Topic: Designing an energy efficient construction project
With current political and economic upheaval, fluctuation & insecurities in the energy markets, the construction industry now faces considerable challenges in meeting targets for sustainability, modernisation, and demand. To reduce operational costs and meet net zero targets, current demand for energy efficient processes and construction design solutions has never been more important.
The theme of “The need for energy efficient construction solutions”, and the related topic, calls upon you to consider the ways in which the construction industry can embed energy efficiency objectives into design solutions and/or the build process of construction projects.
BRIEF
You are employed as trainee engineer in a construction engineering and design company.
A local newspaper is running a series related to ‘energy efficiency’ in different industries. Their particular approach is to have individuals, who have recently entered the sector, respond to a specific topic in order to gain their views of energy efficiency within their industry. Those selected are asked to produce a report and give a presentation in response to the topic.
Your employer has requested that you produce a report and presentation. The topic for your report and presentation is to be ‘Designing an energy efficient construction project’. Your employer has provided you with a brief for a small commercial building, including site information and project requirements (see Appendix 1).
(Note: You can agree on using a local project that you have knowledge about which can provide sufficient evidence to meet this unit. Please agree this with your tutor before progressing)
You will need to produce a Construction Information Package (a set of construction drawings and details), using industry-standard tools and techniques. In addition, you will need to develop a specification (either an ‘outline’ specification or for a single element of the building) and a set of schedules (door and window). To accompany these, you will prepare the ‘prelims’ for the specification and a simple schedule of works.
In discussion with your employer, you have agreed a structure for the report. Using the materials you have developed above, along with additional research, your report will describe the stages of a construction design process and the types of information required at different stages of a project; assessing the relationships between design and project stages and how information is shared throughout. To illustrate this, you may wish to use the sketches or models used in developing your design proposal. You will also use the brief (provided by your employer) to explain the requirements of the project and the relationship between drawings, schedules and specifications (here you can include images from the work that you have produced).
As the focus of the report is to explore the issues of energy efficiency, you will want to ensure that you are explaining how processes such as clash detection and information coordination ensure the quality of a project, and the energy efficiency implications of these processes through the different stages of a project. As a part of this, you should give your analysis of how design and construction information flows are related to contractual relationships. Within your report include an evaluation of how coordination of information can help to ensure accuracy and how this leads to quality, and how this leads to energy efficiency in construction projects.
Finally, using drawings, specifications and schedules that you have produced, you should create and present a 10-15 minute presentation of your design project to an audience of specialists and non-specialists.
Your report should be suitably titled, contain a contents page, use citations from researched construction related sources and include around 10 references.
Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria
LO1 Discuss the stages of a design process and the types of information required to communicate, share and manage the project process
D1 Critically evaluate the relationship between design and project stages, highlighting the processes and procedures to ensure information coordination throughout.
P1 Describe the stages and activities of a construction design process.
P2 Explain the types of information required throughout the different stages of a project process.
M1 Assess the relationship between design and project stages, and the information sharing requirements in each.
LO2 Explain the different types of construction information developed through the course of a project
P3 Examine a brief to ascertain the requirements of a building project.
P4 Outline the relationships between drawings, schedules and specifications.
M2 Analyse the importance of clash detection and information coordination.
LO3 Produce design propositions that address project requirements defined through feasibility stages
P5 Create construction drawings and details using industry-standard tools and techniques.
P6 Produce specifications, schedules and an outline construction health & safety phase plan for a given project.
M3 Prepare specification prelims and schedule of works, in coordination with construction drawings and details.
D2 Evaluate a package of construction information, in relation to their coordination and accuracy.
LO4 Present a construction information package, highlighting the coordination of information between different project stakeholders to ensure accuracy.
P7 Present construction information to an audience of specialists and non specialists.
P8 Explain the coordination and information sharing between different roles and stakeholders in a construction project.
M4 Analyse the ways in which different forms of contractual relationships between stakeholders influence flow of information in a construction project.
