Sustainability in Technology and the Future of Home Appliances

They have scenario modelling and are aware of where things could end up in the best case scenario.

However, where larger quantities or more dangerous materials are used (e.g.oxygen, or even inert materials like liquid nitrogen) this can be particularly challenging.

Further complications may also arise where labs divide up previously open plan offices with new partitions, corridors, airlocks, pods, or inner rooms – further complicating egress routes.. For office to lab conversions, fire and egress strategies must be reviewed holistically with the whole building in mind.For example, neighbouring tenancies may currently rely on staff crossing through the new lab to reach a second means of escape, which might no longer be possible.Similarly, labs in office buildings can result in additional occupancy types (‘purpose groups’ in the UK) and will therefore drive the need for additional fire compartments.. Possible solutions could include storing materials or siting labs on ground or lower floors, local gas generation (to reduce peak volumes), detection, shut-off and alarm systems, local extract or natural ventilation, and it may be necessary to divide labs up into smaller compartments to keep hazardous material quantities below acceptable limits.

In the UK it can also be useful to appoint a specialist Approved Inspector rather than go through the Local Authority Building Control.This will often accelerate the project, which is particularly important in the life science industry, and they will be more familiar with labs and specialist standards that can be more forgiving (e.g.

Of course, there are a wide range of other health, safety, and environmental regulations to incorporate, as well as the possibility of insurance or employer standards and recommendations that can, for example, dictate sprinklers even when this isn’t a legal necessity.. 9.

Façades & finishes..repeatedly moves the conversation and enables both parties to imagine other scenarios; not burying the facility underground and instead building it above ground, for instance.

This persistent question-asking can unlock the project, opening it up to a previously unthought of solution.Stripping away previous knowledge, questioning potentially inefficient systems and modalities, is what is needed to allow these kinds of conversations to take place..

This is the challenge to traditional design processes, which can be quite turgid and passive: a brief is stated and a firm contends with whether they can deliver the predefined needs of the client.Interrogating the brief is not part of the process.. Elevating and liberating the brief into a problem statement is an essential part of the work and the design process of Design to Value.