With Global warming, environment pollution and escalating energy prices, there is an increasing awareness of the need for environmentally sustainable development. This issue is beginning to redefine business operations and development strategies around the world. Projects are being designed to minimize their impact on the environment whilst at the same time providing improved indoor environments for the occupants.

The factors behind this trend include:

• Dealing with climate change
• Volatile and rising fuel prices
• Economic and social benefits of greener buildings
• Market expectations

Meinhardt can assist clients in addressing these issues, for both new projects and existing buildings, with the following services:

For Existing Buildings

Meinhardt can carry out energy audits and energy efficiency studies of existing operations and recommend energy conservation measures, including estimation of costs and returns on investment.

For New Projects

Meinhardt can assist clients in designing and building greener buildings and help projects realize the benefits and savings of green design while keeping costs down. Main areas of focus from an engineering point of view include:

• Water use reduction, recycling and recovery
• Renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy recovery and commissioning / monitoring of energy systems
• Energy Modeling
• Optimizing indoor air quality and fresh air supply
• Controllability of thermal and lighting systems
• Low energy lighting, day lighting and light pollution reduction
• Material selection to reduce the environmental impact
• Commissioning services

The savings and benefits of Environmentally Sustainable Design can include:

• Reduced building operating costs
• Enhanced building value and profitability
• Health and community benefits
• Improved air, thermal, and acoustic environments
• Enhanced occupant comfort and health
• Reduced strain on local infrastructure
• Contributions to overall quality of life

Environmental benefits such as

• Enhancement and protection of the ecosystem and of biodiversity
• Conservation of natural resources
• Improvements in air and water quality
• Reduced solid waste

Our environmentally sustainable design team consists of accredited Green Mark & LEED Professionals who are able to assist our clients in designing & constructing green buildings. We design for and promote environmentally beneficial solutions & technologies that optimise energy & resource utilisation.

We endeavor to always pursue the best practice with respect to green strategies by providing innovative alternatives. We embrace the ‘triple bottom line’ principle of ‘people, planet, profit’; in order to be sustainable, a project must not compromise occupant comfort or business critical activities; it must minimize the impact on (or even restore) the natural environment; and it must be financially feasible by not placing an unreasonable burden on project budgets.

Building green is the practice of bringing building form together with energy efficiency, HVAC optimization, intelligent lighting designs, high performance façade techniques, eco-friendly materials and smart water management. The result is state of the art Green Buildings that consume less energy, have a reduced carbon footprint, and provide healthier and more comfortable living environments to their occupants while improving employee retention and productivity.