Halliday Fraser Munro have always included sustainability within our designs, however with the World Green Building Council estimating that buildings and construction account for 39% of the worlds total carbon emissions, we decided to do more.

We have recalibrated our sustainability policy to align ourselves with the RIBA 2030 challenge which sees all buildings starting on site during 2025 to have the capacity to operate at carbon zero should the clients and building owners wish to do so.

We are committed to delivering excellent buildings, spaces and places which enhance the built environment, minimise energy use, optimise internal environments and cut embodied, operational and lifecycle carbon. This initiative is well underway with strategic partnerships aligned to provide a holistic, collaborative approach in a cost effective way.  

Appropriate software has been introduced to complete carbon assessments at all stages of design. This way, we can demonstrate and suggest to clients and contractors how designs can be altered, and materials substituted to reduce the buildings carbon footprint.

The energy consumption of a building can be radically reduced via a ‘Fabric First’ approach. Our Passivhaus designers work with our technical team and clients to deploy the principles of airtightness, insulation, building orientation, building form and heat recovery ventilation systems, which in conjunction with renewable forms of energy, can deliver buildings that operate carbon neutrally. And the same Passivhaus principles can be applied to many existing buildings to achieve operational energy savings of up to 90%.

In collaboration with our clients and contractors the collective knowledge of existing and new supply chains will be incorporated to reduce the embodied carbon in all of our projects.

Using our expertise in Building Information Modelling (BIM) software, we can ensure that our clients and their end users have the necessary tools to operate the building to achieve best value and enhance the future potential of built assets.

 We have applied these techniques and more to our Practice and have operated at Net Zero since 2020.

David Halliday, managing director of Halliday Fraser Munro, said: “As architects and planners, sustainability has always been at the core of what we do. The launch of Replanet is another sign of our commitment to tackling the climate crisis.

“The lead-times for buildings are long. Tomorrow’s buildings are already on the drawing table today, and those buildings will impact our environment for decades, if not centuries, into the future. That’s why we are supporting our clients’ journeys to carbon zero now.”