We focus on ensuring that the output: meets the business’s needs; is cost effective and robust, but also flexible and adaptable, and; is practical to implement (for example: along with the usual constraints of time and budget, we may well need to work around keeping current processes fully operational while we effect any changes).. It’s important to state that this is not Bryden Wood dictating the master planning solution to the client.
Additionally, it’s important to recognize that a lot of DfMA principles and processes aren't necessarily specific to construction prefabrication.. “They're just good design principles.Good for everybody,” she says.. To illustrate, Marks mentions that she once worked on a billion-dollar hospital project, originally planned with over 700 different types of bathroom.
The situation wasn’t beneficial for anyone involved, she says, and wasn’t sensible from either a build or operational perspective.Ultimately, her team whittled the final total down to a mere seven types - a change that worked better on every level of the project.. Talking transformation: ‘Industrialised Construction’ & ‘MMC.’.One of the challenges we’re facing is that, on a very basic level, the construction industry has an issue with language.
Terms lose their meaning, or are used to mean different things by different people, Marks says.These days we use terms like ‘industrialised construction’ to refer to the overarching DfMA principle being used throughout the built environment.
Marks has embraced industrialised construction as a term, however, but she acknowledges that some industry professionals, working in areas that aren’t directly related to construction, don’t always feel represented by it.. There’s also the term ‘Modern Methods of Construction’ (MMC), which Marks says she used to use but doesn’t anymore.
These days she finds the meaning too ambiguous.Normally, having fewer people in a building would allow ventilation rates to be reduced, making a building more energy efficient.
However, in order to reduce the risk of viral spread within the building we have to increase ventilation rates as far as practically possible, so that the occupants have more fresh air.. A higher ventilation rate, whether it is via natural or mechanical ventilation, will result in an increased demand on heating in cooler weather, and increased demand on cooling in warmer weather.This may be exacerbated in a mechanical ventilation system where we’ve had to disable the heat recovery device.
Extra heating or cooling not only adds to our energy bills, but it also puts more pressure on hitting our carbon reduction targets..In the short term, the UK will see more warmer weather as we head from spring into summer.
(Editor: Ultimate Raincoats)