • Non-reliance on the drawings to know the specification
  • Missing elements in the specification
  • Cross referencing if specification is not clear about application

Environmental Audit or Outline principle proposals:

  • Multifunctional construction/services and value engineering in, not cost cutting out
  • Resource efficiency: reuse, recycling, recycled content
  • Design to reduce waste
  • Embodied carbon and embodied energy reduction
  • Review choice of generic materials for environmental characteristics
  • Propose alternative generic materials
  • Give example manufacturers and products references
  • Consider against Ska (on line assessment possible) and BREEAM (not a formal assessment)

Approach

  • Over the years GBE have read a few Contract Specifications they vary from competent to poor, occasionally dangerous and sometimes illegal in places.
  • Occasionally the dangerous can be well organised whilst those that are badly organised can still be competent.
  • EU procurement rules or in house legal teams can discourage specifiers from specifying, this is likely to lead to erosion of the original intention of your client brief.
  • Design & Build Employers Requirements and Performance specification can be daunting when there is no NBS to base your specifications upon.
  • In house specification that are created centrally but not maintained during recessions can lead to difficulties.
  • In house green specification can set out to achieve you client aims but contractor substitution can soon erode all of that if the specification is not robust enough.
  • GBE Consult offers a service to review your specifications at any stage in their development to try to avoid the problems in the spec becoming a problem in the contract

SPECIFICATION WRITING

  • Addressing all subsections: Building, Services, Environmental, Carbon, Energy, Water
  • Propose Performance Specification, Employers Requirement or Prescriptive Specification requirements
  • Prepare clauses or work sections for inclusion in existing specifications, e.g.
    • o Performance specification for specialist design
    • o Waste minimisation, management and resource efficiency
    • o IR Thermography surveys
    • o Airtightness monitoring in construction and testing
    • o Airtightness making
    • o Water Energy & Carbon services
  • Carry out specification editing to meet all of the above requirements
  • Practice specification development in NBS Building & Create Software
  • Any specification material prepared is GreenSpec/ech2o copyright for use in public domain specifications and other project specifications but licence to use in this project specification is the fee for services provided.

Track record

  • NBS based with Green embellishment, prescriptive or performance or employers requirements
  • GBE specification writers have collectively written over £5000m worth of project specifications.
  • Successful commissions have included, new build, alteration, extension, conservation quality refurbishment; public, private and speculative projects, procured by general contracting, construction management, management contracting, design & build, DMC, GMP and BOOT.
  • Project values carried out ranged from £50,000 to £511m package values ranged from £10,000 to £12m.
  • Client list includes architects, D&B contractor’s architects, interior designers, furniture designers, exhibition designers, landscape architects, facilities managers and manufacturers.
  • Recent specification have been elemental based specifications
  • Current projects include schedules of work and elemental specifications for refurbishment and retrofit

TENDER EVALUATIONS

  • Design & Build Employers Requirements and Performance specifications should require a prescriptive specification from the contractor or a list of departures from any prescription spec included in the tender documents.
  • Evaluation of these for competency is essential and can lead to error and erosion of the client requirements.
  • Equivalency and substitution management is a growing concern and needs to be proactive to tease out potential problems.
  • Value engineering is the phrase that often disguises cost cutting and often happens once the tender comes in too high, value engineering should always look at the bigger picture and look for alternative solutions that can be multi-functional and cost saving
  • Reviewing Tenders for compliance with project documents and highlighting any short falls, reviewing any further submissions.
  • GreenSpec offer a service to evaluate your tenders to spot the departures and avoid the problems in the tender becoming a problem in the contract

BIODIVERSITY PROVISIONS IN LOW CARBON BUILDINGS & LANDSCAPE

  • ECOLOGY SURVEYS & REPORTS
  • Living Roofs:
  • Bats and Birds boxes and roosts in low carbon buildings
  • CAD files

Building & Services analysis and audit or Outline principle proposals:

  • Survey existing building or analyse data to determine baseline figures
  • Build model in SBEM (Building Regulation compliance) or PHPP (Passivhaus) software to analyse proposed scheme and compare alternatives
  • Preview building performance
  • Preview building services performance
  • Preview Water and Spa services proposed consumption and performance
  • Analyse carbon and energy and consumption by comparing alternative strategies e.g.
    • o more insulationless heating/cooling;
    • o energy recover and reuse in same or other applications.
  • Obtain raw quotations for equipment and materials
  • Determine rough carbon/energy saved for £s spent (in preference to pay back periods)
  • Calculations and reports as required

GBE Consult Services Navigation

Energy Audit or Outline principle proposals:

  • Review M&E, Architects, Landscape and Specialist Installation Specifications
    • o Services, installations, sanitaryware, appliances, insulation, building fabric, finishes
  • Review M&E Schematics
  • Equipment choice review: appropriateness, fuel, capacity, utilisation management
  • Energy recovery, storage and reuse opportunities
  • Fabric first, U value targets
  • Choice of materials: k value, decrement delay, hygroscopic/hydrophobic materials
  • Construction: thermal bridges, airtightness, vapour open/closed, thermal bypass, wind washing
  • Compliance:
    • o SAP Calculations
    • o New-Build Domestic
    • o Advice on how to achieve specific levels of the CfSH
    • o Including U-value calculations
    • o SBEM Calculations
    • o U Value & Condensation Risk Assessments

Low Or Zero Carbon Energy Systems:

  • Carbon Literacy
  • Design advice, previews and reviews
  • Solar thermal systems, condensing boilers, wood pellet boilers, ground source heat pumps and efficient heating controls.
  • Proposals & Specifications

Carbon Audit or Outline principle proposals:

  • Review M&E and Specialist Installation Specifications
  • Review M&E Schematics
  • Review choice of fuels and propose lower carbon alternatives
  • Consideration of application of renewable energy

Water Audit or Outline principle proposals:

  • Review M&E, Architects and Specialist Installation Specifications
    • o Services, sanitaryware, appliances, roofs, rainwater goods, pavement, landscape
  • Review M&E Schematics
  • Consideration of demand reduction through choice of equipment
  • Consideration of application of mitigation, harvesting, reclaim, storage and reuse of water
  • Propose Performance Specification, Employers Requirement or Prescriptive Specification requirements
  • Review choice of generic services installations for environmental characteristics
  • Propose alternative generic services installations
  • Give example manufacturers and products references

Grant aid, Tax allowances & other fiscal incentives:

  • Analyse scheme, search for and propose complimentary equipment with financial incentives
  • Grants are all but disappeared but they have been replaced by other drivers:
  • ECA Enhanced Capital Allowances to help pay for accredited energy and water saving equipment through reduction in Inland Revenue payments, accredited products are listed:
    • WTL Water Technology List
    • ETL Energy Technology List
    • MSC schemes comes into play that accredits the installers
  • CRC Carbon Reduction Commitment taxes apply to high energy consumer businesses especially if part of larger groups; with financial incentive to reduce demand:
    • Encourages use of building fabric and services insulation
    • Encourages use of carbon reduction by fuel substitution
    • Encourages reduction in demand in hot water, heating, ventilation, lighting and cooling
  • FIT Feed in Tariffs are a fiscal incentive to invest in Renewable Electricity generation in projects and buildings
    • Save money and reduce carbon using the renewable energy in place of grid electricity
    • Be paid to feed excess to requirements to the Grid
    • Be paid by government for reducing carbon demand
  • RHI Renuable Heat Incentive
    • Save money and reduce carbon using the renewable heat (GSHP already proposed)
    • Be paid by government for reducing carbon demand

Sustainable Water Use:

  • SUDS, rainwater harvesting, grey water recycling, water efficient appliances, compost toilets
  • Design advice, previews and reviews
  • Proposals & Specifications

Surface Water Drainage:

  • SUDS Design, previews and reviews
  • Ground/Water source heat pumps
  • Constructed wetlands
  • Proposals & Specifications

Code of Sustainable Homes (CfSH) Assessments

  • Pre-assessment estimation
  • Design advice at all stages
  • Design stage assessments
  • Methods of Construction & Materials choice advice
  • Specification of proposals
  • Specification clauses for different credits and advice on how to achieve the rest.
  • SAP (2005) calculations: Ene1, Ene2 & Ene 7
  • Renewable energy contribution reports
  • Daylight calculations
  • Post Construction reviews
  • Surface Water
  • Code credits, calculation & Specifications
  • Flood risk assessments
  • Hydrological consultants
  • Ecology reports

EcoHomes Assessments (Scotland)

  • Specification clauses for different credits and advice on how to achieve the rest.
  • Provide SAP 2005 calculations: Ene1, Ene2 & Ene 7
  • Renewable contribution reports
  • Daylight calculations.
  • Surface Water credits
  • Flood risk assessments
  • Hydrological consultants
  • Ecology reports

Passivhaus Design:

  • Passive Solar Design
  • Thermal Bridge avoidance, moisture permeability, air and wind tightness, breathing construction
  • Infra-red thermographic surveys
  • Airtightness: Design, Specification previews, Methods, Materials, Proposals Review,
  • PHPP Calculations

Moisture Permeability Air/Wind Tightness

  • Airtightness testing: drawing and specification review, site monitoring, testing, rectification,
  • Infra-red thermography surveys and analysis, post construction checks
  • Thermal Bridge avoidance, moisture permeability, air and wind tightness, breathing construction

Renewable Energy Reviews and Reports

  • % contribution reports
  • Feasibility study
  • CfSH assessment and T&C Planning requirements

Indoor Air Quality

  • Pre-Views & avoidance
  • Alternative Healthy Materials & Specification
  • VOCs review under CfSH & BREEAM
  • Furniture and Interior finishes

Housing Design & Audits

  • LTH Lifetime Homes Assessments
  • DQI Design Quality Indicator Assessments
  • DDA Access reviews & audits
  • HQI Housing Quality Indicators review
  • SbD Secure by Design review
  • Local T&C Planning requirements

EAM Environmental Assessment Methods

  • DREAM Assessment
  • BREEAM Assessments
  • LEED Assessments

DAYLIGHT REVIEWS

  • Calculations
  • CfSH assessments

EPC ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATES

  • New Built Domestic
  • Advice on how to achieve specific levels of the CfSH
  • U-value calculations

POST OCCUPANCY STUDIES

  • TM22 Energy Surveys
  • BUS questionnaires (Usable Building Trust)
  • Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

GBE Consult Services Navigation

© GBE GBC GRC GIC GGC GBL NGS ASWS Brian Murphy aka BrianSpecMan ******
2nd March 2013 – 15th April 2024

About:

GBE CONSULT is a collective of individuals and micro-SMEs with specialist areas of expertise not readily available from many larger organisations.

Collectively we have many years experience in the Construction industry

Collectively we have many years track record specialising in the Green sector with knowledge of materials and products, design, technology, systems

We have all specialised in this field so offer a real insight into well developed technologies that suit the task at hand

GBE Consult Services

See GBE Team

GBE Collaborators

GBE Associates

© GBE GBC GRC GIC GGC GBL NGS ASWS Brian Murphy aka BrianSpecMan ******
2nd March 2013 – 15th April 2024

See Also:

GBE Collaborate

GBE Collaborate Services

To Solution Providers: Manufacturers and Suppliers

© GBE GBC GRC GIC GGC GBL NGS ASWS Brian Murphy aka BrianSpecMan ******
2nd March 2013 – 15th April 2024

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