Q&A WITH: XCO2
XCO2 are environmental and services consultants working across diverse sectors in the built environment, providing expertise that is ever more important to our industry. We're fans of the company's collaborative approach and, keen to find out how designers can have a greater influence in this area, quizzed Managing Director Ricardo Moreira about some of the key considerations.
Health & Wellbeing in buildings – can you tell us what this means, in practical terms? Are you seeing greater consideration being given to this aspect of building design, by developers and clients? As building occupants, are we all becoming more aware of what a ‘healthy’ building is and how it feels to live / work in one?
I like to think of this concept as designing buildings that will, at the least, not make our health worse than if we were outside it and, at their best, help us improve it. It is a broad concept, encompassing the quality of the air we breathe, thermal and lighting comfort, the opportunities to move throughout the working day, healthy eating, etc. A lot of it has been encompassed by the WELL standards and similar ones, and there is a role for both building design and operational measures.
This is a topic of growing interest by developers, although still in its infancy. As it becomes more present, I think we will see better ways of quantifying the various elements, but we will always have the challenge of considering topics which are very different in nature and perception.
I also think some of these concepts go hand-in-hand with new ways we will be experiencing work, personal time flexibility, and broader changes in society which could allow people to focus more on personal priorities. That would hopefully mean less stress and better general health.
XCO2 has wide ranging experience in hotel and resort projects. Are there specific considerations for the sector, in terms of environmental design and sustainability?
The hospitality sector presents some particular challenges with regards to guest experience and expectations, which are key considerations when developing environmental strategies. As a result, efficiency measures are often best integrated into the design or ‘behind the scenes’, but there are growing opportunities – and interest – to engage with guests and demonstrate real environmental efforts beyond greenwash.
Utility costs are a concern for the sector, especially in remote luxury resorts, and they can be a driver towards environmental action. Also worthy of mention is the variety of climates where these developments occur, which lead to an exciting range of passive and active design solutions.
And then there are specific considerations due to the intrinsic nature of such developments, often in environmentally sensitive areas and in developing regions of the world where there are opportunities to encourage ecological awareness, social development and economic activity – the famous triad of sustainability. International hospitality might be one of the building sectors with most opportunity to either have a significant negative or extremely positive sustainability impact.
Following on from the previous question, Six Senses is an industry leader in this respect, can you tell us about XCO2’s experience of working with the brand?
Back when few operators were considering sustainability in hospitality, Six Senses were already putting that thinking into practice. For instance, coming up with the idea to produce all drinking water locally, without using plastic bottles; the presence of an eco-lab that recycles and reuses waste locally; and a strong carbon-reduction focus. They are a visionary brand, and it is always exciting to work with them. Having said that, the industry as a whole has taken significant steps in sustainability practice in recent years, and it is great to see a lot of the larger operators taking the topic seriously as an integral part of design. I feel that – and the collaboration we are seeing locally between smaller hoteliers as well – has started to change hospitality development practice.
In light of the recently published IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5oC, we believe the building and design industry has the power to make big changes that can have a really positive impact. However the industry is a significant contributor of carbon emissions, so how do you (and can we as designers) influence clients’ decision-making, especially when they are likely to be primarily financially driven at the build-stage rather than for the future savings, and savings to the environment?
That is a very relevant question, and one that we all struggle with. The key to untangling that mess is to help clients and design teams see the environmental proposition as a win-win one. You do not necessarily need to spend more money or compromise on quality to achieve carbon savings. I am a firm believer in passive design, where performance can be improved through zero- or low-cost measures. But even capital investments can help us reduce peak loads and therefore achieve some immediate savings, not only operational ones.
More generally, the challenge needs to be shared with the whole team, as opposed to it being the sole responsibility of the environmental or services consultant. This way, there can be a general understanding that everyone’s design will be impacted by that thinking and that they all need to be brought to the table to help address the problem. The nice surprise is when that challenge or constraint becomes a new parameter to shape the design, bringing interesting and unique solutions for the various disciplines.
We assume that the XCO2 office monitors its own energy efficiency, in addition what actions do individual team members take to reduce their personal carbon footprint? (We’re expecting some inspirational tips here!)
We try to cover a wide range of environmental issues in our office: we have internal policies to encourage public transport use, free cycle hires to go to meetings in town and cycle to work commuting with office showers; we buy all our electricity from green sources and carry out full sub-metering of electrical circuits; we have a weekly fruit box to encourage healthy eating, using a supplier that sources ‘uglier’ but perfectly fine fruit which is rejected by supermarkets; and have recently introduced recycled toilet paper! It is fantastic how many product options are coming up as general environmental awareness improves – at the moment, we are investigating how we can reduce our plastic use of cleaning products.
One of the more interesting pieces of information we have monitored is indoor air quality, with CO2 and VOCs measured, alongside temperature, humidity and lighting. That is are helpful to understand patterns and, with real-time readings, we can respond immediately to improve conditions, such as air-flushing through natural ventilation at lunch time to improve conditions. Indoor air quality has a proven positive impact on occupant satisfaction and productivity. The use of plants is also something we have introduced for air filtering and general satisfaction. Finally, we have standing desks and a lot of variety of work environments, to allow people to move around throughout the day and find their optimum workspace.