FUSE: Sustainability

Doing more with less

At its core, sustainability is about efficiency, simplicity, and doing more with less. FUSE embodies these principles by beginning with right-sized services, efficient frame design, and modular, low waste layouts.

Its adaptable, flexible and upgradeable elements provide a platform that is ready to be retrofitted for increasingly complex work spaces without creating significant amounts of re-works, waste, and embodied carbon.

The FUSE platform is ready to pursue WELL Core Certification, ready to target verification to the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard, and ready to pursue BREEAM Certification, keeping it competitive in the market.

FUSE was created at the intersection of affordability, adaptability, and sustainability.

Our sustainability decisions were made based on 5 core metrics:

Daylighting
Optimised form factor
Reduced energy consumption
Standards alignment
Low embodied carbon

Daylighting

Using Beyond Carbon’s parametric tools we have constructed a model of the building. We can vary multiple parameters including:

Bay width & number
Bay length & number
Window to wall ratios
Fabric U-Values
Airtightness

We can then assess a range of forms and how well they perform. Generally there isa trade-off between an efficient (deep plan) form factor and a space which is well daylit. FUSE aimed to find where the optimal of the two might lie.

The objective was to find the optimal form which achieves good daylight whilst also enabling Passivhaus levels of heat demand without going significantly beyond building regulations fabric targets, which compromise affordability.

Optimised form factor

A 5x9 grid achieves an optimal balance between daylight, form factor and space heating. It is worth noting that most of the daylight is generated from the longer façades and therefore the building can become longer without significantly compromising daylight.

However, by combining these findings with the ones from PANDA, we settled on a 6.6 x 7.2 m grid. This also aligns to plasterboard specifications (1200mm modules) to reduce wastage rates and promote better modularity on site.

Additionally, the embodied carbon and internal usable areas were optimised with a 3 storey, rectangular building.

Reduced energy consumption

Optimised form and façade design
Building fabric is kept in line with Part L values to promote economical construction, with minimal thermal bridging
Airtightness of 1 ach, well in excess of Building Regulations and building on Morgan Sindall’s record of delivering airtight buildings
Ventilation rates are set at typical rates for an office building.
All-electric, fossil-fuel-free systems at every upgrade stage
Hybrid VRF system to provide efficient and appropriately sized systems
By aiming to target verification to the UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standard, refrigerants, energy predictions, and on-site renewable generation have all been limited in-line with requirements.

Standards alignment

WELL-ready | BREEAM-ready | UKNZCBS-ready

From day one, the development of FUSE began with alignment to industry sustainability standards at its heart. Too often in the industry are these ‘badges’‘ added on’ too late, incurring additional costs without adding the intrinsic value that these standards can bring.

The FUSE platform been designed in such a way that it is ready to target verification to all or none of these standards, depending on customer drivers and market pressures.

Low upfront
embodied carbon

Measured using CarboniCa - an industry recognised and RICS accredited carbon calculator - the base FUSE platforms' upfront embodied carbon is:

521.7 kgCO₂e/m²

Click graph to expand >

Clarifications

Due to their site dependent nature, these values exclude drainage and external works. While we could estimate or include a benchmark allowance for these works, we felt it was more transparent to exclude them. These values have also been excluded from the cost comparison.
As a diesel-free contractor, the site fuel and energy values have been assumed as such. Should the site be run using traditional diesel, these values will be significantly higher.
While there are suggested estimated wastage rates in the RICS Standard, we have chosen to use the WRAP Net Waste Tool and our experience of similar projects. From our delivered projects, we believe these wastage rates are more representative of waste in practice and provide a more realistic (although higher) value.
No ‘low carbon materials’ (such as high % GGBS concrete) have been included within these calculations. Instead, local, global, and industry averages have been chosen to better reflect FUSE’s position within the global mission to combat climate change. The incorporation of lower carbon specifications could further reduce this figure.
The RICS recommended 15% uncertainty factor has been included in the overall value above.
The values above do not include sequestration, as per the RICS guidance.

While the enhancements to the base platform will inevitably add embodied carbon into the building, these have been designed efficiently and to be as minimally invasive works as possible, decreasing their embodied carbon impact. For example, to enhance the vibration performance of the floor plates:

380m2 floor plate vibration reduction
	Baseline	Steel Solution	Timber solution
Upfront embodied carbon kgCO_²e/m²	521.7	527.2	522.4
kgCO₂e/m² change (against baseline)		+5.5	+0.7
Percentage change (against baseline)		+1.1%	+0.1%