Electrical Power Distribution & Station Design

We design and commission instrumentation and controls for buildings that depend on their plant doing what it was designed to do. Below, we explain how controls shape running costs, what Approved Document L asks of new buildings, how we connect BMS and SCADA systems and why security now belongs in the controls brief. You’ll also find our Network Rail projects and answers to common questions.

We’re BREEAM consultants with a building services engineering team behind us. We plan your BREEAM assessment around the project, then design the credits into the services and the energy model, so you can see where the credits will come from before the design is fixed. That gives you a clearer target to take to planners and funders. Below, we set out how an assessment works, when to bring us in, what Version 7 changes for your design team and how we help you get the evidence ready for certification.

Combined heat and power (CHP) generates electricity on your site and puts the engine’s waste heat to work in your heating or process steam. Government figures put typical energy cost savings at around 20%, with carbon savings of up to 30% compared with a boiler and a power station. Below, we explain how CHP systems work, which sites suit them, where gas CHP stands against net zero and how we take a scheme through design and CHPQA certification.

We design critical power systems for sites where a few seconds without supply puts people or revenue at risk. Our engineers work across data centres, healthcare, rail and nuclear programmes, and our power and control teams have delivered projects for National Grid and Network Rail. Below, we look at what recent UK outages have shown about resilience, then at how we design and test systems that keep running when a fault arrives.

Dynamic simulation modelling shows you how a building will perform for the people using it, across a full year of UK weather and hour by hour, before construction starts. It lets you test overheating risk, prove Part L compliance on complex buildings, estimate operational energy use and find where your fabric loses heat. The sections below explain how the method works for each type of assessment and when in the design process it’s worth commissioning. 

Electrical substation design decides how safely power moves between voltage levels and how much room your network has to grow. We design substations and power distribution networks up to 400kV for generators, network operators, asset owners and National Grid contractors. Here’s how we approach the design, the UK standards and earthing behind it, power distribution on large sites and what grid connection reform means for your project.

As HVAC consultants, we design the heating, cooling, ventilation and refrigeration systems that keep buildings comfortable and processes stable, on new builds and on ageing plant in existing estates. Our work runs through commissioning into planned maintenance. Here’s how our HVAC design services work, where systems lose efficiency, how refrigerant rules affect new plant and when an air conditioning inspection is a legal requirement.

Modern methods of construction (MMC) move parts of a build into a factory or make the work that stays on site quicker and safer. We help you decide whether MMC suits your scheme then design the building so its manufactured parts fit when they reach site. Below, we explain what counts as MMC, where it helps, where it holds a project back and how our engineers support offsite schemes.

A sustainability statement shows your planning authority how a proposed development will cut carbon and adapt to a changing climate. Some councils won’t validate an application without one. Here, we cover when yours is likely to ask for a statement and how we prepare one that stands up to the case officer’s checks. We work on new build and retrofit schemes across the UK. We also design building services so the statement and the M&E design can come from one team. 

Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) manage rain close to where it falls, slowing runoff and cleaning it before it leaves your site. We design SuDS for new development in England and Wales, and we prepare drainage strategies for the planning officers and lead local flood authorities who review them. Here, we set out what the 2025 national standards ask of a site and how we design schemes that pass review and keep working once they’re built.

The carbon released making a building’s concrete, steel, glazing and insulation is spent before anyone moves in, and it can’t be taken back. Choosing sustainable building materials is how you bring that figure down, and we help you pick materials with lower embodied carbon and measure the saving with a whole life carbon assessment. Below, we explain how embodied carbon is measured and which lower carbon options suit a frame.

Low carbon building design starts long before anyone chooses a heat pump. The biggest chances to cut a building’s carbon come in its first months on the drawing board, when you’re deciding how much to build, what to keep, which way it faces and how hard its fabric works. This page explains what low carbon design involves and how we take a project through it. Our sustainability engineers work with our architects and building services engineers from concept, weighing carbon with cost and programme at every stage.

Sustainable water management helps your project use less water and handle rainfall safely. England’s public water supply could be 5 billion litres a day short by 2055, according to the Environment Agency, and limited supply has already delayed housing schemes in parts of southern and eastern England. Here, we set out how we plan water for finished buildings and how we control it on live construction sites.