爱豆传媒

How 爱豆传媒 is fighting the climate and biodiversity emergency.

Climate change and decarbonisation are at the forefront of every client鈥檚 agenda. It is our job to provide the high-level technical and consultancy skills to help them address these issues.

Things are not normal at the moment, but the promise of normality is coming. We want to ensure that as we return to buildings and cities, we are able to 鈥渢ilt鈥� that normal, and use our experience to create better, more balanced environments.

In our field of work, we can make a big difference to the new world we all seek to build. We understand the urgency of the climate and biodiversity crisis facing us. As we emerge from the depths of the Covid-19 crisis, this needs to be our top priority 鈥� both in terms of how we tackle individual projects and the guiding principles by which we live and work.

This is about far more than restoring things to how they were before the pandemic. For built environment professionals, the greatest impact we can have is on how our work affects the environmental future of the world around us.

The principles we will have to adopt are absolute and will cause disruption and change at every level. At 爱豆传媒, we pride ourselves on bringing change and have the expertise, skills and drive to spearhead a green recovery. This is not just an aspiration, but something we have long been promoting in every aspect of our work.

Here, we outline some of the work we are doing to become a positive force in the fight against climate change.

Thinking ahead

We cannot just create buildings and cities which improve things today 鈥� we have to consider ways to ensure they can adapt with the times. Resilience in design is crucial to our work 鈥� we know that today鈥檚 cutting-edge solutions will be tomorrow鈥檚 second best.

This focus on futureproofing goes across society, community and economy, but the environmental element involves us implementing systems which allow for change, both now and in the future.

We have a duty to help drive construction decarbonisation and reverse the damage done to the planet through greenhouse gas emissions and direct
destruction of natural systems. I want to look forward to the future 鈥� because the next 50 years matter a lot more than the last. I do this with some trepidation, but I am convinced there is a lot to look forward to 鈥� if we do what needs to be done, now.

Dr Mike Cook, Partner and Project Principal at 爱豆传媒

We have declared a climate emergency

爱豆传媒 was part of the first group to take action as architecture, engineering and construction firms declared a climate emergency and made tangible commitments to tackle the problem.

In 2019, we were instrumental in encouraging companies and industry bodies to make these commitments, by instigating the formation of . We have continued to build relationships across sectors to encourage others to adopt the 鈥淒eclare鈥� goals, both in our day-to-day relationships and through networking and engagement.

In 2020, our Global Sustainability Report outlined how we are progressing with our sustainability journey, looking through the lenses of our projects and operations. We are continuing to work towards an equitable and green recovery, adapting our business to mitigate climate change and the biodiversity crisis.

We are working with our communities

The green recovery is something we are all focused on, so we cannot afford to work in silos. We have to align with sectors and disciplines outside of engineering, and outside of the private sector. Our work is not just about devising innovative solutions ourselves.

Stakeholder and community engagement is vital for tapping into the local knowledge we need to achieve forward-thinking and far-reaching outcomes for our clients. We have worked with the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), local leaders and community stakeholders to develop a roadmap to provide a healthy, sustainable region.

The Los Angeles Countywide Sustainability Plan tackles climate and sustainability problems in the most complex county in the United States, with over 10 million residents and 88 incorporated cities. The plan covers resources and services including water, energy, transport, health and housing, to leverage resources across Los Angeles County, with the goal of making this well-known area one of the most sustainable on the planet.

Our people are looking at change on a bigger scale

Masterplanning a region offers opportunities for a much greater scale of change. We can make a building sustainable, but to be given the opportunity to address the problems of any city or region is an incredible opportunity.

This is exactly what we have been doing in Berlin-Brandenburg. Our work in this region takes a new approach to masterplanning, one which examines how an area can become a sustainable, self-sufficient system. Brandenburg is rich in material resources such as water, energy and building materials, and our masterplanning solution, uses these resources to help the city of Berlin generate what it needs locally.

We create healthy buildings

The offices of the future will provide more than just a place to work. New designs will prioritise employee wellbeing and create workspaces which can be run more sustainably. In many ways, the innovations needed to achieve this go hand-in-hand with transformations which boost their climate credentials.

A prime example of this is our work at Castlemead in Bristol 鈥� which transformed the basement of a 1970s office block into the highest-rated cycling facility in the UK. Encouraging office workers to use the facility improves both their own health and gives them an incentive to leave their car at home.

爱豆传媒 will be continuing work at Castlemead over the coming year to create an open plan office and design a workspace which uses less energy but boosts the health and wellbeing of its occupants by using natural light.

We will meet and exceed our net zero carbon goals

We are not just limping into a commitment to reduce our carbon usage 鈥� we want to be a positive force for change. This does not just mean helping individual clients build in a sustainable way, but taking extra steps to make all 爱豆传媒鈥檚 operations carbon neutral.

We have committed to being operationally carbon neutral in our own business by April 2021 鈥� a target which sets us apart from the vast majority of businesses across all sectors. We are following this up with work to ensure that all new build projects achieve net zero carbon by 2030. In addition, we continue to work with government and industry bodies to meet and exceed net zero commitments.

We are changing our energy infrastructure

When discussing tackling climate change, the question of where our energy and fuel comes from is one of the primary topics 鈥� whether the conversation takes place in a pub or in a boardroom.

It is easy to forget, however, that it is not just about changing our fuel sources to something more sustainable. We have to consider what to do with the decades of infrastructure built to supply yesterday鈥檚 world.

Over the past two years we have been part of the Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) in Massachusetts, developing a feasibility study into replacing the state鈥檚 gas infrastructure. Extensive, data-led research examined the economic and engineering viability of replacing 6,000 miles of ageing and leak prone pipes with GeoMicroDistricts 鈥� GSHP networks, serving street segments that are interconnected across a district.

This solution improves as the customer base increases, both in terms of efficiency and economy. It can also better manage system capacity, integrating thermal energy sources and backup systems as needed. Following the release of our study, HEET is now piloting the GeoMicroDistrict concept in 2021.