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Insights — Climate

Climate response is decided
early in design

Most of a building’s lifetime emissions are locked in at the design stage. The room to reverse them after completion through equipment replacement or operational improvements is narrower than you might think. We address both mitigation and adaptation — but only within the bounds of what can be proven by calculation.

Articles

Climate Insights

Comparing heat island mitigation from green roofs, permeable paving, street trees and wind corridors
Climate

Urban Heat Islands: Are Green Roofs Enough?

Green roofs, permeable paving, street trees and wind corridors — we used simulation to compare the outdoor thermal comfort (UTCI) gains of four mitigation measures under identical conditions. The conclusion: no single measure is enough.

FEATURE2026.03.277 min
Scatter plot of EPI points earned versus cost by item
Climate

Energy Saving Plan EPI: There Is an Order to Raising Your Score

The cost of earning the same single point varies more than tenfold between items. A practical approach: rank items by cost-effectiveness, then work toward the target score.

BLOG2026.02.205 min
Section showing thermal bridging at wall junctions, temperature gradients and condensation points
Climate

Condensation defects: why thicker insulation doesn’t solve them

How condensation forms, viewed through the temperature difference ratio (TDR) at thermal bridges — and how to tell when the problem is detailing rather than insulation performance.

FEATURE2026.01.306 min
Stormwater runoff reduction from higher design rainfall frequency combined with detention tanks and LID
Climate

Stormwater Runoff Reduction in an Era of Extreme Rainfall: Time to Revisit Design Frequency

When design frequencies derived from historical rainfall statistics are no longer conservative, how should detention capacity and low impact development (LID) techniques be combined?

BLOG2025.12.196 min
ECO2 primary energy demand and the influence of decisions at each design stage
Climate

Building Energy Total Consumption Standard (ECO2): Where Projects Get Stuck Early in Design

Run ECO2 just before permitting and find you fall short, and you have almost no options left. Five variables to check early, at the schematic design stage.

BLOG2025.11.285 min
How EIA consultation conditions accumulate into post-completion costs
Climate

EIA Consultation Conditions That Come Back as Costs After Completion

Typical patterns in which minimal mitigation measures become problems in post-project environmental monitoring, and how to build in margin at the assessment stage.

FEATURE2025.11.057 min
Matrix of mandatory green building certifications by use and size
WHITE PAPER2025.10.16

[Guide] Green Building Certification Roadmap — Applicability by Size and Use

A table showing mandatory and recommended certifications at a glance by gross floor area and use. PDF available.

Diagram of mandatory renewable energy share and installable area constrained by site shading
BLOG2025.09.11

Mandatory Renewable Energy Share: The Real Constraints of Site Conditions

How to find alternatives on urban sites without enough area for solar PV.

Graph of the balance point between cooling load and daylight availability by external shading depth
BLOG2025.08.07

Solar Shading Design: Balancing Cooling Load and Daylighting

Curves showing how energy use and indoor illuminance shift together as external louver angles change.

Set your certification target now,
and cut costs.

Tell us your site, use and size, and we’ll outline the applicable certifications and design requirements for each target rating.