Summer 2009 - Royal Haskoning

summer 2009 > range 3
Landmark lottery
lifts Scottish spirits
Combining modern maritime engineering with Scottish myth and legend, three divisions of Royal Haskoning have
teamed up to help win a £25 million Big Lottery fund award that will transform 300ha of unused land between Falkirk
and Grangemouth into a thriving sustainable community.
Royal Haskoning’s Maritime,
Environment and Coastal & Rivers
divisions have pooled their skills and
expertise to win the engineering and
environmental design package of the
ambitious Helix project.
The project, which is part of the
‘My Future’s In Falkirk’ economic
regeneration initiative, has been
commissioned by Falkirk Council,
British Waterways and Central
Scotland Forest Trust.
Once completed, the Helix will
provide access to woodland, paths,
cycle ways and water features,
reconnect the Forth and Clyde Canal
to the Forth estuary, develop waterbased
activities, create major public
artworks and landmarks and develop
a sustainable environment.
Commenting on Royal Haskoning’s
involvement, Environment Director for
Scotland Frank Fortune said: “This is
one of the most exciting initiatives
we are working on, as it involves the
complete transformation of an unused
area into a thriving environmental
community. We have been involved
in the project from the beginning,
carrying out the early environmental
“Self sufficient, sustainable eco
friendly buildings are no longer just
the wish of some environmentally
conscious ‘green clients’, they
have become the mainstream
requirement for most buildings or
developments”, says Garry.
“The main drivers towards eco
building within the UK have been
updated building regulations, local
planning requirements and the need
for our clients to achieve a recognised
environmental building rating
through the BRE Environmental
Assessment Method (BREEAM). This
is the widely recognised standard for
best practice for sustainable design
within the UK.
“To address these issues, we have
gained significant expertise,
achieved mainly through increased
training, software investment and
project implementation. The training
has led to our engineers becoming
feasibility work needed to support the
application for Big Lottery funding.”
Royal Haskoning Project Manager for
the Helix, Mike Ramsay, added: “Now
the project has the Lottery go-ahead,
we can get to work. Our part in the
project involves providing engineering
and environmental consultancy across
the scheme, involving the delivery of a
new canal, locks, bridges, roads flood
risk assessments, geotechnical and
environmental engineering, river and
canal hydrology and environmental
impact.
“One of the key pieces of work we
will be engaged in, and probably the
most exciting, is the engineering
design for the canal extension which
incorporates a new displacement
lock and the foundations for two
30m tall Kelpie heads. These gigantic
horse’s heads will form part of the
counterweight mechanism for the
displacement lock that will lift boats
up to the existing Forth and Clyde canal
entrance. This has already been referred
to as an engineering marvel and the
Kelpies alone are expected to attract
international visitors, which will provide
a major boost to the local economy.”
Work on the Helix will start in late
2009 and will progress over three
distinct phases, spanning a 10-15 year
period. Overall the project will cost in
the region of £45 million.
Fact File
The Kelpie sculptures are based
on the mythical Scottish legend
of water-based horse spirits.
Designed by Scottish sculptor
Andy Scott, the 30m sculptures
will have a working role as
a part of the canal’s new boat
lift, situated at the entrance to
the Forth and Clyde canal. The
final Kelpies are expected to be
installed sometime in 2011 and
will each weigh around 400
tonnes.
Contact:
Mike Ramsay
+44 (0) 131 5612 284
m.ramsay@royalhaskoning.com
Greener foundations
A down to earth approach to eco buildings
With the impact of European Directives (EPBD) and UK Legislation over
the last few years, the move towards providing green, or ‘eco’ buildings
has increased significantly. Garry Haigh, Royal Haskoning’s M&E services
Director for Infrastructure & Buildings, explains the steps the company has
taken to become a leading eco building consultancy and its approach to
achieving green building solutions.
accredited ‘Low Carbon Consultants’
through the Chartered Institution of
Building Services Engineers, plus we
have accredited BREEAM assessors
in various categories. The intention
is to increase this knowledge and
experience over the forthcoming
months through further training and
project delivery experience.”
So how does Royal Haskoning
approach an eco building project?
According to Garry the first issue
that must be recognised is that to
achieve a ‘green’ building solution, it
is a fundamental requirement that the
design process is fully integrated and
therefore incumbent on all members
of the team to contribute.
“When considering the main
influences of providing a building
for true low environmental impact,
there are a number of factors to be
considered outside the building
envelope itself, such as transport, the
land and ecology. These factors will
however need to be considered in an
overall evaluation of the building. The
other factors then generally relate to
the building itself and its operation.
These are energy, water, pollution and
materials. These factors have a greater
impact on the engineering services
design and can be simplified into three
stages of an eco building solution.
These are: analysis of building form,
optimising engineering system
efficiencies and regenerative and
renewable energy.”
The three stages of an eco building
solution are detailed as follows:
Stage 1 – analysis of building form
The building envelope design should
be developed so as to minimise the
impact on energy.
Key factors include:
l building orientation
l selection of cladding/façade to
minimise heat transfer
l design of glazing/facade to
maximise the use of natural light
and natural ventilation
l selection of sustainable materials
l dynamic modelling of the various
options to produce the optimum
results
Stage 2 – optimise engineering
system efficiencies
Following the development of this first
stage, the levels of heating cooling and
lighting to be provided. This next stage
will require the optimum selection of
plant, equipment and systems.
Key factors are:
l selection of high efficiency plant
(cost benefit analysis required)
l design of systems to operate
efficiently during partial load/use i.e.
variable volume/load systems
l use of free cooling
l use of integral heat recovery devices
l lighting control systems
l good quality building management
systems
l indoor air quality – monitoring/
controlling use of fresh air
Stage 3 – consideration of
regenerative and renewable energy
This stage expands past considering
the traditional building services
solutions and looks at the overall
energy balance within a building and
where waste energy or renewable
energy can best be deployed.
Key areas are:
l use of heat rejection from equipment
i.e. heating and cooling systems,
compressors, incinerators, etc
l consideration of CHP (combined
heat and power plant) producing
on site power and the subsequent
use of waste heat produced i.e.
absorption chillers
These solutions are dependent upon
the surrounding environment and
geology for their performance
and therefore are very much site
dependant, and include:
l photovoltaic cells
l solar cells producing hot water
l ground source heat pumps using
geothermal energy for generating
cooling and heating mediums
l wind turbines
“This knowledge and approach is
being adopted on a wide range
of projects within diverse sectors
such as education, healthcare,
commercial developments,
industrial/manufacturing facilities
and maritime applications, such
as the Royal National Lifeboat
Institute.” concludes Garry.
For more information about eco
buildings contact:
Garry Haigh
+44 (0)121 709 6525
g.haigh@royalhaskoning.com