MESH ZERO

Reach the pinnacle of sustainable building design.


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For developers and architects, the incentives for creating more sustainable buildings are increasingly obvious: a combination of legislative requirements, the ongoing energy crisis, and demand from occupants and investors, means better builds are a no brainer. However, even at the most basic level, navigating the world of sustainable building design is a tricky prospect.

 

And what if you want to go beyond building regs and government targets? Where do you turn if your ambitions extend beyond the status quo – if you’re looking for a more progressive, innovative approach that puts you ahead of the game, and sets the standard we need to tackle the climate crisis.



With so many conflicting frameworks – from BREEAM to Passivhaus, RIBA 2030 to the Living Building Challenge – it’s almost impossible to work out which one is right for your build and your budget. And the thing is, these frameworks are just… well, frameworks. You still need the expertise necessary to follow them, and to adapt them to the needs of your project.   

"What if you want to go beyond building regs and government targets? Where do you turn if your ambitions extend beyond the status quo?"

Welcome to MeshZero

MeshZero is our solution to that problem. Our team of consultants have combined the world’s most ambitious frameworks for sustainable building design and packaged them into a comprehensive consultancy package that can be tailored to your individual building project.

 

MeshZero aims to surpass RIBA 2030 targets to ensure you reach Net Zero in both embodied carbon and operational energy, while adhering to a holistic definition of building performance, which includes targets for health and wellbeing and water usage.



We don’t just provide a framework – we deliver the expertise you need to turn theory into reality.


Our building performance team will work with you from early-stage concept design to understand your goals and budget, tweak your design and improve your chances of success. Once planning is approved, our M&E team will ensure the technical feasibility of the building design, overseeing the tendering and installation process to give you peace of mind right through to construction.

What are the MeshZero targets?


MeshZero can be broken down into four areas of focus. Based on the RIBA 2030 framework, these are the pillars of sustainable building design.

Embodied carbon refers to the emissions produced in the sourcing, manufacture and build of your project.


Here are the priorities for reducing those emissions:

  • Repurpose or reuse existing buildings
  • Reuse, re-manufacture and recycle building materials
  • Build with low carbon, or less processed materials
  • Minimise surface elements like cladding, ceilings or flooring


Operational energy refers to the total emissions from all energy sources used to keep our buildings warm, cool, ventilated, lighted and powered.


Here’s how we work to reduce those future emissions at the design stage:

  • Building positioning and design
  • Building fabric choices
  • Airtightness and ventilation
  • Renewable technologies such as solar PV and heat pumps
  • Low energy appliances and lighting


Wellbeing refers to a positive rather than neutral state and includes the mental and physical health of occupants.


The areas we look at here include:

  • Maintaining a comfortable room temperature often using overheating analysis (TM59 and TM52)
  • Ventilation and air quality (CO2 levels)
  • Daylight levels
  • Minimising volatile organic compounds and formaldehyde

Water is a highly valuable resource and is assessed as part of the wider building resource usage against Part G of the Building Regulations.


The areas we look at here include:

  • Use of low flow taps and outlets
  • Use of showers and baths
  • Use of other appliances such as washing machines
  • Rainwater harvesting – plants, toilets, clothes, car washing


Once every practical effort has been made to reduce carbon impact of the development through its lifecycle we look at complimentary and authentic ways of how remaining emissions can be offset using gold standard projects. These can be local or global renewable energy projects including tree planting and other recognised carbon reduction actions.

What makes MeshZero special?

01

At the frontier of better buildings



MeshZero is the gold standard for innovative, sustainable building design. The targets we aim for go beyond government goals, establishing your project as the pinnacle others will strive towards.


02

Balancing ambition with good sense…


We encourage ambitious targets, while keeping our feet on the ground. With decades of experience in the industry, we know how to build the best solutions without breaking the bank. We can even show you the true cost of our recommendations by comparing them with traditional alternatives.


03

...And data with a guiding hand



MeshZero is about balancing data and scientific insights with a human approach. Targets are one thing but to make the process achievable, cost effective, and fulfilling, we balance facts with human experience.



04

We're with you every step of the way


We provide an end-to-end service. That means we will work with you from the pre-planning stage right through to construction and occupancy. Working with us from the start of your project will give you the best chance of successfully meeting your sustainability goals and keeping to budget.

Why build to MeshZero standards?

The world is changing

MeshZero is the solution to getting ahead of progressive Net Zero Carbo and wider ESG targets, by building with ambition today, we can contribute meaningfully towards the decarbonisation of the built environment.


MeshZero is an elegant blend of the holistic and cost effective RIBA Climate Challenge  and progressive Net Zero targets. Net Zero and its associated definitions and compliance  are still about 5-7 years away, while the RIBA Climate challenge is quickly becoming commonplace in design. MeshZero offers the best of both worlds, today. 


An investment, not a cost

We would estimate that our MeshZero consultancy fees total between 0.3-0.5% (Up to the end of RIBA stage 3) of your total build cost, while executing our recommendations would cost around 5%. That gets put into perspective when you think these sustainable changes are likely to see a 50% reduction in operational energy costs over time.


By working with us from the early design stages you can understand and manage the likely financial impact early by benchmarking and receiving quantitative feedback on design changes through our modelling techniques.



How does the process work?

What our clients say:

Mesh were an excellent asset to the project team to ensuring that we met the RIBA 2030 Challenge on our eight future-proofed townhouses.


The quality of the development has been recognised by the estate agents responsible for the sale of the scheme, informing us that it is incomparable and outstanding for the area, where new homes aren’t yet meeting the same level of specification.


GBOLADE DESIGN STUDIO 

Hermitage Mews

We are very happy to have Mesh involved with the development of our pioneering new service for women and children in Hampshire.


Mesh is a very engaged partner within our project team, and has taken the time to understand our requirements fully to provide the design outcomes that work best for the future needs of the service.


ONE SMALL THING

Hope Street

The new Tennis Pavilion has been a resounding success and the flagship facility at Canoe Lake Leisure’s philanthropic project in Southsea.


A key aspect of our brief to the design team was to create a new building which was sustainable, both in the build and in its day to day usage, and Mesh were instrumental in helping us achieve this.


JOHN COOK

Canoe Lake Leisure

Your MeshZero team

Meet the experts who will guide you through your journey to net zero.

Richard Bowman

Commercial Building Performance Consultant

Sophie Williams

Commercial Building Performance Consultant

Pablo Jiménez-Moreno

Building Performance Consultant

Jamie Barton

Senior Mechanical and Electrical Consultant

To discuss your low-energy and sustainable project, please don't hesitate to get in touch

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