Our 2024 Speakers
Felicity Steers
Landscape architect and Building with Nature Assessor | Erz Architects
'Integrated Green Infrastructure for school grounds'
The need to deliver biodiversity net gain and climate change mitigation brought about by NPF4 is an opportunity to reimagine school grounds. Bringing a nature-based and systems led approach to school ground design greatly enhances the learning environment whilst ensuring that school design teams are delivering on policy and planning legislation. The Building with Nature accreditation is a design standard that can be used to ensure an integrated approach to water management, wildlife and habitat enhancement and placemaking. When combined with imagination and lively educational design the results demonstrate that climate change mitigation and biodiversity net gain policies can be a positive thing for our school communities. Case studies include the new Trinity Academy Sports Centre (CEC, Merrylee Primary School Urban Jungle (GCC) and Frogston Primary School (CEC).
Simon Bell
Director | HLM Architects
'Improving the Operational Efficiency of Buildings using Performance Digital Twins'
We will share the learnings from the Innovate UK funded eDigit2Life Research & Development project in collaboration with IES, University of Glasgow and Sciencescope which explored the development of compliance energy models into full performance digital twins with real time connection to the physical assets allowing building operations to be optimised in response to climate, utilisation and user feedback. We will also explore how these digital twins at a campus level can be used to create detailed decarbonisation roadmaps which will deliver on an organisations net zero ambitions or obligations.
Steven Coulson
Associate | Holmes Miller
'East End Community Campus'
East End Community Campus: An overview of this flagship 20,000sqm school, undertaken for Dundee City Council. Developed as an ambitious merger of 2 existing high schools, ASN provision and multiple sports and community facilities. Currently being delivered on site to Passivhaus Certified standards.
Maxine Booth & Mark Mitchell
Quality Improvement Manager & Estates Programme Manager
Aberdeenshire Council
'Pupils V Staff'
Aberdeenshire Council have created new build primary schools and 3-18 Campus facilities. Following Learning Post Occupation Evaluations on each, an in-depth approach to ensuring buildings meet the needs of learners, staff and community has resulted. This incorporates: Inspiring Learning Spaces, Campus Management, Access Strategy, Accessibility for All, Utilisation and timetabling.
Karen Pickering
Estate Development Manager | University of Edinburgh
'Retrofit Route to Net Zero'
Karen will be talking about the projects she is involved with delivering at the University of Edinburgh. The focus is refurbishment and sustainable design, and how these projects can help with the University’s route to net zero by 2040. These include the refurbishment of Teviot Row House, the University’s listed student union building; the redevelopment of Edinburgh College of Art, which includes the conversion of the listed Lauriston Fire Station into academic workspace; and the refurbishment of the Category A listed 40 George Square tower.
Alex Donaldson
Director | Scott Brownrigg
'Net Zero Behaviours'
Based upon our award winning Net Zero Comparison Early Years project, Scott Brownrigg will be presenting their case study, which focuses upon the lessons learned and operational feed-back. More importantly the presentation highlights the client, consultant, contractor and supplier behaviours which directly affect Net Zero Carbon futures, defining how we can engineer better outcomes. For Scott Brownrigg, this West Lothian Council Early Years programme is “the gift that keeps giving” and is an industry leading example of best practice.
Daniel Lockwood
Regional Director – Sustainability Lead for Scotland, Northern Ireland & Ireland PPS | AtkinsRéalis
'Retrofit & Sustainability for Existing Estates'
This presentation will cover the considerations that should be made, throughout the project life-cycle, when retrofitting existing estates to reduce energy use and decarbonise.
This will include the role that data has to play in informed decision making, the hierarchy of interventions that could be considered, unlocking value in your retrofit investment, and also wider sustainability factors that should be considered.
The presentation will also include some project examples showcasing some of the approaches used in various sectors.
Elaine MacEachen
Headteacher | St. Bernard’s Primary
'St. Bernard’s Active Futures Community Hub'