Our Net Zero Carbon Project Services
With 39% of global emissions coming from buildings and their construction alone, the built environment sector has a very important role to play in the fight against climate change.
And as planners, engineers and environmental scientists we’re here to help clients tackle complexity and achieve viability in the delivery of sustainable projects. Through strategy, sustainable solutions and low carbon design we can help you reach your carbon-neutral goals.
Strategic advice
Whatever your aspirations, whether you’re striving to deliver a project that is carbon neutral from start to finish and beyond or looking to reduce your emissions in line with your wider sustainability targets, we can advise on bespoke solutions that will help you deliver a greener project.
Our services
- Behavioural change
- Circular economy solutions
- Materials and resource management
- Sustainable transport solutions
- Green procurement
- Liveable cities
- Green infrastructure
- Planning and consenting strategy
Energy efficiency and building performance
A high performing, energy efficient building not only allows end users to reduce their capital and operational costs, but can also help lower air pollution, improve indoor conditions, improve wellbeing and lower fuel consumption leading to a reduction in emissions.
Our team of experienced BREEAM, EcoHomes, CEEQUAL, LEED and WELL assessors work with you to ensure your building is built for resilience.
Our services
- Energy calculations for building regulations compliance (SAP for residential and SBEM/BRUKL for commercial)
- Thermal bridging calculations
- Daylight / sunlight and overshadowing assessments (proposed and surrounding buildings)
- BREEAM UK domestic / non-domestic (construction, refurbishment)
- BREEAM international
- BREEAM in-use
- Home Quality Mark (UK)
- Passive Haus
- Overheating / thermal comfort analysis
- SKA assessment
- WELL AP
- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard
- Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) standard
- Home Performance Index
Site selection and energy strategy
Site selection is critical when striving for net zero, playing an important role in the reduction of emissions. The location of your project and how it connects to local energy supplies and watershed are key considerations, as well as its impact on the local community and ecosystems.
Our services
- Assist to understand net zero carbon definition and define a suitable brief
- Energy statements / strategies
- Feasibility studies for Low and Zero Carbon (LZC) technologies
- Forecasting operational energy and carbon emissions and setting achievable targets
- Waste strategy
- Transport strategy
- Sustainability statements, appraisals and strategy
- Biodiversity and natural capital advice
Low carbon design and engineering
Low carbon solutions sit at the heart of our design approach. Whatever your sustainability aspirations, we can help you achieve net zero carbon through design.
Following our seven-stage pathway, we tackle embodied and operational carbon to design whole life, carbon neutral projects for our clients.
Projects under construction
Monitoring carbon impacts during the construction process is essential to keep your project on track. Any changes that may have evolved during the tender and procurement process will need to be accounted for in your carbon targets as your project comes to life. Through regular reporting you can ensure your project meets its sustainable goals.
We offer expertise in:
- Design and collaboration
- Managing carbon in construction
- Carbon management at handover
- Offsite and modern methods of construction (MMC)
- Construction Environment Management Plan (CEMP) / Code of Construction Practice (CoCP)
- Sustainable procurement to ensure local suppliers of green materials
- Minimisation of waste using circular economy principles
- Construction methodology and programming to minimise transport emissions
Operational buildings
Once operational, your building will need to undergo annual monitoring and reporting across its lifespan to ensure it meets carbon performance requirements.
Verifying how a building performs when in use is essential to close any 'performance gap' (the difference between expected and actual performance).
Our services
- Display Energy Certificates (DEC)
- Energy Performance Certificates (EPC)
- ESOS audits / energy audits
- Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) and identifying performance gaps
- Monitoring in-use stage energy and carbon emissions and reporting on out of range usage
- Measuring renewable energy generation on-site and comparing against forecasted generation.
Measuring embodied carbon
To decarbonise the built environment, we need to reduce the greenhouse gases (GHG) that are emitted during the construction of our assets - the embodied carbon. Understanding where these emissions are generated, and reducing them accordingly, is critical if we want to deliver net zero assets. But not every project requires a whole building life-cycle assessment - we provide our clients with tailored solutions.
Measuring and reducing carbon for HS2
Our team provided design services for a series of enabling works for HS2 in Northamptonshire, including new highways construction, diversions, drainage and landscaping. A key requirement in the contract was to accurately measure the carbon footprint at each design gateway and to develop solutions to meet HS2’s target for a 30% carbon reduction compared to a standard reference baseline.
Services provided
- Lifecycle Analysis
- Low Carbon Design
Find out how we delivered a 33% carbon reduction >>>
Webinar: Reducing carbon emissions on development sites
Register today
Join our Leading Minds Webinar to explore individual building measures and site wide energy strategies that a development can use to meet all the social, economic and environmental tenets of a sustainable design.
Tuesday 6th September 2022, 11am
Presented by Simon Bourke, Head of Building Services UK
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Net Zero Carbon – how to set up for success
Read articleYour carbon footprint might be complex, but your journey to net zero doesn’t have to be. Alex Mozaffari, Director for Sustainability looks at some of the challenges businesses face as they strive to achieve net zero carbon and how they can set up for success by getting the right strategy in place.
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Net Zero Carbon - From gas to electricity, the challenges of retrofitting
Read articleAs companies set out to achieve net zero carbon, many will be looking at switching from gas to electricity for their energy supply. Simon Bourke, Operational Director at RPS looks at the challenges that lie ahead as businesses look to retrofit their existing building stocks. -
Challenges and opportunities: achieving net zero carbon in the infrastructure sector
Read articleConall Boland leads our sustainability team in Ireland, where infrastructure projects in the water, transportation and energy sectors are key activities. He sees big challenges and opportunities for the infrastructure sector in meeting the 2050 carbon reduction targets.
Read our Net Zero carbon brochure
Explore projects
Measuring and reducing carbon for HS2 Enabling Works
View project »
Telford Council Zero Carbon Strategy
View project »
Seaham Garden Village
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"Outstanding" BREEAM achievement at One Trinity Green
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How we met highly ambitious energy and sustainability targets for Lot 3, North West Cambridge
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Energy assessments for the Atrium Building
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BREEAM In-Use assessment secures Excellent and Outstanding rankings for Kings Place, London
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AMRC Factory 2050
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