Below are just a few of the highlights from the report which shows how we are providing truly sustainable solutions for our clients informed by decades of experience, industry-leading ESG expertise and, above all, a drive to do good and be good.

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Progressed toward our goal of science-based net zero by 2040, a target validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)

We reached operational net zero in fiscal 2021, while reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions which cover fleet and office energy, respectively, by 47 percent from our full year 2018 baseline year, using key travel and real estate initiatives. In accordance with the new and even more rigorous SBTi net zero standard, we have also set an updated 2040 net zero target which emphasizes decarbonization over offsets. This ambitious target places us among the forefront of companies globally.

Launched our ESG Advisory Services, supported by decades of expertise

One of our signature milestones this year has been the launch of our ESG Advisory practice, which deploys our depth of expertise to navigate our clients through this rapidly evolving space and realize their ambitious visions. Working with organizations at the forefront of the green transition globally, including the United Kingdom’s Network Rail and Airport Authority Hong Kong, our Advisory Services are mitigating risk, building trust and improving long-term outcomes worldwide.

Advanced ScopeX initiatives to accelerate our ESG offering for clients and cut carbon in our work

ScopeX is a core offering of our ESG services and will be one of our greatest contributions to tackling the climate crisis. By accounting for materials, site locations, logistics and construction methods, it will help reduce and eliminate the impact of projects on the natural environment. With ScopeX, we aim to reduce the carbon impact of major projects by at least 50 percent.

Acted on equity, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) by addressing equity challenges globally and regionally

We continue to make progress towards greater equity, diversity and inclusion. We’re nearing our target for women to compose 35 percent of our workforce, with women in 18 percent of leadership roles and making up 33 percent of our overall workforce. We have also fostered a culture of inclusivity that has been recognized by organizations like the Human Rights Campaign— which has named us a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality in the United States. Our ED&I commitments efforts extend to the communities we serve, where we’ve implemented locally relevant workplace diversity and pay equity goals.

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Beyond a commitment

In just one year, we’ve made objective progress on our targets and have set even more stringent ones so that we can lead for our clients and our people. But what can’t be quantified is our sense of purpose.

For us, ESG is so much more than a commitment—it’s something we see every day in our work, where its impact is truly felt. I invite you to see that impact for yourself in this year’s report and explore each of our accomplishments as we continue to deliver Sustainable Legacies worldwide.

Read the report

The post Our 2022 ESG Report: a year of Sustainable Legacies appeared first on Without Limits.

The UK is regarded as a life sciences powerhouse. Medicinal and pharmaceutical products are among the country’s top five exported goods, and the nation comes second only to the US in terms of inward investment.  

The UK government values the domestic life science sector at £94 billion, and estimates it provides over 250,000 high-skill jobs in fields such as drug discovery, diagnostics, MedTech devices and vaccine creation. It is an expanding science, encompassing fields such as AI, genomics, biomanufacturing, tech-enabled healthcare devices and personalised immunotherapies.  

The ‘golden triangle’ of London, Oxford and Cambridge is home to some of the most significant and well-funded universities and research centres in the world – all of which demand access to best-in-class life sciences laboratories. Universities and businesses in other parts of the UK are also hungry for lab space. 

What are the characteristic design features of laboratories?

Lab fit-outs typically consist of a physical laboratory space area where research is carried out and an office-style ‘writeup space’, for performing desk-based analysis.  

However, unlike office spaces, there are no accepted guidelines, specifications or building standards for life science laboratories. Despite sharing many common features such as receptions, desk space and communal staff areas, and even though they are often based in the same building, laboratory occupiers generally have different needs to those of office workers.

Many specifications refer to BCO Office 2019 as guidance for the office element, with no real set guidance for the laboratory function.  

Confusion is also rife in how to deal with what is included within the shell and core of the building, and what is required as standard within the tenant demise. 

The way life science companies operate within a building is also evolving. The incubator model – common in the US – is now gaining traction in the UK. In this model, multiple fledgling start-ups work in the same building and utilise the same facilities.

This one-stop-shop concept provides flexible, low-cost lab space and support to develop early-stage research. In addition to shared services, incubators can provide support to access venture funding, legal and IP guidance and commercial mentoring.  

Designing with a solutions-focused lens

Some features and equipment common to laboratories are standard parts of a lab fit out specification. These include fume cupboards, door seals or multiple door systems, and writeup space.  

It is generally considered wise to keep laboratory and office writeup space adjacent to each other to encourage the cross-pollination of experiments, research, and reflection amongst peers. A typical lab/office ratio is around 50:50. In projects where labs and offices are kept separate from each other, tenants have reported difficulty in effectively collaborating.  

The access requirements must be considered well before the installation phase of a fit out. Particularly large or unique pieces of equipment may require specialist installation or be difficult to transport, lift or move, or may need to be built in situ. In some cases, rooms or buildings are designed around a specific piece of machinery. This can add to the building’s weight and structural loading considerations, including anti vibration measures, plus floor-to-floor height.  

The more specialist the equipment, the more likely the requirement to provide special measures to control the environment in which the equipment is to be located – for instance slab thickening for vibration control, dark rooms, and clean rooms.  

In turn, room heights often need to be higher to accommodate additional MEP needs. From a safety perspective, labs usually require high levels of ventilation and in some cases, advanced air filtration. There needs to be more frequent air changes in a science facility compared to an office space.  

Prioritising health and safety is crucial

Containment levels – the ability of a lab to contain key biological hazards, genetically modified organisms and chemicals – must also be taken into consideration. These range from containment level 1 (C1), which represents the lowest level of risk, to containment level 4 (CL4), where highly dangerous or exotic microbes or pathogens are present, which currently do not have vaccines or antidotes.

At any containment level, laboratory doors/entrance systems need to be sealed and airtight. There are different ways to achieve this, but a common design is to create a double-door entry system.  

The risk of containing potentially dangerous materials also makes building security a key design consideration. This extends beyond the labs themselves, to building reception areas and external spaces. Depending on the levels of security required, this will add significant costs on to a project.  

Waste disposal is also key, and subject to hazardous waste regulations. Storage is also required for products such as consumables, glass products, personal protective equipment (PPE), and scientific literature. This can significantly increase storage space demands compared to a typical office.   

‘Dry’ labs – used for computational science or advanced mathematical analyses – will require appropriate mechanical and electrical installations. Equipment such as 3D printers, powerful computers and lasers all demand specific power, safety measures, air supply controls, emergency power and humidity levels to function successfully. 

Occupancy levels tend to be lower than typical office standards, between 15 – 18m2 per person, which impacts key services such as WC/shower provision and lift capacity.

Meeting the growing demand for lab space

The sector is a hot asset for private investors. A record £2.5 billion in venture capital (VC) was invested into private UK biotechs in 2021: a 79 per cent increase on the total raised in 2020. Overall, this signals that life science companies in the UK are now strong targets for both state and private capital and suggests demand for lab space is unlikely to abate in the short term.  

As new science clusters emerge outside of the golden triangle, major new projects are springing up around the country, with big-name international businesses making the UK regions their home.  

Life science laboratory fit-outs must be adaptable and able to meet the needs of biotechnology start-ups, which are by their nature nimble, ambitious and fast-growing. They demand high-tech, high-spec working environments where they can meet and collaborate with their peers.

Strong sustainability credentials are also key. The challenge for the design and construction industries is to keep pace with the scale and ambition of the life sciences sector – creating laboratory spaces that help accelerate and support scientific progress.   

This is an abridged version of an article that was first published in Building magazine. You can read the full article by clicking here.

The post Designing the life science laboratories of tomorrow appeared first on Without Limits.

In 2023, universities are facing two key major issues. The first is rising energy prices. Universities are research, people and data-intensive and consume vast amounts of power, and thus face particularly high bills. One major UK university reported a rise in its total energy bill from £30 million per annum to £70 million in 2022; such price hikes will influence their appetite for spending on new major infrastructure projects.  

The second issue is decarbonisation. Many universities are committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2030. However, universities tend to have large physical estates. Many include buildings which are decades, or even centuries old, which were not built with energy efficiency or decarbonisation in mind. 

Purposeful design goes a long way

Over the past decade, brand new buildings sprang up on university campuses to attract attendees and to deploy the capital raised from fees. This is reflected in the far higher standard of student accommodation which has now become an expectation across the UK. However, looking ahead, many universities will have to manage their budgets carefully. We could see an uptick in refurbishment projects as universities assess their estates, and as funding becomes more challenging in the face of high energy costs and inflation.  

When looking at the commissioning and design of new buildings, some universities prize architectural merit and distinctive designs which single them out as world-leading centres of excellence for a specific discipline. Many universities have buildings of historic importance, or have simply become iconic parts of a city or town’s architecture and landscape. In these cases, buildings may be retained even if they are difficult to integrate into modern-day education and sustainability requirements.  

Other, more practical, or teaching-intensive universities will require simpler buildings which can accommodate as many students as possible, with 1.5-2 metres of teaching space allocated per person. 

Harnessing smart technology for campuses

Today, as in the professional workplace, students and academics are largely embracing a hybrid, flexible approach to studying, which necessitates less physical teaching space and strong IT infrastructure. Decarbonisation, digitisation and energy efficiency are increasingly dovetailing with each other. IT master plans are emerging that enable the digital student experience and teaching model to connect to physical spaces – the smart campus concept.  

Under this model, physical aspects of a university are linked and respond flexibly to their users via smart devices, monitoring systems and sensors. For example, desks in a library building might be equipped with sensors to measure room usage, and reduce lighting and heating in unoccupied spaces.  

Creating more inclusive, welcoming spaces is also rising in importance. Recent AECOM projects include interventions that support neurodivergent students and building users. Enabling excellent accessibility throughout physical buildings, supported by smart technology, is now a principal design tenet – creating the ability to open doors via a smartphone, for example, or to message a reception desk to help staff prepare a physical space ahead of a person’s arrival.    

Enabling the local community to better integrate with university building is increasingly a feature of new developments. For example, the ground floor of a new research building could be made accessible to the public, enabling local people to access learning, research, and coffee shop facilities. Not only can this improve educational and social outcomes for local communities, it can also help students to feel more at home in the town or city they are studying in.  

Meeting sustainability and net zero targets

Many institutions within the university sector, with its focus on innovation and research, are committed to becoming trailblazers in sustainability. As a result, willingness to invest is high and many of the lower-carbon technologies and materials deployed in university building projects later trickle through to other sectors.  

The net zero goal is strongly influencing university’s master plans and use of space. By creating more compact, well-utilised spaces, the goal is to reduce embodied carbon and to reduce unnecessary energy use. 

As with other sectors, refurbishments have become key to meeting embodied carbon reduction goals. In many cases, the embodied carbon profile of improving an older building is far lower than creating a new building. Refurbs are set to become a mainstay of order books in the years ahead, as asset owners look to adapt their portfolios to meet decarbonisation requirements.   

However, many universities are asking for Passivhaus principles to be applied to new projects; this may favour new build over refurbishment to achieve the goal of air-tight buildings, or divestments of old buildings to make way for new assets with assured quality. 

Alongside Passivhaus and LETI principles, other accreditations such as the US-based WELL standard are rising in uptake.  

Ensuring a financially viable future for universities

As in other sectors, there are ongoing challenges around procurement and cost increases. AECOM’s TPI indices rose 9.9 per cent year-on-year in 2022, with a 6.9 per cent increase anticipated in 2023. Combined with rising energy costs, creating financially viable new projects is currently difficult.  

Despite the challenges, it is important to note that overall, UK universities’ incomes are increasing. According to the University and College Union (UCU), in 2020/21, the most recent financial year, universities finished with £3.4 billion more cash than they started it with. The combined surplus of the universities of Cambridge and Oxford in 2020/21 alone was £1.7 billion. University leaders also told regulator the Office for Students (OfS) that they were planning to increase overall capital expenditure by 36 per cent in 2022/23, to £4.6 billion. 

The question is where they will allocate this money. Trade unions are calling for it to be diverted away from capital spending, and instead spent on increasing teaching wages, or on technology rather than on physical assets; it could be stockpiled, rather than spent. Outside of broader macroeconomic forces, these are perhaps the most influential factors on whether we will see a strong pipeline of university building projects in the near and mid-term future.  

This is an abridged version of an article that was first published in Building magazine. You can read the full article by clicking here.

The post Adapting UK universities to address energy efficiency and decarbonisation appeared first on Without Limits.

Reducing the carbon impact of existing building stock is a time-critical task for the industry, as the consequences of human-induced climate change are now tangible. In 2022 alone, the UK experienced its warmest year on record, according to Met Office data. The past year has also seen heavy rainfall, flooding, urban wildfires, and other extreme weather conditions in the UK and on a global scale – all of which are being experienced with increasing frequency.

The scale of the decarbonisation challenge cannot be underestimated. Existing building stock accounts for approximately 23% of UK carbon emissions, according to a 2019 Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors report. In the housing sector alone, the UK Green Building Council estimates that the UK’s 29 million homes must be retrofitted at a rate of 1.8 every minute to achieve net zero by 2050.

The public sector

Despite immense funding pressure, the UK public sector has in many cases led the way in estate decarbonisation investment. Initiatives such as the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS), launched by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, are injecting cash into improving public buildings by stripping out carbon and energy inefficiencies.

The PSDS has to date provided around £1.6 billion in grant funding to help public sector organisations improve the energy use of existing buildings, and to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. Additionally, the Public Sector Low Carbon Skills Fund provides grants for public sector bodies to engage specialist advice to develop decarbonisation plans for their estate.

The private sector

For private estate owners, the investment case for decarbonising their buildings centres around both highlighting their ESG credentials and preventing assets from becoming stranded. Assets become stranded when their value is vulnerable to external factors such as changing regulation, technological innovation or evolving social norms.

In real estate, legislation preventing assets with poor energy efficiency from being occupied is a growing risk. There is also rising pressure from fellow asset owners: initiatives such as the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance requires members to reduce emissions across global property portfolios.

To mitigate this risk, tools are emerging to help estate owners assess the likelihood of their assets becoming stranded. The European Union (EU)-funded Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor (CRREM) is a tool that allows investors and property owners to assess the exposure of their assets to stranding risks based on energy and emission data and the analysis of regulatory requirements.

Factoring energy efficiency into design

Cutting carbon by increasing energy efficiency typically involves improving the thermal efficiency and air tightness of the building fabric, along with the installation of energy-efficient plant and smart building control technology. Energy assessments will provide guidance on what is possible at each site.

A fabric-first approach is important. Improving mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering (MEP) systems in a building with a poorly performing external envelope has limited value. In contrast, upgrading facades, adding insulation, and increasing air tightness are all effective interventions and are often the first point of focus when taking on a retrofit challenge.

That said, improving the heat efficiency of the building fabric can often create an increase in whole-life carbon. Given their carbon intensity, is only advisable to undertake full cladding replacement if the existing system is damaged, performing poorly or nearing the end of its useful life. A holistic approach should be taken to considering the impact of building fabric changes – overheating and condensation, for example, can be consequences of failing to consider how a replacement building fabric will interact with existing building components.

Once decisions about the external fabric and structure have been made, it is important to understand how a building is used. Heating, cooling and lighting unoccupied space is costly in both monetary and carbon terms, yet if building occupier patterns are fully understood, this is a relatively easy way to quickly cut carbon output and energy costs.

This can be done through installing building-level controls to enable efficient building management. Controls are key to ensuring energy use is minimised and the benefits of natural ventilation are explored and incorporated where feasible. Incentivising efficient occupier behaviour is another important way to reduce energy demand.

Introducing onsite renewable energy generation capability is something developers are often keen to explore, as it is typically a highly visible example of a building’s efforts to be more sustainable and can help achieve higher EPC ratings. However, it should be noted that as electricity sourced from the national grid decarbonises, the operational carbon benefit of onsite production lessens.

Full grid decarbonisation is still decades away, but we are swiftly moving towards renewables becoming the dominant source of on-grid power. Onsite generation has other valuable benefits, such as energy security and the potential to sell energy to the grid, but electrification of existing plant has the biggest impact on carbon reduction.

Creating holistic decarbonisation plans

For real estate owners that are yet to consider these issues, thinking ahead of time and having a plan in place for estate decarbonisation will enable them to be nimble and take full advantage when new funding streams or supportive initiatives are announced. Tax policy is one area in clear need of greater government support. That UK policy currently favours new build developments over refurbishment is bewildering in the face of our climate goals, and needs to change.

Public sector support – directly through grant funding, targeted initiatives, and regulatory change – is key, but is only one part of the solution. Private sector action on estate decarbonisation is crucial and is an important part of the jigsaw which cannot be ignored. More instruments are needed to accelerate this market, whether in the form of a carbon tax, or a shift in the relative prices of gas and electricity or other solutions.

The construction industry, the financial community, and asset owners must all pick up the pace on estate decarbonisation if both the UK’s and other international carbon targets are to be achieved. In the face of soaring inflation, a recession, labour and materials shortages and a lack of knowledge in the sector on the topic, it is an indisputably difficult task. Success in these conditions may be about trade-offs and compromises – and collectively creating holistic decarbonisation plans to break the decarbonisation challenge down into achievable steps, one project or estate at a time.

This is an abridged version of an article that was first published in Building magazine. You can read the full article by clicking here.

The post Decarbonising real estate starts with intelligent planning and design appeared first on Without Limits.

The UK is home to some of the most innovative state-funded cancer treatment centres in the world. However, the NHS is under immense strain: record numbers of people are coming forward for cancer tests, with almost a quarter of a million referrals per month in 2022, according to NHS data. This is triple the number of referrals reported in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic meant people were often reluctant to attend hospitals or to visit their GP practice.

This means cancer care centres are dealing with all-time high levels of referrals and patients, at a time when coronavirus and its attendant risks is still ongoing. Those commissioning cancer facilities are tasked with the challenge of delivering high-quality spaces which are sensitive to patient needs, while incorporating the best of new and existing technology. There’s also a huge focus on quality; and all this must be achieved under tough public sector budget and time constraints.

Enhancing patient experience

Cancer facility designs should provide a sense of calm and reassurance, in a place where patients often feel frightened and overwhelmed.

Clear wayfinding, creating logical pathways and flows through the building are a key factor in order to reduce stress on patients, staff and visitors. Wayfinding and layout should also account for the fact that people often receive difficult news and information in these spaces.

Discreet, calming interview rooms are necessary, and some centres have private exit routes which avoid patients and families having to walk through a public waiting room after receiving bad news. In turn, waiting areas are evolving from serried rows of fixed seating to a more relaxed, hotel lobby-style layout, with chairs that can be moved around coffee tables or by windows.

Cancer treatments typically require patients to make multiple outpatient visits, and so designing simple pathways that enable visitors to create their own rituals – whether that means being able to go from a cafe out to a courtyard garden or terrace with a coffee, or into a quiet multi-faith space for contemplation – is important.

Giving patients a sense of autonomy and choice is vital and can lead to better healthcare outcomes. Most new cancer care centres with patient beds are now favouring single patient rooms. Evidence suggests inpatients will have a shorter length of stay if they’re in a single room, which provides a more peaceful environment, greater privacy, the ability to have relatives and friends sleep in their room, and also having loved ones able to help carry out their personal care. That said, some small, four-bed bays are still being designed into projects to provide patient choice.

Ensuring staff feel valued and supported

Providing care makes heavy demands on staff. There are currently more than 110,000 unfilled posts in the NHS, and staff retention is a critical issue for the service. Employees need to feel valued and cared for in their workspace.

These needs can be met in building design via good changing facilities, excellent provision for pedestrian, cycling and driving access and parking, restful facilities for breaks such as quiet rooms, sleep ‘pods’, spaces for indoor exercise such as yoga, and also private outdoor spaces to provide privacy and fresh air during shifts.

Access to education spaces should be seamless. Staff also require access to good education and training facilities, ideally close by or within the same building. Activity-based working involving a variety of workspace typologies is shifting from general workplace design into healthcare buildings. This is reflected in growing calls for these buildings to integrate, or at least have ready access to employee education, office space, clinical and support services such as Maggie’s or Macmillan support centres.

Creating adaptable buildings

Treating the shell and core as having a longer lifetime and the internal fitout as a shorter-term endeavour is a way of looking at buildings which NBBJ has been doing in conjunction with AECOM. Even if they are being procured as a single contract, designing the shell and core as distinct and separate from the internal fit-out configuration is being increasingly practiced. As cancer treatment and hospital design is changing and developing quickly, this approach enables faster changes and updates to the internal elements.

Standardisation – to have repeatable rooms where possible – provides benefits in terms of design, construction, maintenance, cost and clinical safety. As staff become more familiar with a room layout and equipment layout, it is much safer for them to be able to treat repeated patients without the added burden of understanding an unfamiliar space or layout. This also lends itself to Modern Methods of Construction (MMC).

Cancer care centres and net zero

Cancer care centres often have a higher energy usage (kWh/m²) than acute hospital facilities. This is due to a higher proportion of specialist radiotherapy and imaging equipment, usually within a smaller building footprint; the need to maintain a comfortable internal environment; and for specialist departments to incorporate a high fixed air change rate for infection control purposes. There is a potential conflict between NHS Net Zero Carbon (NZC) requirements, and the ability to offset the energy consumed by major medical equipment and Mechanical, Electrical and Public Health (MEP) plant serving energy intensive departments.

When developing net zero carbon energy strategies for cancer centres, it is important to ensure that actual energy usages are quantified during the early design stages. This should incorporate design solutions that allow clients to manage and benchmark their energy consumption, against design assumptions, so that they can achieve net zero once the building is in operation. At present, new-build healthcare projects target BREEAM Excellent as a minimum.

AECOM is designing solutions to enable new cancer centres to achieve net zero. Our approach includes designing all-electric facilities with a fabric-first focus, working with the architect to maximise the efficiency of the building through materials and components choices. Also central is the use of highly efficient decentralised air-handling plant to reduce both distribution energy losses, while maximising MMC.

Case study: Clatterbridge Cancer Centre

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool is part of a cluster of world-leading specialist hospitals within Merseyside, including the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital.

The 11-storey, 110-bed NHS facility opened in June 2020. AECOM provided building services engineering, civil and structural engineering, acoustic engineering and sustainability as well as BREEAM and environmental services.

In collaboration with architect BDP, the focus from the outset was on designing a low energy building with a fabric first approach. A high-performance facade was integral to achieving this, as it insulates the building while maximising daylight penetration and thermal comfort for users.

Dynamic control systems help the building to perform over 50 per cent better than the Department of Health’s guideline carbon targets. More than 30 per cent of the building’s electrical demand is generated on site by low and zero carbon systems, including photovoltaic panels.

Modern methods of construction have been used wherever possible: 30 per cent of the structure comprised modular components. Prefabrication and modularisation of MEP systems in particular aided on-site construction and improved quality of build, cutting timescales and reducing on-site health and safety risks. The project is rated BREEAM Excellent.

 

This is an abridged version of an article that was first published in Building magazine. You can read the full article by clicking here.

The post A holistic approach to designing cancer care facilities appeared first on Without Limits.

Carolyn Stegon, AECOM’s U.S. West region PPM digital lead, manages a digital plan review division that has launched work flows for clients to enhance project delivery success.

With hundreds of reviewers providing thousands of comments addressed on scores of reams of paper plans, traditional design review is a necessary but onerous step in the design process — one that calls for collecting, tracking, adding and reconciling seemingly infinite amounts of data and comments for each review phase.

A new digital solution I developed while working for our AECOM clients is revolutionizing design review procedures by better coordinating information while reducing time, expense and re-work — with the ultimate goal of streamlining internal agency and government efforts.

The start of something new

In 2010, I began helping to manage design reviews for one of AECOM’s major California clients. As a structural engineer with a decade of experience, I had a firm understanding of the technical review process and knew it could be time consuming and challenging. My engineer brain told me there had to be a better way. How could the process be streamlined?

I was introduced to a software platform that provided flexibility and organization that was in use by the client. With some adaptation, I customized and developed the software developing it so it provides an efficient digital design review platform that our clients could use to manage their projects. With the initial success of this review platform, I gradually introduced this new solution to some of our other clients. Success built on success and eventually I was approached by other clients to revise their design review process and began to lead an AECOM team that customized software solutions tailored to each of our clients’ needs. In some cases these newer clients were using the same software as our initial clients, in others we introduced clients to this software and in yet others we adapted other software to meet their requirements.

The importance and usage of a digital review system

Our team is all about developing and implementing a digital review system that works best for every client. Design and implementation typically involve an eight-step process encompassing a client working group, understanding and building client workflows, building the digital platform, establishing building procedures, providing formal training, receiving and then incorporating training feedback, and finally integrating the system into the client’s office. This last step includes providing project support, maintenance and staff augmentation as needed.

One key to developing the system is establishing a working group that incorporates decision-makers and subject matter experts. As a team we work to engage the right people up front. This advances the process by providing insights on work scope, goals and current positioning while delivering strategies that manage specific organizational challenges.

As its popular rises, so does the needed training and guidance

We develop hands-on supportive training that includes varied exercises and chaptered training videos. Our team also provides step-by-step procedures that include screen shots so reviewers fully comprehend their role in the design review process. As training progresses, we work with staff, helping them gain familiarity with the system by establishing a “sandbox setting” a demonstration project where they can practice using the platform. We also provide guidance on active projects.

Our involvement continues until clients are comfortable with the new solution. Our follow-up always includes a feedback survey and direct contact information for future assistance.

The nitty gritty: How does the system work?

Plans are uploaded as PDFs. The packages include specifications, calculations and any other information needed for review. Submissions can be done from an office or from home, with all reviews, back checks and approvals completed digitally. We invite reviewers to the digital space, where everyone views the same plans at the same time, working live in the space. This real-time collaboration enables our clients to communicate with project teams across multiple entities. We set up menus that document information and enable the originator, architect, engineer and other team members to see, sort, and more accurately respond to and reconcile comments. Plans may be digitally resubmitted and plan originators are able to obtain their permit digitally.

A record of success and a hopeful future

Now, 12 years after the first program, our services are evolving to become even more efficient. We have delivered customized design review systems to more than 30 clients, including the Division of the California State Architect, which reviews US$6 billion in construction plans for all California K-12 schools, community colleges and other state owned and leased facilities. We also work with the City and County of San Francisco and the Los Angeles Unified School District, and we use digital design reviews internally as part of our ISO 9001: Quality Management System certification.

To date, the AECOM team has helped Design Review Teams, including Permitting Agencies, cut down the average time required for review by 10-20 days, equating to tens of thousands of dollars in productivity increases. Additionally, we have helped Document Originators drastically reduce their paper and shipping costs overall. And the rate of adoption is only going up. We expect to work with 25 more clients in the coming year, furthering the efficiency of the design review process.

The post Digitizing design review appeared first on Without Limits.

After a turbulent period which started with Brexit and was sustained by coronavirus, materials, labour and supply chain issues have now been ramped up by the conflict in Ukraine. Wider economic inflation, in turn, is driving costs to all-time highs.  

Yet the most surprising thing about the logistics market at present is that it is buoyant in the face of these staggering materials price hikes. The industrial market has experienced double-digit increases on build cost over the past eighteen months – leading to an incredibly challenging time for market participants, where demand is high, but supply of key elements is low. 

Logistics buildings typically have a very simple design, comprising an envelope of structural steel, a concrete slab, and then cladding on the walls and roof. However, with steel and concrete now in high demand and low supply, logistics centres’ need for large amounts of steel means costs and delays have become particularly pronounced. Steel and concrete are also energy intensive products to produce. As energy pieces rise, production costs have also soared. 

How inflation impacts procurement

The typical procurement route for this building type is changing. A previous preference for single-stage tendering is now changing in favour of two-stage tendering, and to a more partner-based approach. Many of the bigger developers are even bypassing two-stage tendering – instead, going straight to a partnership with a contractor at an early stage, in order to try and lock in prices and contractor availability.  

January 2022 saw some of the sharpest materials price increases on record. To offset building costs, rental prices are rising on units. This shift in yield has helped upcoming and in-development projects to continue to be financially viable. The problem developers face doing deals going forwards is how to predict build cost, and whether deals can be achieved on a fixed-price basis.  

Design with end use in mind

The biggest change with this building type over the past decade has been the shift to ecommerce, which now dominates demand. All retailers are assessing their ‘dark lstores’ and last-mile facilities and want to use them to help gain a competitive advantage over rivals – by ensuring their logistics centres enable the fastest and smoothest order fulfilment. 

While logistics centres are relatively simple in design, there are differences in facility layouts and heights based on what stage and type of fulfilment they are catering to. Last-mile logistics centres typically have a ground-based operation inside the building. They do not require high racking and are often laid out like a supermarket, with staff doing the picking rather than shoppers. In contrast, larger distribution centres, perhaps leased or owned by major international online retailers, feature high bay racking, and often deploy greater levels of technology and robotics for picking products.  

Therefore when developing a shell, it is important to consider the expected end use. For example, a fulfilment centre which has heavy amounts of robotics may need to reconsider the use of roof lights, windows, and sources of natural light, which can confuse robot tracking and motion sensors.   

Amenities for the people who working in logistics centres are improving, as labour shortages make it more important to attract and retain workers. Some core features are found in almost every project – such as a canteen, showers, changing and toilet facilities, and a large car park. However, gyms, sports fields, trim trails and additional EV charging points for staff cars and grassy outdoor meeting or relaxation areas have all been included in recent projects, to attract tenants and retain labour.  

To maximise value, some tenants are opting to make their distribution centres also their HQ or primary office location. This may also drive-up demand for enhanced staff amenities and increased office design. Offices are typically fitted out to Cat A. 

Making logistics centres sustainable

Because logistics centres are such large, open spaces, the cost impact to improving sustainability is relatively small compared to the cost of the building itself. BREEAM Very Good is easily achievable with speculative logistics developments, and is now a baseline; BREEAM Excellent status is also being reached on some projects where tenants have demanded it.  

Logistics centres, with their large flat roofs, are obvious choices for solar PV installation and this is now commonplace. Some developers are selling the electricity generated from their rooftops to tenants. Making logistics centres self-sufficient from an energy perspective will likely become a strong selling point soon.  

Location also informs what sustainability measures can be included. Rainwater harvesting, on-site wind turbines, EV charging points at every delivery van space and water attenuation are all being deployed on projects.  

A smarter and more efficient future

Rather than a case of ‘survival of the fittest’, where only the largest contractors or tenants can take on and manage the risk associated with the inflation happening on these projects, it may turn out to be survival of the smartest – those industry players who can collaborate with the right partners; secure prices, labour and materials as efficiently as possible; and keep watch and respond to the retail trends which are influencing demand for these buildings.  

This is an abridged version of an article that was first published in Building magazine. You can read the full article by clicking here.

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London is home to many world-leading scientific institutions, but laboratory space in the capital is at a growing premium. If the UK’s science capabilities and output are to continue to expand, more high-quality research space is needed.

Former UK Research and Innovation chairman John Kingman has stated that for the UK government to achieve its goal of growing scientific research and development (R&D) to 2.4 per cent of GDP from its present 1.7 per cent, it requires the UK to lift total economy R&D from £37 billion a year now to £68 billion in 2027, with the scientific workforce also needing to increase by 50 per cent.

To create a successful research ecosystem that is attractive to the scientific community requires both scale and proximity to other research sites — no mean feat to deliver in London at a reasonable cost. This can, however, be achieved at a more affordable, sustainable manner in a campus environment, where the cost of living for scientists is also far lower than in the capital.

This shift to regional science parks is being driven in part by the government’s levelling-up agenda, which is contributing to prompting the industry and its clients to ask where high quality regional laboratory, research and development facilities could be created beyond expensive urban hubs.

Estate agent Savills reports that laboratory space around the UK saw rents rise in 2020. Availability of commercial lab space in Cambridge is at its lowest in seven years, with prime laboratory rents at an all-time high.

There is therefore an opportunity to create a pipeline of high-quality, low-rise regional facilities to house these new businesses. Rural science park proposals are typically easier to gain planning consent for, are more affordable, and offer greater space than London-based developments. The cost of land and rental values are lower, and the cost of living is significantly less compared with the capital for the people working in these developments.

The cost of delivering this building type is considerably lower than for developing or even redeveloping an office facility in London. From a space and planning perspective, is easier to deliver a two-to four-storey new-build facility in an emerging research park or business park location than in a built-up city location.

Built well and situated carefully, these parks can become part of thriving residential and academic communities, feeding in talent and knowledge from local universities and teaching hospitals, with tenants benefiting from close proximity to other researchers and start-ups. Furthermore, the UK is following the US’s lead in commercialising research-focused organisations that spring out of academic institutions. About four out of every 10 UK start-up incubator companies specialising in science and technology originated within a university, and these institutions are becoming more aware of the financial implications and opportunities of this. Meanwhile, the start-ups themselves are becoming an increasingly attractive proposition for investors.

Examples of completed projects include the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, which has become the largest centre for medical research and science in Europe, and Norwich Research Park, which currently offers more than 1.7 million square foot of build space with simplified planning and access to business rate discounts due to its enterprise zone status. Looking ahead, locations such as Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast and Dublin are gaining the attention of developers.

In a recent article for Building magazine, we explored the changing faces of scientific need and estate requirements, putting the campus at the heart of the community as a whole. The article covers:

Design considerations

• • A key design consideration is the pace at which start-up science organisations can grow, as this directly affects how flexible their accommodation needs to be. The typical start-up spun out of a university begins with one to five people; this can rapidly expand within an 18-month to two-year period to potentially 50 to 100 staff, if the company makes strong progress with the science it is developing.
  • A number of factors contribute to the relative ease of delivering commercial lab facilities in regional science parks compared with tight city-centre sites: increased ratio of office-to-lab space; ease of installing site-wide infrastructure and utilities; and freedom to build horizontally and logically.
  • Functionality of spaces. Often tenants that receive start-up or seed funding may need to use it to buy particular scientific equipment. Smart developers are recognising a science park environment can de-risk this by allowing tenants to spend their money more wisely on more affordable space and to share equipment.
  • Flexibility of design: Developers need to design in adaptability in floorplans and MEP plant areas to enable, for example, labs to be able to transform from dry lab to wet lab.  What’s more, plug-and-play service modules can increase the building’s ability to adapt as tenant needs and technology evolve.

Construction issues

• • Constructing sufficient power infrastructure for these energy-intensive sites is one of the biggest challenges at present. Local utility providers must therefore be consulted to determine if there is sufficient available capacity and whether upgrades to higher-voltage supplies are required.
  • Consideration also needs to be given to the space allocated for back-up power systems.
  • Given the high amount of data generated in these buildings, digital security issues must also be considered. In multi-tenanted buildings, intellectual property issues can arise so it may be necessary to separate different tenants’ physical and digital access to services.

Key requirements

• • The requirements for scientist occupants can differ greatly from those of typical office workers. In a flagship commercial office in a city centre, a statement entrance is often a client priority. For the scientific community however, high levels of practicality are more important. This could include getting goods in and out of the building with ease or access to high quality equipment.
  • Having an engaged, thriving scientific community at science parks is key to fostering knowledge and collaboration in these spaces. To help promote user satisfaction and enjoyment, this is often as much about the outside space as it is about the building. Generally, office workers tend to look favourably upon office spaces with a gym inside the building. Scientists however, often prefer to have that type of facility situated away from their workplace, where they are often working under intense laboratory conditions. Instead, excellent outdoor space is often prized by clients, which in practice can include natural landscaping, ponds, wildflower meadows and green space.
  • This leads to another key client demand in regional science parks: the ability to commute to these buildings in a low carbon manner.

Regional science parks offer a cost-effective solution to the pressing need for increased laboratory and research space in the UK. They also drive investment, jobs and opportunities into regional parts of the country, contributing to the government’s levelling-up agenda and serving the educational institutions and communities that surround them.

Designed well, these buildings can contribute to meeting net zero carbon goals and provide staff with the ability to live and work in a community of scientists and analysts outside of the traditional golden triangle of London, Oxford and Cambridge — promoting a diversity and availability of opportunities far beyond the capital.

Cost model for a regional science park

We have created a cost model for a regional science park facility, comprising ground floor plus four more floors of flexible office and laboratory accommodation. Each floor is divisible by up to four tenants. The lab to office ratio is 60:40, while the net to gross floor area ratio overall is 77 per cent. The building is set on a typical greenfield site, with good accessibility from major highways, on a plot location that has main plot infrastructure in place to the point of connection.

It is assumed that the building will adopt all electric MEP installations, to meet the BREEAM Excellent standard and contribute towards making it a low carbon facility.

To read the above article in full and to download the full regional science park facility cost model, please click here.

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In 2016, a report chaired by Professor Rafael Bengoa found that the current model of health and social care provision in Northern Ireland was financially unsustainable and unable to meet the needs arising from demographic change, increasing demand, health inequalities and a disempowered workforce.

The  ‘Systems, Not Structures: Changing Health and Social Care’ report noted that “the trends in healthcare towards a more personalised, preventative, participative, and predictive model of care will not happen at the necessary speed in the present fragmented and reactive model of care,” describing the current situation as a “burning platform.”   In a 2019 update on the report, Professor Bengoa stated that the pace of change had clearly increased but more was required.

Then in 2020, coronavirus hit and accelerated changes to the primary care landscape, transforming almost overnight the way consultations were held. Only a small percentage of GP consultations were undertaken by phone or video conference prior to the pandemic, yet at the peak around 70 per cent of all consultations were virtual.

Combined, these factors have stimulated an essential rethink of how primary care facilities are designed. Healthcare architects now have to deliver contemporary facilities that meet patient, clinical and operational needs while providing therapeutic and inspiring environments that enhance the wellbeing of all users. Facilities must also serve their communities both in and out of working hours and must be flexible enough to meet future demand and change.

This article highlights five areas that our specialist healthcare architects and cost managers focus on when designing sustainable health and wellbeing centres, drawing upon best practice learnt from delivering award-winning contemporary facilities across the UK and the island of Ireland.

1/Comprehensive stakeholder engagement

What does comprehensive stakeholder engagement on a healthcare facility look like in Northern Ireland?

Firstly, it is important to establish strong relationship with all parties right at the start of any given project, which in the case of Northern Ireland includes the Health and Social Care Board, Local Commissioning Groups, patients, staff, design consultants, local authorities and local community groups.

Secondly, the focus should always be on proactive, timely and professional interaction, engaging with the right people at the right time throughout the design and delivery of the project, with fair consideration given to all viewpoints. Both a formal and informal approach to stakeholder engagement is important, depending on the objectives and always with an aim to facilitate a full understanding of each other’s needs and aspirations. On our recently-delivered Goodman’s Fields Medical Centre in London for example, we incorporated Bengali translations into the signage to be inclusive of the high percentage of Bangladeshi patients as identified through extensive community consultation.

Thirdly, it is important to appreciate that all stakeholders are experts in their areas and that listening and learning from their experience and knowledge is a vital ingredient for success.

2/Design that’s flexible and adaptable

Future change to primary care is inevitable – some changes we can predict, others remain unknown. It is important therefore that adaptability and flexibility are built into the project brief as essential requirements.

As primary care service providers adapt to meet new trends and demands so must the buildings they occupy. We are seeing a shift towards larger buildings with flexible and interactive spaces that can be repurposed quickly. Our healthcare architects are designing and delivering health centres that will be used as a community meeting space out of hours. However, if there is an immediate need for evening appointments these spaces can be freed up for treatment.

The best way to meet this need is to keep the architectural, structural and services design simple.  Over-specification, over-complication and a design based on short-lived, quick fix technologies should be avoided. It is easier to adapt spaces to alternative uses if room sizes and dimensions are standardised and sit within floor plans that are designed to a planning grid. Likewise, we design services with appropriate overcapacity as well as making sure that plant and service access spaces can accommodate future building service expansions, adaptation or replacement.

3/Creating positive and therapeutic environments

Ultimately, healthcare environments should stimulate and support the power of interpersonal relationships between patients, families, clinicians and staff to transform experiences and improve health and wellbeing outcomes.

The ideal way to design environments that promote wellbeing, privacy and dignity is through a collaborative and research-based approach.  Every aspect of the design must be carefully considered with special emphasis given to natural light, welcoming entrances, reception and waiting areas and ensuring staff have good observation points. Natural, warm and soft palettes of colours work best alongside materials with good acoustic properties to create comfortable environments for patients and staff. As part of our interior strategy, and in collaboration with clients, we select healthcare-appropriate furniture which is complementary to the overall look and feel whilst ensuring it meets infection control requirements. The combined results are far removed from the perception of hard chairs and bare walls that many associate with visiting the doctor.

Lighting is also important. Our architects work with in-house lighting designers and engineers to ensure the ambient lighting provides areas with overall levels of brightness, illumination and the right colour temperature. It is important to provide examination lighting within each clinical room to allow clinicians to examine or treat patients appropriately.

Furthermore, as primary care centres increase in size, they can become more challenging for patients to navigate so aligning the patient journey with key architectural and interior elements is central to alleviate excessive signage.

4/Sustainability

 Sustainability is a key driver of change in the design and costing of primary care facilities. As environmental scrutiny is heightened throughout the world, healthcare providers are focused on reducing their carbon footprint. The sustainable design standards that were once considered as ‘nice to haves’ are now a given, and new and refurbished buildings must achieve a high sustainability rating. Through early definition and analysis of the likely embodied and operational carbon of a building, renewable energy and an offset approach is factored into the design of our primary care buildings.

Important elements include maximising natural daylight and ventilation, the use of efficient lighting, heating, mechanical ventilation, and air conditioning, as well as the specification of the most appropriate insulation and low energy IT and appliances.   With new build projects, our default approach is to use renewable energy sources such as photovoltaics, ground-source or air-source heat pumps, rainwater collection and high-performance building envelopes.

5/ Delivering design principles to budget

There are several factors that can influence the costs of developing a new healthcare centre. Specific location and site conditions will automatically influence development costs but there are also other factors which will influence the design and hence cost of individual centres.

With the current focus on digital consultations, there will be a greater emphasis on resilient and quality IT installations. Equally the need for improved ventilation, highlighted by the pandemic, will increase the loadings on plant and associated costs. Over the longer term however, the drive towards zero carbon is also expected to increase the capital cost of developing new projects across the construction sector and primary healthcare centres will be no exception.

Conclusion

Primary care is no longer about reacting to symptoms and illness.  Primary care clinical services are evolving quickly to include health and wellbeing, delivered directly to communities.  As services and staffing are decentralised from within acute hospitals, it is crucial that the next generation of primary care centres are able to flex to support current – and future – clinical and digital strategies.  They will need to be positioned at the heart of the communities that they serve, with adaptable spaces to support the delivery of new models of care.

Healthcare centre cost model

Our cost model is for the development of a typical healthcare centre (gross floor area = 1,550m²) to be used by GPs, community nurses, midwifery services, mental health services, social services and support services based in Northern Ireland. The development is based on achieving a BREEAM Rating of Very Good. The model assumes a single / part two-storey development.

Costs are based on Q3 2021 and include for Supply and Fix of Group 1 and Fixing of Group 2 items and an allowance has been included for external works. The costs exclude utilities, contingencies, professional fees, surveys and VAT.

In addition, costs reflect a single stage competitive tender with a standard construction contract. The rates would need to be adjusted to account for actual specifications proposed, specific location / site conditions, procurement route and programme.

Click here to download the model.

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The built environment is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for an estimated 49 per cent of the UK’s total output.

Nevertheless, new homes must be built. The government wants 300,000 homes built each year to meet demand but construction is falling far short of this goal.

The industry is tasked with meeting the dual challenge of delivering new residential buildings while reducing carbon output to neutral levels, in order to fulfil the UK’s legal requirement of producing net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Building homes to net zero standards will therefore be critical to providing much-needed housing stock while keeping the sector’s carbon emissions to a minimum.

Current guidance

As yet, there are very few completed net zero carbon housing developments of significant commercial value and scale to use as standard bearers and templates for future projects. Existing low or zero carbon developments tend to be one-off experiments, such as small projects built to Passivhaus standards.

The London Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI) current guidance is that for a residential building to be whole-life net zero, it must have a zero carbon balance for its operational activities, and be 100 per cent circular – meaning each and every one of the building’s materials and products “are made up of reused materials, and the building is designed for disassembly such that 100 per cent of its materials and products can be reused in future buildings”.

Achieving these standards will seem to many like an impossible goal. Nevertheless, it is a goal that will need to be met in the coming years for the industry to remain viable and new-build projects to be greenlit.

The industry is at a unique point in time where we know we must provide net zero developments in order for the construction sector to meet regulatory requirements and keep up with the rest of the country’s efforts to decarbonise; yet a single or an agreed set of over-arching guidance, principles and rules for creating net zero homes has not yet been fully established. Perhaps most importantly, if net zero buildings cannot be made affordable – at least not right now, at this early, experimental stage – then we also need to consider what the premium is on delivering these projects.

For a new-build project targeting net zero status in 2021, the goal therefore is to strive to meet operational and embodied carbon targets from trusted industry networks and institutions such as LETI and the RIBA, and to offset any remaining carbon.

Building For 2050

The Building For 2050 research study which is being funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, highlights the need to construct housing that is low carbon through its design rather than through reliance on technology. Being delivered by AECOM, architect Pollard Thomas Edwards, consultant Delta-EE and energy specialist Fourwalls, the project aims to understand the attitudes towards and challenges of this type of home, the costs and cost drivers associated with its construction, and the energy performance once occupied.

The findings of the research, which has focused on five developments, will be published in 2022, providing evidence to support low carbon building policy and inform future emissions reductions plans. One of those five projects is Marmalade Lane, Cambridge, a custom-built co-housing community (pictured above). Made up of 42 custom-built homes, the scheme has been designed with a fabric-first approach and passive energy design principles, delivered with offsite manufactured closed timber panels supplied by Swedish builder Trivselhus.

More information on the Building for 2050 research project can be found at: buildingfor2050.co.uk.

The future

There is an obvious need for accurate, reliable data to enable standardisation of net zero – with the goal being that the carbon value of each element of design, construction, operation and decommissioning can be easily quantified. Our Scope X^TM process addresses these gaps and helps measure critical elements of building design.

The uncertainty around what exactly constitutes a net zero homes project will soon fade. For example, residential buildings will need to be constructed to meet future Part L regulations – updates to which are in consultation, with new guidance due next year. These updated rules will help set the standard for the energy performance and carbon output of new dwellings.

Changes to Part L of the Building Regulations will also inform the upcoming Future Homes Standard, which is due to be implemented in 2025. That policy will require all new homes to be “zero carbon ready”, which will involve a huge step change in how we design and heat our homes. In the meantime, developers, contractors, suppliers and designers are tasked with meeting the net zero challenge using their own metrics and definitions – which will be influenced by existing cost models.

It is worth noting that institution-specific targets and standards are constantly evolving, further adding to the complexity of designing and building for net zero – LETI, the RIBA and the Greater London Authority are all in the process of updating and aligning their embodied carbon targets.

Regardless of which set of principles eventually becomes standardised, building net zero homes will undoubtedly require a massive shift in our collective mindset. For example, LETI advises that we begin to regard new buildings as “material resource banks” – that is, as a source of materials that can and should be used decades after the building has been decommissioned.

It is also likely that older buildings that become available for redevelopment will be treated as “donor buildings” for the future, and that we may also see specialist salvage contractors create a market through this. These concepts require us all to start thinking more imaginatively.

Net zero concepts in some ways represent a return to traditional ideas – of sourcing locally and frugally and of considering natural materials and reducing waste – yet they also demand understanding and being ready to deploy forward-looking technology and carbon-quantifying techniques to achieve and measure a successful project.

For net zero housing to move from ideas, plans and goals to a commonplace reality in the UK, adaptability and a willingness to update design and construction techniques will be required. The pay-off for those who do apply net zero principles to their residential projects is to be working at the vanguard of design, construction and building philosophy – and to be actively contributing to meeting the pressing need for a lower carbon building industry.

Clearly, for new innovation that delivers zero carbon to become more cost-effective, it needs to be implemented as mainstream practice and regulation – and we must get beyond the age-old chicken and egg.

This is an abridged version of an article that was first published in Building magazine.

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With 4.66 billion active internet users globally, data centres are one of the fastest growing and most important components of the global economy. By 2025 data usage is projected to have increased tenfold on 2018 levels. To cope, more data storage space is needed. This is leading to a boom in data centre new-build schemes, with construction set to expand by nearly 10 per cent per annum between 2018 and 2025 – creating major opportunities for investors in this alternative, rapidly expanding asset class.

Demand for new data centre construction is primarily being driven by the global move to cloud computing and storage. This has created a need for the hyperscale data centre as owned and developed by the likes of AWS, Microsoft and Google. Co-location facilities continue to provide variable amounts of data centre white space to other client tenants, as well as providing these cloud giants with facilities on a wholesale basis. Enterprise (owner-operated) data centres still exist, but a high proportion of development is within the hyperscale market as most companies and individuals use this for computing and storage.

Although essentially industrial buildings, data centres are highly functional, and their design requirements are changing quickly – not least when it comes to meeting strict carbon reduction requirements and providing adequate cybersecurity. In this article – an abridged version of one that first appeared in Building magazine – we focus on three evolving areas of data centre design.

Design considerations

The data centre industry is under pressure to bring resilient, efficient and secure projects to market quickly. In addition, clients are increasingly asking to complete site selection, acquisition, design and construction work as energy-efficiently and innovatively as possible. When designing a data centre, it is critical that the following three elements are considered from the outset for successful delivery.

1. Scalability: The flexibility to accommodate change without major works to the physical or IT infrastructure is key to strong data centre design. The need to refresh IT servers, often on a three-year cycle, introduces a design requirement for high-frequency equipment change. As a data centre site tends to operate for at least two decades, it must be designed to handle the significant technology upgrades and updates that will occur many times throughout its operational life.

In addition, potential future load requirements are unknown, which adds further demand for adaptability. It makes sense, therefore, to design in a modular UPS system, so that as a data centre’s load grows, additional power modules can easily be added. In turn, as power consumption increases, the design should offer accommodation for swift upgrades to the cooling systems that support it. This means carefully balancing current requirements against future demand.

2. Resilience: A data centre’s critical load comprises all the hardware components that make up the IT business architecture. Any new design must build in sufficient resilience to ensure any component failure or required maintenance activities does not compromise the critical load.

Typically, resilience is measured and defined by the data centre’s tier rating, a standardised, industry-accepted mechanism devised by the Uptime Institute. The system ranges from tier 1 to tier 4 – a tier 1 project will have a simple design with minimal backup equipment and a single path for power and cooling, whereas a tier 4 data centre will be designed to be fully fault-tolerant and with redundancy for every single component.

3. Connectivity: Selecting systems that use cloud-based, mobile-friendly data centre infrastructure management (DCIM) software, which can be shared and managed remotely, allows users to leverage information beyond that of their data centre, enabling benefits such as predictive maintenance. This helps to maximise the life of components while ensuring data centre availability and performance, as components such as batteries can be replaced before they fail.

In addition, there has been a significant increase in the use of AI to monitor and manage power and cooling at data centre sites. This information can be used for detailed reporting and analysis and to improve energy efficiency. However, depending on the level of integration and the extent of the information that is being generated and managed, incorporating this kind of software can come at a significant cost.

The question of cooling

Keeping data centres cool is one of the most critical elements of their design. There are many factors that drive the selection of any cooling option, not least capital and lifecycle costs, but also the location of the data centre and the feasibility of incorporating innovations. Understanding the cost drivers and benefits of each are crucial to advising clients effectively.

Solutions include passive cooling, which uses natural ventilation to remove heat from the building, and immersive liquid cooling, where servers are immersed in a rack filled with coolant that can have more than 1,000 times the heat capacity of air. Many operators are now integrating AI and machine learning into their cooling systems. The AI learns to apply the optimum amount of cooling at any given time, driving up efficiency and reducing energy use.

Location helps, too. Data centres can also simply be built in colder climates – such as Iceland, where BMW’s data is stored – or the Baltic region, which hosts a number of the world’s global hyperscale data centre facilities. Another approach, which is generally required by local authorities in the Baltic region, is to recycle waste heat and use it for district heating schemes.

As data centre growth continues, finding innovative ways to use heat for nearby homes and businesses is an important way that data centres can be better integrated into communities and contribute to wider decarbonisation efforts.

Upgrading existing data centres

As data centres near the end of their planned operational life, they can suffer from an increased risk of failure and reduced efficiency. Yet they can also represent an excellent opportunity. An upgrade or refurbishment of an existing facility can cost significantly less than a new-build, and can be achieved in a far shorter time frame, since there is no need for planning approvals or additional utility connections. Upgrade schemes also have significantly reduced embodied carbon compared with a new-build project.

Upgrading legacy installations is an effective way to increase capacity without space and carbon footprint increases. It also offers the opportunity to design in crucial long-term benefits, such as strengthening competitiveness, reliability, safety, flexibility and environmental integration, as well as security and monitoring.

A key component of redesigning the centre will be studying and analysing factors such as air flow, heat propagation, audible noise, and electromagnetic compatibility. Other areas to consider in extending the life of an ageing facility include the need to elevate the data centre operating temperature, upgrade servers and systems, improve the system layout and rack layout for power and cooling efficiency, consider supplemental or alternative cooling schemes, the availability and reliability issues in power distribution and finally the availability of data centre power, including the potential for alternative power sources.

Current challenges and trends – and the road ahead

As the data centre sector has matured, its needs and demands have become clearer. End users are now better placed to choose between construction of their own data centre or engaging with a third-party provider, whether through co-location, managed or cloud services, or engaging with the upgrade of an existing centre.

These decisions are underpinned by a better understanding of the total cost and time frame of ownership, which typically covers a period of five to 10 years. Institutions and funds are therefore now able to invest with greater certainty, as unknown costs can be minimised with the right level of management capability. However, this also means that data centres are becoming more commoditised. Competition is fierce as third-party and outsourcing organisations strive to lower costs and differentiate themselves from the competition.

Europe is attracting strong data centre investment as data creation continues to grow. More capital is available, and competition for deals is increasing. But the availability of power from renewable sources is constraining growth in Europe. In less mature markets, creating and accessing sufficient fibre connectivity is also a key consideration. In the Middle East alone, rapid digitisation of “smart cities” is spurring the data centre market, which is expected to grow annually by seven per cent between 2018 and 2024.

There are many hurdles for data centres to overcome in the coming decades, not least meeting the net-zero carbon challenge, protecting data from malicious attacks and preventable leaks, and addressing geographical and geopolitical challenges. The challenges facing the wider technology industry are also complex: maintaining talent, minimising supply chain disruption, and implementing sustainable, environmentally-sound solutions.

For those designing data centres, security, decarbonisation and innovation are the watchwords to ensure that projects are fit for purpose in this extremely fast-moving sector.

This is an abridged version of an article that first appeared in Building magazine. 

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It is hard to talk about net-zero carbon buildings without considering Passivhaus, and it is difficult to discuss Passivhaus without there being a sharp intake of breath and fears of cost increases. But does Passivhaus really cost more money?

Passivhaus versus capital cost

Passivhaus is a building standard and certification system that sets operational energy and occupant comfort performance criteria. Despite the name, Passivhaus can be applied to all building types – haus means building in German, not house – indeed there are plenty of large, non-domestic buildings that are applying the standard.

In the case of net-zero buildings, the emphasis is on reducing energy demand as far as possible so that a higher proportion can be met through onsite renewable energy generation on site (e.g. photovoltaics) and on the fact that the nation’s energy demands will increasingly be met by renewables, such as wind farms. The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has already set energy demand targets for offices and will be setting targets for other building types. The London Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI) guidance has set a 55kWh/m²/year figure for buildings – a seriously challenging target.

Passivhaus, however, sets maximum performance criteria for space heating and cooling demand, air permeability, overheating and primary energy demand. The Passivhaus heat demand target of <15kWh/m²/year is less than a fifth of a typical non-domestic building’s demand, which radically reduces the overall energy use and associated carbon emissions compared to the conventional design approach. There is a rigorous procedure for certification and stringent requirements to prove that the building is built as designed.  This has helped to close the much reported ‘performance gap’ as research shows that Passivhaus buildings are delivering on their design promises.

Crucially, proponents of Passivhaus argue that there is no capital cost uplift associated with applying the standard, as long as the principles drive the design from the very start.

To achieve Passivhaus standards within budget, cost savings must be sought elsewhere, such as creating compact built forms and simplifying the architectural detailing.  Furthermore, creating an integrated design that avoid thermal bridges reduces heat loss. This means it is easier to meet the stringent insulation standards and that most of the heat demand is met by internal heat gains from people and equipment. As a result, the heating plant is far smaller, and the cost savings can then be spent on triple glazing, openable windows and highly efficient ventilation systems.

Our research

That’s what the Passivhaus experts say, but how do we verify just how much Passivhaus costs? It is difficult to nail down the capital cost uplift for Passivhaus as each building is different and it is difficult to isolate the changes that relate to Passivhaus from the other differences between each building. So how do we get a real handle on capital cost uplifts of Passivhaus?

We explored this question in some recent AECOM-led research for University College London (UCL) Estates. We assembled a multi-disciplinary team consisting of an experienced Passivhaus architect, a Passivhaus-trained building services engineer and cost consultants from AECOM with experience of costing Passivhaus schemes. To get a clearer picture of the changes in capital cost, we took two recently completed buildings that were designed to current regulation and policy standards and ‘reimagined’ them as if they had been designed using Passivhaus principles by altering the building fabric and the MEP design. We applied the basic principles that make up a Passivhaus building – i.e. triple glazing, Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR) etc. – and then estimated the capital cost implications of each of the changes for each building. The third and final step was to estimate the operational costs and prepare comparison matrices showing the relative life cycle benefits for each measure.

The results showed that the capital costs uplifts were far lower than commonly assumed. The overall capital cost uplift was only 0.9 per cent and 0.04 per cent for a new build and a deep refurbishment respectively (see breakdown in Figure 1). This contrasts strongly with the 10-15 per cent uplift commonly quoted and shows that a relatively small cost can yield huge energy demand and carbon savings. It also puts the idea of offsetting the energy demand through on-site generation within touching distance.

Following the research, UCL Estates has updated its standards to place a much greater emphasis on reducing energy demand as part of its approach to net-zero carbon buildings. Ben Stubbs, Head of Sustainability at UCL Estates commented: “Our work with AECOM provided reassurance that implementing Passivhaus principles doesn’t necessarily cost more for new buildings and can even result in significant savings when viewed in life cycle terms.”

Passivhaus provides a rigorous approach to radically cutting energy demand, enabling net zero buildings. Furthermore, because Passivhaus is actually closing the performance gap, it is a standard that truly delivers net zero carbon buildings.

This research was undertaken by the following AECOM experts in collaboration with UCL:

• Dave Cheshire, Sustainability, Project Director
• Evangelia Mitsiakou, Architect and Passivhaus Designer, Project Manager
• Rebecca Lindridge, Associate, Cost Consultant
• Florentino Bercasio, Director, Cost Management
• Chris Bicknell, Asset Advisory, Director, Life Cycle Cost Consultant

The post Debunking the myth that Passivhaus is costly to achieve appeared first on Without Limits.

We are witnessing a revolution in the way mental healthcare provision is delivered across the island of Ireland. New holistic care models, based around central tenets of therapy and recovery rather than isolation and institutionalisation, are informing the design and location of pioneering new facilities,

helping to destigmatise mental health.

Increasingly, innovative design methods are underpinning the delivery of these new secondary care facilities, where digital tools are leveraged to create award-winning environments that are both inclusive and nurturing, yet robust enough to ensure the safety of both patients and staff – a delicate balance to strike.

This article draws on our experience of delivering some of these new healthcare facilities – from acute services to forensic mental care and children’s support units – to demonstrate how a digital-led approach can improve delivery, increase operational effectiveness and support the person-centred care model being rolled out across the island of Ireland.

The enormous costs of poor mental health

More than one in six people in EU countries (17.3 per cent) have a mental health problem in any given year – the figures for the island of Ireland show a marginally higher percentage (18.5 per cent).

Coronavirus has added a further twist. Isolation and lack of access to formal and informal support during extended lockdown periods have been devastating for those with existing mental health issues, with some evidence from the UK pointing to an 8 per cent increase in cases as a direct result of the pandemic.

Aside from the significant human and social costs (through reduction in quality of life, depression and pain etc.), the wider economic costs are enormous – up to as much as four per cent of GDP across EU countries, or over €600 billion. In the Republic of Ireland, estimates suggest that costs amounted to 3.2 per cent of GDP in 2018.

Recommendations set out in reviews by the National Health Service (NHS)[4] and Health Service Executive (HSE)[5] have paved the way for a radical step change in the way mental health care provision is delivered to try and minimise these costs.

While there has been a steady if modest increase in overall gross non-capita mental health budgets in recent years, the current percentage allocation to mental health still falls short of recommended levels – and the number of beds per 100,000 across the island of Ireland is low in comparison to other EU countries (Figure 1). Demand for services is still acute, particularly in urban areas across the country (Figure 2).

New best practice is emerging

Changes in the delivery of mental health care provision have clear implications for how healthcare trusts manage, design and deliver their estates: this is where good design and technology step in.

Risk assessment is a good example. Risk assessment processes are an intrinsic part of mental health. Creating a secure environment for patients and staff is a critical requirement particularly in acute units – where patients can become distressed, disruptive and destructive with potential for self-harm, violence and even loss of life.

In the new intensive support unit for children in Glenmona in Belfast, where we needed to make the facilities as inclusive and homely as possible, we took a risk-based assessment approach to reduce the safety requirements while using cutting-edge design to ensure compliancy. In low and medium risk areas the proposed interior design means that safety and anti-ligature features can be more discretely placed, and design layouts promote line of sight limiting the amount of surface protection measures.

We took a similar approach at the Acute Mental Health Inpatient Centre – a recently-opened state-of-the-art facility located in Belfast City Hospital.  There, technology has been leveraged to minimise at risk situations for both patients and staff. Isolation controls can identify water misuse allowing staff to immediately shut off supply to patient rooms. Smart electrical design removes self-harm electrocution risk.

Innovations around personal technology and sensors – applications of which continue to advance –complement the safety measures embedded within the physical building. At the Inpatient Centre in Belfast for example, radio-frequency identification (RFID) is integrated with the alarm systems enabling real-time patient and staff tracking. In case of emergency, immediate staff-assist and staff-attack response location information is communicated to site-wide display stations.

Costing benefits

Costing the benefits of these systems needs to happen early. A socioeconomic cost benefit analysis is the best way to measure the impact of an improved environment and the reduced risk to staff and patients. Generally, the more area within the building, the greater the capital cost.  However, designing solely to Health Building Note (HBN) guidance can potentially impact on the therapeutic environment within mental health facilities.  Careful consideration must be given to incorporating daylighting, natural ventilation and single-loaded corridors which provide good levels of natural light and views out to external spaces.

There are both positive and negative revenue and operational impacts of deviating from HBN guidance.  This was demonstrated by a mental health trust who decided to increase all its bedrooms with en-suites from 15m² (as per HBN guidance) to 23.5m².  This enabled the trust to admit patients of all levels of mobility, resulting in never having to turn away a patient who required a larger room. This decision resulted in the trust achieving the optimum 85 per cent occupancy rate which, in turn, had a positive revenue impact.

Conversely, if trusts choose to deviate from HBN guidance and drive areas too low, it can result in a smaller facility, with the same quantity of rooms, albeit smaller, and similar staffing level requirements.   Smaller rooms can prevent disabled or obese patients from accessing the facility which can reduce the potential revenue that could be gained from a more flexible design approach.

The benefits of digital delivery

The best way to incorporate these enhancements is to design buildings digitally.

This is happening in Scotland where we are working with Health Facilities Scotland (HFS) and NHSScotland (NHSS) to deliver on the Scottish Government’s Digital Health and Care Strategy. The first step was to embed Building Information Modelling (BIM), which allowed NHSS to then create a digital estates strategy. One of the key components of this is the digital twin — a shift from a deterministic to a more probabilistic, dynamic model.

Via digital twinning, NHSS aims to link its physical assets (buildings and potentially end-users) to a digital representation, using data from sensors and analysing variables such as condition, efficiency and real-time status. This connectivity coupled with data analytics will reform facilities’ levels of operational effectiveness, generate extra insights from the digital twin to help reshape and improve services, and support person-centred care.

Using data to achieve parity of esteem for mental health

These facilities are at the vanguard of mental health care across the island of Ireland. Cutting edge design and technology is already improving the quality of patient care, and better protecting staff. Likewise, digital tools and processes are delivering the next generation of facilities efficiently, achieving value for money.

It is important that this momentum is not lost. Collating data and user experience evidence is the next step. In combination with in-depth cost model knowledge, a strong case can be made for further investment, and another step can be taken along the road to achieving parity of esteem for mental health.

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The much anticipated publication in October of the NHS Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service comes as the NHS embarks on a long-term programme of investment in health infrastructure. With £3.7 billon funding to build 40 new hospitals, delivering on the net zero commitment is going to require a new approach.

Net zero means reducing the carbon emissions associated with a building’s usage and construction to zero or below.  Thanks to the huge and varied demands required of them, hospitals have a large carbon footprint from both construction and operation, although modern design and a decarbonised grid look set to radically reduce operational emissions in future. To achieve the NHS objective, hospital trusts should look closely at the building structure, which our analysis shows has the potential to be most impactful when it comes to reducing embodied carbon demands.

As NHS Chief Executive Simon Stevens makes clear, the climate emergency is also a health emergency. Leading by example, the NHS – which is responsible for around 4 percent of the nation’s carbon emissions – has set out a clear objective of reaching carbon neutrality by 2040.

Official targets for embodied carbon have not yet been set for new hospitals, but we have compiled what we think those targets might look like by using targets for Greater London Authority office buildings, those put forward by the London Energy Transformation Initiative, combined with AECOM benchmark studies of both office buildings and recent completed hospitals. Figure 1 demonstrates the range of ‘do minimum’ and ‘aspirational’ targets for both GLA and AECOM benchmark studies. This has enabled us to set our own targets as shown.

To inform net zero strategies, the  UK Green Building Council and LETI have compiled a set of building guidelines, to which AECOM has contributed. In addition to these considerations, hospitals have specific requirements that deserve careful consideration.

On an individual scale, hospitals contain a variety of departments ranging from administration through to theatres and imaging. Each space has different structural design requirements which need to be addressed: from space requirements influencing grid spacing, to floor loading requirements and vibration limits. The buildings also need to accommodate complex equipment and mechanical, electrical and public health (MEP) routing requirements, with high space demands for services. Medical equipment such as MRI scanners are heavy and have stringent vibration criteria.

To address the specific and changing nature of healthcare provision, hospitals require adaptable and flexible solutions – as the rapid re-purposing of spaces during the coronavirus crisis highlighted. In the future, hospital buildings and facilities must be designed to respond to multiple and fast changing health situations, with space for new technologies.

From operational energy efficiency to the question of whether to build new or refurbish, there are many considerations for hospital trusts to consider. In this article, we are going to focus on what our own analysis has shown to have the most impact on reducing embodied carbon emissions: the building structure.

Thanks to experience delivering carbon efficient buildings such the GSK Carbon Neutral Laboratories for Sustainable Chemistry, the world’s first carbon neutral lab, and the LEED Platinum facility at NASA Ames Research Center in California, AECOM has been building up a library of carbon data relating to a building’s structure. Figure 2 shows that half of the embodied carbon of a typical office building is due to the structure. When it comes to hospitals, the percentages are similar, despite the unique challenges placed on such buildings.

Three considerations for net zero hospital design

To reduce the carbon footprint of a building structure, three considerations are key: design, materials choice and offsite manufacture and assembly.

1/ Design

Three broad principles will help achieve the best energy efficient outcomes from design:

a) A pragmatic approach

To rationalise material use and reduce carbon content throughout the building, the following lean engineering practices will help:

• providing regular grids,
• maximising the repeatability of structural elements,
• designing to standard component size as much as possible,
• maximising pre-fabrication potential,
• limiting the structural spans,
• avoiding irregular shapes and structural complexities such as transfers.

Reducing the use of basements can also have significant savings. AECOM benchmark studies have shown that 20 per cent of embodied carbon can be found within the substructure. This figure rises exponentially with the inclusion of basements.

b) Avoid over-specification

Like the human body, the different elements of a building are inter-connected, and prescribing a specific outcome for one variable can put pressure on other variables. The key is achieving a balance between flexibility requirements, which require additional functionality, and efficient design. This requires input from NHS estate managers, clinical planners and the design team as a whole to first establish flexible criteria and the strategies to implement these.

c) Applying circular economy principles

Design focused on eliminating waste and re-using resources can increase building life span as well as incorporating flexible structural arrangements. From the outset, consideration should be given to what happens at the end of a building’s life, designing for dismantle and re-use.

2/ Materials choice

The choice of materials used in construction has the potential to impact embodied carbon significantly, and exploring the most appropriate material should be considered from the outset. As Figure 3 shows, using sustainable materials such as timber, and reducing high carbon content materials such as swapping cement with replacement materials can make a huge impact.

Developing designs around the chosen material will maximise carbon savings. AECOM has developed bespoke tools to define materials choice by enabling rapid prototyping of early stage options and reporting against performance criteria including carbon content. Along with our carbon calculators and advanced analysis tools we can then maximise carbon savings throughout the design development of the building.

3/ Design for offsite manufacture (Modern Methods of Construction/MMC)

To support the modernisation of the construction sector, off-site production is being actively encouraged by the government, whose five central departments have adopted a ‘presumption in favour of offsite construction’ for public buildings. The NHS looks to be following suit with a requirement to explain how , when applying for funding from government.

Through efficient energy usage in manufacturing techniques and the reduction in material usage and waste,  offsite production. Evidence collected so far suggests that construction waste and site CO2 emissions can be more than halved through a DfMA approach compared with traditional practices.  It can take many forms, from constructing individual structural elements (steel, concrete or timber) through to full building modules. Taking full advantage of these benefits requires structural engineers to adopt the design principles stated above from the outset.

The world’s first ‘net zero’ national health service

With NHS net zero carbon hospital standards due to be set in Spring 2021, the business case for the planned new hospitals will need to demonstrate the energy strategies to meet them. The challenge is to not only meet these emerging requirements, but to pre-empt them. To be sustainable, the new projects should be built to serve current and future generations.

Tools and processes to deliver on these aspirations include rapid prototyping and optimisation software used from inception, through to advanced bespoke carbon calculators giving BIM linked real time carbon assessments through the detailed design phases. The planned 40 hospitals should be net zero heroes, carbon exemplars that set the trend for future NHS buildings and infrastructure.

The post Net zero heroes: helping the NHS achieve its carbon reduction goals appeared first on Without Limits.

Emerging from the pandemic, the medical schools that leverage lessons learned from operating at an unimaginable pace and with so much resilience and creativity will be the ones to lead the field. The question they should be asking is, “how do we build these new behaviors and processes into our organization so that we continuously raise standards in education and research in the years ahead?” The answer is integrated strategy.

In the past, planning was siloed with aspects of research, learning, business, operations and facilities addressed separately. In contrast, planning of the future will be integrated – embracing joined up thinking, increased collaboration and data-driven decision making.

In this article, we identify six important aspects that are driving transformative initiatives in academic medicine. Even in the midst of the pandemic there are schools across the United States that are already reimagining their future by addressing these core themes. Strategy+, AECOM’s design-led management consulting studio has been working with these institutions to implement these approaches, and we include some of these case studies below.

1/SYNCHRONIZED

By aligning streamlined processes and policies, innovative activities, inclusive governance structures, new partnerships and service models with optimized resource allocation we can more effectively target the delivery of innovative real estate. To do this however, organizations need to move away from traditional siloed approaches where the focus tends to be on individual projects or processes.  In contrast, taking a synchronized approach means aligning shared learning, research and administrative resources for greater efficiency. Using an inclusive governance structure, planning and communication can be synchronized. Organizational improvement can dramatically reduce change the need for space.

CASE STUDY: Lehigh University’s New College of Health engaged Strategy+ to design and implement a shared services model that leverages a ”concierge” capability. Cross-trained professionals are allocated a faculty group and provide personal-focused assistance in aspects of HR, student support, research pre- and post-award support, tech transfer and marketing.

2/DYNAMIC

Taking a dynamic approach means leveraging mission-driven live analytic dashboards to make informed decisions on enrollment, research performance and future capital investments, rather than taking a static, non-data-driven approach that represents just one point in time. Interactive planning tools driven by live databases allows us to undertake real time modelling of changes in enrollment, pedagogy, new programs and research expenditures, and see the effect on financial, physical, human and technological resources.

CASE STUDY: University of Colorado, Boulder has engaged Strategy+ to create an interactive GIS academic planning tool. It facilitates the analysis of enrollment, revenue and costs, human resources, facility suitability, space utilization, new pedagogies, operating costs, and income generation to assess real estate solutions capacity to address evolving learning and research opportunities.

3/DIGITAL

The global pandemic has forced new learning, working, research and clinical practices to become mainstream and in response institutions are learning to look beyond their physical infrastructure. Moving forward, institutions must learn to leverage agile mobile working practices, and continuously adopt new technology and update curriculums to improve accessibility, efficiency and quality of multi-modal learning.  For example, first- and second-year students have focused on virtual anatomy and interacting with standardized patients on-line. Third and fourth years learn on-line in redesigned clerkships involving faculty-guided, didactics and patient videoconferences. Digital infrastructure has increased faculty and staff mobility who can now work anywhere.

CASE STUDY: The University of California’s Riverside School of Medicine engaged Strategy+ to integrate collaborative digital experiences into its future education facility. For clinical skills we realigned contact hours for small groups in virtual anatomy, virtual standardized patients and i-human encounters. We also realigned its workplace strategy to integrate mobile teaching and administration.

4/MISSION-DRIVEN

Colleges of medicine are increasingly using mission-focused strategic initiatives and metrics-driven goals to define their brand and focus their academic vision. Mission-driven planning develops these academic, financial, operational and experiential differentiators into a timeline of metrics-based targets that drive the types and extent of optimal research and learning facilities. This marks a shift away from traditional planning-driven approaches that focus on development sites and their phased delivery.

CASE STUDY: NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine asked Strategy+ to develop research and technology transfer focus areas as part of its strategic plan.  Leveraging its strengths in anatomy, esports and comprehensive whole person practice they will concentrate on recruiting osteopathic research specialists and grow targeted research income.

5/TRANSFORMATIVE

The pandemic has emphasized the need to reassess traditional programs, curriculum and student support delivery modalities. New approaches to the social determinants of health, public health, population health and telemedicine are driving new forms of inter-professional teaming. This is in contrast to traditional approaches where consultation and collaboration occurs solely within the organization.

CASE STUDY: MIT Hacking Medicine Institute (HMi) As a dramatic departure from how MIT currently leverages its work into outcomes and impact, HMi’s vision, virtual operational model, governance structure and funding strategy is intended to disrupt the health industry by crowdsourcing targeted health related challenges and accelerating solutions to market.

About Strategy+

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In the current era of big data, much ink has been spilt on the unbridled potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to revolutionise the construction industry. Sector focused magazines and websites are abound with organisational case studies highlighting the latest AI implementation success stories ranging from the improvement of cost prediction capabilities to enhanced abilities to detect project risks – enticing their industrial peers to jump onto this promising bandwagon.

The lure of AI is both understandable and justifiable. Within the AECOM Cost Intelligence team, our foray into this field has enabled us to improve both the quality and efficiency of our services. Our clients are becoming increasingly conscious about the potential of data to enable better prediction and enhance decision making processes.  To that end, we have successfully created AI tools that perform more accurate cost predictions with much less effort compared to current processes.

Yet, despite the largely positive collective experience within and beyond our organisation, it is fair to say that the potential offered by AI remains largely untapped and this is in no small part due to the challenges related to the data quality and quantity.

The need for data

The vast majority of AI applications function by inferring trends and patterns in existing datasets before formulating predictions. As such, successful implementations of AI typically require large quantities of high-quality data to perform optimally. Deficiencies in either data quality or quantity has proven to be a significant stumbling block for AI adoption in many organisations, within and beyond the construction industry. Effective data governance holds the key for organisations to successfully navigate this hurdle.

What is data governance?

Data Management Association (DAMA) defines data governance as “the exercise of authority and control (planning, monitoring, and enforcement) over the management of data assets”. The Data Governance Institute defines data governance as “a system of decision rights and accountabilities for information-related processes, executed according to agreed-upon models which describe who can take what actions with what information, and when, under what circumstances, using what methods.” In essence, data governance concerns the deployment of the right mixture of process, technology and personnel to govern the input, storage and usage of data to achieve organisational objectives.

Data governance frameworks typically have a wide reach and could vary based on organisational needs. That said, there are several key aspects that are commonly present across most data governance frameworks (see Figure 1):

• Stewardship: Promoting accountability by assigning stewards/custodians to relevant datasets
• Accessibility: Facilitating availability of data for relevant stakeholders
• Data Security: Ensuring sensitivity-based safeguarding measures are implemented on databases
• Data Quality: Maintaining and monitoring data quality to ensure its suitability for intended applications
• Knowledge: Preserving and improving data knowledge within the organisation by ensuring documentation of data systems and related processes are kept up to date.

How is data governance relevant to AI?

While data governance facilitates the implementation of AI through various aspects, the most critical contribution is its facilitation of high-quality data collection. This is achieved through various means; most critically through its emphasis on data quality.

An effective data governance framework emphasises data quality by defining data quality requirements and monitoring this requirement against relevant metrics. This function is bolstered through the identification data stewards to promote accountability and encourage initiative amongst stakeholders to maintain the quality of data to the required standards. By pursuing this, the burden of maintaining data quality can be shared across many actors – particularly amongst those upstream of the data pipeline. The focus on knowledge capture and transfer, on the other hand, ensures that members are kept abreast with the data needs of the organisation while also maintaining consistency in the organisation’s practice by assuring continuity in the face of personnel changes.

What are other benefits of data governance?

Data governance is pivotal in aiding organisations to achieve a myriad of other objectives besides AI adoption. This framework has been pivotal for many financial institutions to achieve regulatory compliance. Further, effective data governance frameworks enable organisations to standardise various business processes and improve operational efficiency. From an asset management perspective, the implementation of a robust data governance framework is critical to ensure compliance with ISO 55001 by enabling processes and systems to satisfy the data requirements outlined by this standard. Further, by emphasising data quality across all levels of an organisation, data governance facilitates data-driven decision-making with or without AI implementation.

Who is responsible for data governance?

As with most critical business functions, data governance requires collective effort for successful implementation. That said, buy-in and direction from the leaders of an organisation is critical to ensure that this process is in line with wider business objectives and strategy. Further, a top-down intervention is pivotal to ensure data governance related tasks are afforded the requisite prioritisation amongst other BAU activities. By promoting data consciousness at the top of the organisation, it will be easier to shape the right culture. Only by doing this, can the benefits offered by AI be sustainably leveraged.

How can we help?

We work extensively on various facets of data governance with our clients across the built environment sector. We have helped our clients improve their data pipeline and systems across our diverse portfolio of projects. Our combination of technical, organisational and commercial skills enables us to work with different stakeholders across organisations on a wide variety of projects ranging from the deployment of data systems to the formulation of organisational data strategies.

We have also developed a standardised data quality assessment framework based on recognised industry standards. As data quality is a key tenet of data governance, this framework has facilitated the adoption of best practice to enable our clients to achieve their data governance objectives.

Further, with our knowledge of AI we actively assist our clients in reshaping their data processes and systems in accordance with AI system requirements; enabling our clients to fully leverage the potential AI has to offer for their organisation.

The post Effective data governance: a key enabler for AI adoption appeared first on Without Limits.

While Hong Kong has a long history of using underground space for commercial and public facilities, many of these projects were simply an extension of the building on top of them, with limited connection to the city around them. As urbanization continues its upward trend and our perceptions of space — personal and public — are constantly evolving, this use of layered technologies to explore the underground holds the potential to revolutionize urban liveability and create synergies with the surrounding urban context.

AECOM, commissioned by the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government to undertake a study of underground development in an urban space, has explored ways of integrating the latest innovative technologies, including Virtual Reality (VR) and photogrammetry technologies with more widely used techniques in the industry, such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) and 3D spatial data to improve communication among the different parties involved in the planning and design process of underground space.

This novel combination of technologies has resulted in time savings, increased efficiency and cost benefits as well as greatly enhanced cooperation and the ability to virtually collaborate without the need for travel to a project site. On one project, outlined below, the use of photogrammetry technology to create a 3D model of the existing site saved three weeks time from the site survey, while sharing the site reality model with the designer for performing the parametric design saved another two weeks. Integrating various feature models into a visualization model for the Virtual Reality simulation saved another two weeks by amalgamating information to form a holistic review with different parties. Further, it saved client comment time as 3D visualizations facilitate the design detail and constraints of the project. Since the design team did not need to travel to Hong Kong, this saved around $100K HKD.

Particularly in high density cities, where land value is high and greenfield developments are hard to come by, the ability to map the underground more effectively and efficiently may open a world of possibilities.

This combination of technologies was first used to see how an urban park in Honk Kong that is close to a railway station could be better integrated to its surrounding area. The park is surrounded by densely developed multi-story buildings of mixed residential, commercial and retail use. For initial planning, AECOM and CEDD wanted to capture the existing environment in a 3D model to study how the park related to a wide range of facilities at ground level. But while there was 3D data on the buildings surrounding the park, there wasn’t any available 3D data on the park itself. That’s when we started going underground.

To build a more complete picture, we used Hong Kong government 3D spatial data[1] from the Lands Department to create that 3D model of the park then combined it with aerial photogrammetry technology. We shared the resulting model – complete with hard and soft landscaping and areas of interest within the park – with our partnering architecture design company based in Japan who had enough detail to be able to do many things that would usually have required travel to Hong Kong. This included measuring the space, seeing the topographic setting and the detail of the proposed site, as well as gaining an understanding of how the underground project would relate to the existing environment.

In the early stages of the design, a BIM model was created using the architectural design model which allowed all parties involved to communicate effectively and with a great level of detail. The BIM model was then combined with the site reality model (3D + photogrammetry) to create a Virtual Reality (VR) model that could be experienced on a computer screen. This virtual environment gave designers, planners, engineers, consultants and client representatives a realistic and life-sized place to walk and talk through the various aspects of the project.

After we layered on the virtual reality component, the resulting 1:1 representation of the project site also enabled 360-degree panoramas suitable for mobile VR devices used at in-person public consultations, as several mobile devices can be deployed at one venue. Panoramas can also be hosted on a website to reach a wider audience. The next level we’re exploring is a computer-connected VR device which would allow for more detailed design review and for users to interact with the virtual underground space design at a real-world scale. These representations could also be used in a virtual consultation room using AECOM’s interactive web-based tool.

Another benefit to this layering of technologies is that visualization models are not limited to the illustration of design details; data can be converted to other software to view shadow, noise and traffic impact assessments; 4D (BIM) simulation can also help to visualize the construction process.

This approach is unique because the novel integration of these innovative technologies has rarely been investigated within the framework of a single project and never-before used to explore underground space. Stakeholders often think only of BIM, but with an open mind this concept can be (and has been) replicated with different combinations of the various available technologies to suit the needs of other clients and projects.

Our study demonstrates the clear benefits for all parties involved in the planning and design of the conceptual scheme for underground space development in densely populated urban areas. Designers, planners, clients and consultants can visualize the components of a design at a 1:1 scale in ways that cannot be matched by 2D or 3D software alone. For the public, the realistic nature of the VR-based model brings the project and its full potential to life.

Learn more about this and other explorations of the potential of subterranean space to revolutionize the future urban experience in the new book Underground Cities: New Frontiers in Urban Living, introduced here.

AECOM would like to acknowledge the Head of Geotechnical Engineering Office and the Director of the Civil Engineering and Development Department, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, for the permission to publish.  The usage of material was authorized by ACUUS, the Associated Research Centers for the Urban Underground Space. The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region does not accept responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or up-to-date nature of any reproduced versions of the material concern.

Unless otherwise indicated, the photographs found in this article are subject to copyright owned by the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD).  Prior written consent is required for a third party who intends to reproduce, distribute, display or otherwise use such photographs in any way or for any purpose.  Such request for consent shall be addressed to the CEDD via email at enquiry@cedd.gov.hk

[1] 3D Spatial Data is a set of territory-wide digital 3D model data created to represent the shape, appearance and position of various types of ground features including building, infrastructure and terrain.

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In 2019, the Housing Communities and Local Government Committee clearly stated that “a significant proportion of homes must be built using modern methods of construction (MMC) if we are to meet the target to deliver 30,000 homes annually.” Developers, contractors and design and engineering consultants, have responded to meet demand with an array of solutions and products – from refurbished sea containers to fully customisable modules. The result is a transformation in the way that we deliver the UK’s housing stock.

Local and city authorities, developers and housing associations are gradually embracing the idea of using these new construction technologies for use on their developments. The next step is choosing the right solution for the project and wider community – an understandably tricky ask when we remember that these construction technologies are relatively new and the pros and cons of each are not always apparent.

The way forward becomes clearer when we ask: what ambitions can a given modular or offsite solution meet not only for the specific project but for the wider community as well?

Adoption in the UK

The £72 million investment injected into the Construction Innovation Hub by the UK government in 2018 to promote the development of digital and advanced manufacturing is paying off. Advances in Building Information Management (BIM) and generative design software are accelerating the adoption of manufactured offsite solutions. Supply chains are maturing in response and are better integrated at the design stages. There has also been an uptick in manufacturing expertise within the construction sector. Hesitancy and concerns around higher costs are shifting as these construction technologies become more widespread and cost effectiveness continues to increase.

As more options come to market, the benefits in terms of cost savings as well as the reduction time in the design and construction phases by up to 50 per cent compared to traditional build methods, are being realised by authorities, developers and housing associations, especially in the context of meeting the UK’s ambitious housing delivery targets.

Government agency Homes England has been an earlier adopter. Modern methods are being used to construct 1,500 homes across the country. Homes England has just commissioned a research study to test these emerging construction technologies on its sites and it’s hoped that the results will further encourage uptake of MMC in housing delivery by providing verifiable performance data to inform future decision making.

Decisions should be guided by data, but it is important to also consider how certain attributes can inform project-specific and community-specific ambitions, for example how net zero homes can contribute to a borough’s wider carbon reduction targets or whether a solution is flexible enough to fit a site’s constraints.

Three factors that should guide decision-making

Below, we explore three factors that we think decision makers should consider, and give advice on how to achieve these outcomes.

1/Quality and the importance of the ‘MMC mindset’

The prefabricated homes from the 1950s and 60s have cast a long shadow over the reputation of modular housing. Preconceptions around ‘box’ standardisation, bland exteriors and poor standards of insulations and finishes still linger. However, today’s architects are using modern construction technologies to produce end products that are far superior – and much more flexible.

Good design delivers high quality living spaces. Modern solutions can be adapted to maximise the number of homes on a site, deliver different space standards and support a wider range of tenures. External elevations can be chosen to complement the vernacular.

To best achieve these outcomes however, it is critical that a fully integrated team – from the clients and the design consultants, through the supply chain and construction teams – comes to the table from project kick off to agree and sign off on elements such as space, materials and intended use prior to production. This process requires a complete change of mindset that is radically different from traditional ways of working.

2/Take a fabric-first approach to deliver low carbon homes

Decarbonising the UK’s housing stock is a significant slice of the strategy needed to meet ambitions to reduce net greenhouse gas emission by 100 per cent by 2050. This means addressing operational and embodied carbon.

Design innovation and technological solutions are helping to bring about behavioural changes to lower carbon emissions. Building for 2050, a research programme led by AECOM and funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is identifying the drivers, demands and challenges to delivering low carbon homes. If we are to meet net zero ambitions however, an MMC fabric-first approach – i.e. maximising the performance of individual components and elements – is essential. Solutions that identify fabric-first factors such as insulation, airtightness, ventilation and thermal bridging and solar gain will inherently deliver low energy homes with reduced running costs.

3/MMC solutions can be leveraged to make a positive local impact

Social value has risen up the political agenda since parliament passed The Public Services (Social Value) Act in 2012. The UK2070 Commission’s report  lays out plans to ‘level up’ regional inequalities across the UK, although it is light on detail. Nevertheless, on a local level, boroughs and councils have successfully implemented social value into their procurement processes.

The skills required for MMC differ from those used on a traditional construction site.  Some modular system manufacturers provide on-site training and employment opportunities for the local workforce.

For example, AECOM and RSHP’s INNO offsite volumetric system is a solution which can be fully localised, unlocking employment and training opportunities in the community, local authority or city. Working alongside the INNO central assembly site in Nottinghamshire – otherwise known as the Centre of Excellence – satellite assembly units can be set up near or close to project sites. INNO works with local authority organisations or institutional associations to employ and train local people to help deliver the high-quality homes.

The importance of an MMC-mindset

Clearly, emerging construction technologies have potential to add value to an individual project and the wider community – and these attributes can inform the decision-making process.

To maximise that value however, traditional ways of working must be put to one side and a radically different mindset employed. Clients, design consultants, the supply chain and construction teams need to work together from the outset as an integrated team to get the best results. Delivering homes of a high quality must always be the priority.

Case study: YMCA Romford and INNO

Adopting the INNO solution – an offsite volumetric housing system by global engineering firm AECOM and world-renowned architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners – the 39 one-bedroom units at YMCA Romford are helping residents take the step towards independent living.

The fabric-first approach to the design has delivered high quality and high performing homes which reduce the running costs for residents by 90 per cent and meet PassivHaus standards.

Working with INNO’s integrated design, manufacturing and assembly team, the YMCA adopted a MMC mindset that resulted in a clear design direction and an efficient delivery programme. As part of the process, a 1:1 digital model was produced and a prototype unit delivered prior to the production kick off, minimising snagging and defects to almost zero. These measures helped YMCA Romford make up to £250,000 in savings across materials, assembly and programme.

Steve Brightwell, Executive Director of Oerations at YMCA Thames Gateway commented: “At YMCA Thames Gateway we are committed to supporting our residents to move their lives forward, which ultimately means living independently. The challenge of providing high quality housing – that remains affordable – is well documented; and a key driver for us opting for the modular solution. Our new 39 units will provide young people with the incentive to become more independent whilst benefitting from a flexible, bespoke support package. Many of our residents can now cook their own meals, benefit from their own space, and a place to call their own. If we can start to develop more schemes in this way by using similar modern methods of construction – we stand a better chance at being able to house those that need a helping hand, rather than seeing so many sofa surf or live on the streets.”

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Health services around the world have been operating under immense pressure due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has come on top of the usual seasonal surges that tend to stretch systems to the max.  As the world waits for a vaccine, it has become clear that practical contingency plans and the creation of additional capacity to provide facilities in an emergency are crucial.  In response to initial waves, additional emergency facilities were built at speed to cope and the use of modern methods of construction were key to their effective delivery – and can be in the future.

Modular Integrated Construction is a construction method that uses free-standing integrated modules ― complete with finishes, fixtures and fittings ― which are manufactured in a factory and then transported to site for installation in a building. The use of MiC in healthcare is not new: organisations first used prefabricated units for individual services such as outpatient and temporary wards or operating theatres to create additional capacity

Additionally, Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) is vital to appreciating the benefits of repeatable design to the healthcare sector. DfMA is already widely used in sectors such as the automotive and consumer-products industries, where large numbers of high-quality components are needed. In construction, DfMA can be used to manufacture components such as concrete floor-slab elements or partition walls to a standard specification in a factory, before they are brought onsite. Or, DfMA can be used to manufacture the parts used to assemble entire prefabricated units, such as temporary wards or bathroom pods and include Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) components in MiC.

Over the years, the industry has made huge strides, tailoring the facilities to the needs of clients, increasing standardisation of rooms, the material and manufacturing of the building engineering and equipment and improving the quality of the products. MiC facilities in healthcare can now be seen in the provision of isolation rooms and wards, critical care units, high-dependency units (HDU), community facilities such as family planning clinics, GP surgeries, mobile MRIs, hospital wards, clinical departments, doctor’s surgeries, surgical theatres and operating rooms, modular office spaces, reception areas, clean rooms and laboratories.

In this article, we discuss the wider benefits of adopting MiC and DfMA into general hospital planning and the construction of permanent hospital facilities, and how those benefits can be leveraged to enhance Emergency Preparedness Response and Resilience (EPRP) strategies, while sharing global examples.

How DfMA helped the UK respond to coronavirus

While DfMA and MiC have not yet been fully adopted into mainstream healthcare planning in many parts of the world, the UK has been using them for the last 30 years.

At the Royal Stoke University Hospital, a modular 12-bed critical care unit that included an isolation unit was delivered in just 24 weeks while normal working operations at the hospital continued. More recently, AECOM designed and provided building engineering services on a dedicated cancer centre in Liverpool. Thirty per cent of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre’s structure comprised modular components, ensuring high build quality, reducing onsite timescales and reduced onsite health and safety risks.

These techniques were also used to deliver the NHS’s temporary emergency critical care hospitals, known as Nightingale Hospitals, that were commissioned during the initial pandemic response.

AECOM collaborated on the construction of the NHS Louisa Jordan hospital in Glasgow, which took just three weeks. In an interview for Building Magazine, Graeme Watson, project director at AECOM, explained how repeatable design sped up procurement, saying: “We assessed what we needed the most of and procured those products in the first couple of days. Having immediate access to clinicians meant they were able to see and touch the bedhead luminaires and make decisions there and then, so we could order 1,200 luminaires within minutes.” He added: “Traditionally, healthcare projects have initially been architecturally led, but incorporation of repeatable design, modular and off-site from the start brings quality, speed of delivery and safety benefits.”

Case study: Grange University Hospital, Gwent, South Wales

The early completion of the £350 million 560-bed Grange University Hospital in Gwent, South Wales, was made possible thanks to the use of modular construction and off-site methods. Off-site and DfMA methods were already being used, but when coronavirus hit, the construction team were asked if they could fast-track the build programme. Just four weeks later, the hospital took possession of 50 per cent of the space which enabled the hospital to provide support during the crisis, which otherwise would not have been possible had a standard build approach been planned.

The DfMA healthcare component and the associated workforce labour savings of 237,099 working hours (the equivalent of 5,927 working weeks) provided a 23 per cent overall planned programme saving. 821 precast columns where installed, which led to an 85 per cent savings in working hours and 1200 precast wall modules were installed, leading to a 95 per cent savings in working hours.

The formal completion of the hospital is expected in November 2020. Once fully open, it will provide complex critical care treatment for more than 600,000 people in Southeast Wales.

The many benefits of a modular approach

Given the long-term success in the UK, there is a strong case for integrating repeatable design methods into healthcare planning elsewhere around the world both during this current coronavirus pandemic, as well as in the future.

There are many benefits. Modular facilities can help with managing demand and capacity, surge, and winter pressures and in times of emergency. Projects are typically completed 50 per cent faster, with less accidents on-site and quality is ensured by the fact that production takes place in a controlled factory environment. There is less impact on the ‘live’ operations of a hospital or healthcare facility as these facilities can be delivered much faster than traditional on-site construction.

What’s more, the shorter time frame also results in less impact on existing healthcare facilities, reduced vehicle movements and waste on-site, savings on energy costs and an overall more efficient use of public funds.

The MiC volumetric units or DfMA component parts can be brought to site during off-peak times, with much of the construction happening in the factory. This reduces on-site construction waste, lowers safety incident levels and makes it less intrusive to staff and patients nearby.

Procurement is often done via government frameworks ― often resulting in a five percent reduction of standard cost rates as well as faster appointments and delivery of healthcare facilities made as a result of direct awards or mini competitions.

Furthermore, with MiC, there are already various repeatable room designs and clinical layouts available – a real benefit for those working in or managing healthcare facilities. This can be particularly useful in an emergency when there is no time for design and ready-made solutions are most practical. When time permits, however, suppliers can tailor the clinical spaces to individual needs.  MiC can be used across all healthcare sectors including acute, primary care and mental health.

What’s more, the life expectancy of these buildings is approximately 70 years and can be adapted to meet future clinical need or re-used for another service ― particularly useful in transforming them for clinical or administrative services.

A worthwhile investment

As coronavirus continues its hold on countries around the world, solutions are still being explored to create sufficient isolation, quarantine and critical care facilities, regardless of whether they are temporary, permanent or a refurbishment of existing areas. MiC and C solutions bring cost and time savings, factory-level quality, as well as lessened impact on live healthcare sites and safety to allow clinicians and managers to focus on continued provision of patient care.

These methods provide an alternative way to quickly and safely build additional capacity to meet the urgent and growing demand for facilities faced by healthcare systems today – both in emergencies and as part of a long-term programme.

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In April 2017, the Scottish BIM policy note set out how this collaborative tool that digitally captures all information related to a building should be adopted in public sector procurement. Since then, the implementation of BIM has become a key priority for HFS and NHSS. HFS has led on the introduction of BIM across NHSS through several pieces of work and the introduction of an NHSS BIM Development Group, now known as the Digital Estate Group. The group, in conjunction with HFS and consultancy support led by AECOM, have developed a BIM strategy.

This supports documents, templates and includes a training programme for NHS Boards to ensure the creation of a digitised information management process for those working on NHSS programmes. This enables consistency and facilitates collaborative working, which will in turn reduce waste and non-conformances. HFS and NHSS are prioritising the implementation of BIM across Scotland’s Health Boards.

With BIM fully embedded, NHSS is now creating a digital estates strategy. One of the key components of this is the digital twin — a shift from a deterministic to a more probabilistic, dynamic model.

Digital twinning

Via digital twinning, NHSS aims to link its physical assets (buildings and potentially end-users) to a digital representation, using data from sensors and analysing variables such as condition, efficiency and real-time status. This connectivity coupled with data analytics will reform facilities’ levels of operational effectiveness, generate extra insights from the digital twin to help reshape and improve services, support person-centred care, and improve outcomes in line with the ‘Digital Health and Care Strategy’.

The BIM process benefits individual NHS Boards by improving information management at a project level. It also has a significant impact at an organisational level overall. This longer-term vision supports the concept of a digital estate alongside the physical — a portfolio-wide collection of structured, indexed and searchable digital asset information, making it easy for a board to search, retrieve and make sense of its existing information. Over time this will help NHSS with future investment and better decision-making.

Seeing the bigger picture

Alongside recognising BIM as a tool to help deliver better hospitals and built assets, it’s important for users to understand how it can help improve service quality and efficiency, and the patient experience. For example, our strategic approach couples concepts, bringing processes such as BIM and Soft Landings together with technology to align building users’ objectives and operational functions, and support NHSS’s compliance agenda. Using BIM, digital simulations and analytics, we can then test the theoretical against the brief.

Four critical cornerstones

As part of our work advising HFS on its national approach and training material for Scotland’s Health Boards, we identified four cornerstone actions to help fully reap the rewards of a BIM approach:

1/Embed the UK BIM framework

It is important that all participants work from the same consistent set of standards and processes. To enable that, we recommend embedding and using the UK BIM framework, which comprises core standards backed with common processes and a suite of
enabling tools that, in combination, bring BIM deliverables to life. These focus on:

• Defined information requirements
• Collaborative working practice
• Data exchange and validation
• Security-minded digital working
• Better outcomes and end-user value (digital reality checking and a Soft Landings framework approach).

2/Ensure collaborative working – use of Common Data Environments (CDE) and workflows

The NHSS estate contains a colossal amount of information, which can be challenging. To tackle this, it’s essential to establish an Information Management and Common Data Environment (CDE) strategy that follows an agreed information hierarchy, covering how directories and folders should be structured along with agreed workflows and naming conventions.

3/Take a security-minded approach

As the use of digital data increases, so do the security risks associated with physical controls, staff behaviour, unauthorised access, and manipulation and sharing of data, information and systems. In a healthcare setting, you must consider the security of staff and patients, built assets, and the services delivered from those built assets, as well as the data and information that staff hold or can access. As a priority, you need to develop, implement and enforce a strict policy covering access to, and permissions for, sensitive information and project data.

The UK BIM Framework document, PAS 1192:5 ‘Specification for security-minded building information modelling, digital built environments and smart asset management’ details appropriate and proportionate measures you should take to manage security risks for a built asset, in whole or in part, asset data and information.

4/Use Soft Landings to maintain value throughout the lifecycle

Soft Landings (SL) is an essential element of the design and construction process. It maintains the golden thread of a building’s purpose through to delivery and operation, via early engagement with end users, the inclusion of a SL champion on the project team and, importantly, a clear commitment to aftercare post-construction. The SL approach aims to improve building performance by “aligning the interests of those who design and construct an asset with those who subsequently use it”.

It works to smooth the transition from design and construction into the operation and use of an asset, to make sure that operational performance is optimised. To enable that, these transitions must be considered from the earliest stages of a project right through to completion, rather than just at the handover stage. We combine BIM and SL to enable aspects such as reality checking and capturing digital information throughout the entire lifecycle. This information can then be used, for example, to test maintainability and support better stakeholder engagement through data-rich virtual environments.

What BIM success delivers

Successful and consistent BIM implementation across all Boards will facilitate and strengthen knowledge sharing across NHSS, support better decision-making and deliver greater efficiencies through the design, construction and operational stages of a project. Equally important, it will help the Scottish Government deliver the objectives of its ‘Digital Health and Care Strategy’, improving patient care.

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