Insights Categorized: Thought Leadership


Connecting My Passions and Interests

03 June, 2019

Climbing the Ladder In 2008 after completing my GCSEs I was, like so many other young people, at a crossroads trying to decide what to do with my future. Whilst I was passionate about graphic design and science at school, I had always been interested in building renovation and architecture. Through my school, I found…

INTEGRAL INSIGHT: Urban Land Institute 2019 Spring Meeting Recap

13 May, 2019

Principal Brenden McEneaney was invited to Urban Land Institute’s Spring Meeting in Nashville. Here are some of his key takeaways from the thought leaders in real estate and urban development. The Music Hasn’t Stopped…Yet The US industry has been in “extra innings” this cycle for a while. Leading economists project stable, average growth through 2021 with some contraction…

When Buildings Learn from our Bodies

12 April, 2019

Our high performance future will be “automatic” and “somatic” Many of humanity’s greatest technological advances and unexpected innovations have happened when engineers drew inspiration from related fields or from the natural world. The late Owen Finlay Maclaren helped design the Spitfire’s landing gear – and later invented the folding pram by applying his knowledge of…

The Beauty of Working Together

10 August, 2018

I had the pleasure of acting as Project Manager on one of Integral Group’s latest Zero Net Energy projects, the San Francisco International Airport’s Consolidated Administration Campus (SFO CAC). The 130,000 ft2 project, which is beginning occupancy, will consolidate several departments currently scattered throughout the airport facilities, and well as provide museum-collections storage for the…

CARBON CORNER | Demystifying Carbon: Using Visualization to Build Momentum

22 March, 2018

Burst out of our ‘industry bubble’ by using high-end visualizations and storytelling to explain carbon to wide audiences and create positive change! You go to the same green building conferences every year, hoping to be challenged by the conviction and creativity of the people and their amazing work. Amidst an intense happy-hour conversation with new…

Past, Present, Passive House

20 January, 2018

When Passive House design entered the marketplace in the 1990s, it was conceived for single-family homes to make them more energy-efficient and comfortable for occupants; the focus was isolated to the confines of that building. As Passive House design has expanded and gained exposure, more and more owners and developers are considering Passive House design…

Visualize This

18 January, 2018

Most people are familiar with architectural visualization, which is often focused on making the building look as beautiful and attractive as possible. What I do, you might call “engineering visualization for buildings”. It has a different emphasis, focusing on explaining how complex systems actually make a building work, and helping people make better decisions about…

4 Things I Learned at GreenerBuilder 2017

03 August, 2017

As a proposal coordinator at a deep green engineering firm, I have picked up a lot of technical knowledge over the years – why a tight building envelope is important to sustainability, what an air source heat pump is, and even what the commissioning process really entails – but I’m always excited for the opportunity…

Roadmap to Achieving Fitwel: 6 Weeks to 2 Stars

07 July, 2017

The public release of Fitwel at the end of 2016 prompted Elementa Consulting Principal, Edward Garrod to become the first Fitwel Ambassador outside of North America. Elementa Consulting are the UK arm of international ‘deep green engineering’ practice Integral Group. As soon as Integral Group became a Fitwel Champion in early 2017, Garrod challenged his…

Scale ZNE: Technologies Needing Growth

15 June, 2017

Many of our initial zero net energy buildings revolved around a few key design goals: eliminate the compressor and keep it all electric. At the time, this resulted in pushing the limits of cooling tower systems, making cold water at night, using warmer temperature water (55F to 60F) through chilled beams, radiant slabs, or displacement systems.…

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