Environmental engineering
All infrastructure from water treatment plants to school buildings will need to be built or renovated in alignment with the Paris Climate goals: this presents a huge opportunity in terms of job creation. At the moment buildings and the construction industry are responsible for around 40% of the world’s energy-related carbon emissions.
Max Fordham
The environmental engineering company Max Fordham, founded in 1966, focuses on the energy-efficient provision of lighting, ventilation and temperature control in new and refurbished buildings.
The partnership has been involved in the design of many thousands of buildings; at a conservative estimate of 15% energy saving, these interventions are saving 10 MWh of energy annually, or 2,800 tonnes of CO2.
Besides working with architects to develop ‘passive’ designs that take advantage of the thermal properties of building materials, the company also educates occupants in how their building’s systems are best used. It has done this by developing a system to monitor the energy performance of completed buildings, and can identify risk factors for excessive energy use to help clients keep their bills under control.
The firm employs 220 people in total and has doubled in size in the past five years, with offices in Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, London and Manchester.