We provide a variety of services to support the built environment:
Low Carbon Building
Low Carbon Building goes hand-in-hand with intelligent design of the heating systems in the house.
As designs and in particular insulation technology has reduced the heating load for new built houses, so the trend towards en-suite bathrooms and power showers has seen an increase in hot water loads. Designing a solution to meet this changed pattern of heat demand requires different thinking based on sound heatloss calculations and a clear knowledge of the technologies available to each site.
After selecting the best combination of technologies, they must be integrated seamlessly into a complete, controllable system which suits the life style of the occupants. The success of Low Carbon Building therefore depends as much on the heating system’ s design as it does on the fabric of the building.
Element have an extensive track record in this field but the key is early involvement before decisions are made that compromise systems design.
Historic Buildings
Sympathetic application of efficient energy to older buildings whilst respecting their nature.
Renewable energy offers opportunities to re-invigorate older buildings but they must be applied with respect to the behaviour of the materials from which these buildings are constructed.
The management of moisture in older buildings has to be fully understood so that the natural migration of moisture which occurs within these buildings is not impaired, neither are areas subjected to damagingly high temperatures or excessively low moisture contents.
We are expert at this subject, and enjoy applying these principles, particuarly as the locations often lend themselves to the use of renewable technologies which in turn can reduce the high energy costs of heating.
We have worked on a large number of older buildings and also with the Irish Historical Houses Association.
See Tony Traill’s presentation to the IHHA: