Building services
Building services are the systems installed in buildings to make them comfortable, functional, efficient and safe.
Building services might include:
- Building control systems.
- Energy distribution.
- Energy supply (gas, electricity and renewable sources such as solar, wind, geothermal and biomass).
- Escalators and lifts.
- Facade engineering (such as building shading requirements).
- Fire safety, detection and protection.
- Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC).
- Information and communications technology (ICT) networks.
- Lighting (natural and artificial).
- Lightning protection.
- Refrigeration.
- Security and alarm systems.
- Water, drainage and plumbing (including sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS)).
- Carbon emissions calculations and reduction.
For more information, see Types of building services.
Specialist building services might also include systems for bacteria and humidity control, specialist lighting and security, emergency power, specialist gas distribution, fume cupboards, operating theatres, and so on.
Building services play a central role in contributing to the design of a building, not only in terms of overall strategies and standards to be achieved, but also in façade engineering, the weights, sizes and location of major plant and equipment, the position of vertical service risers, routes for the distribution of horizontal services, drainage, energy sources, sustainability, and so on.
This means that building services design must be integrated into the overall building design from a very early stage, particularly on complex building projects such as hospitals. Whilst it is usual for a building design team to be led by an architect, on buildings with very complex building services requirements a building services engineer might be appointed as the lead designer.
The detection of clashes between building services and other building components is a significant cause of delays and variations on site, not just in terms of the physical services themselves, but also access to allow the builders work in connection with those services. The use of 3D computer aided design (CAD) systems and building information modelling (BIM) should help reduce the occurrence of such problems.
Increasingly, building services engineers are central to the design and assessment of sustainable systems, assessing the life cycle of buildings and their component services to minimise the resources consumed and the impact on the environment during fabrication, construction, operation and dismantling.
According to The Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE):
'In any new construction project, building services typically account for 30-40% of the total cost.' (Ref. CIBSE fact sheet) and buildings account for almost 50% of carbon emissions (Ref. CIBSE).
As a consequence, many aspects of building services design are regulated (the building regulations, the energy related products regulations, and so on), and clients may impose their own standards on top of these regulations or seek certification under schemes such the Building Research Establishment’s (BRE) Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM).
Ensuring that building services meet the standards set can involve the use of sophisticated simulation tools to predict the likely performance of buildings during the design stages (including the assessment and comparison of different options), as well as monitoring actual performance in use.
However, clients and designers are becoming increasingly aware of a disparity between the predicted and actual performance of buildings, with many buildings using considerably more energy than had been expected (up to 5 times as much according to the Carbon Trust‘s Low Carbon Buildings Accelerator and the Low Carbon Buildings Programme).
This may be as a result of the following:
- A lack of proper understanding of building design and the interaction between components.
- Poor prediction tools.
- Inadequate detailing.
- Discrepancies between specifications and actual construction.
- Poor build quality.
- The use of idealised performance data for products.
- Improper user behaviour or operation.
- Unexpected power loads (such as additional ICT equipment, external lighting, and so on).
The collection of more data to feedback information about performance in use will be necessary to rectify this problem.
NB: Building services will have to be upgraded and equipment replaced a number of times in the life of most buildings, building services engineers should consider this throughout design development as well as ease of maintenance and running costs.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- Active system.
- Air conditioning.
- Air handling unit.
- BSRIA blue book.
- Building analytics market trends.
- Building Automation and Control System BACS.
- Building engineering services.
- Building management systems.
- Building Services Analytics - BG 75 2018.
- Building services and health risk resilient buildings.
- Building services compliance with the building regulations.
- Building services engineer.
- Building engineering services.
- Chilled beam.
- CIBSE.
- Complex system.
- Concept services design.
- Cooling systems for buildings.
- CFD.
- Data centres.
- Detailed services design.
- Domestic building services compliance guide.
- Ductwork.
- Electrical control systems.
- Facade access equipment.
- Fan coil unit.
- February 2021 HVAC&R trends and the impact of COVID.
- Heat transfer.
- Heating.
- Hot water safety.
- HVAC.
- HVAC balancing.
- Joined-up thinking is key to building safely.
- Lightning protection system.
- Mechanical and electrical.
- Mechanical, electrical and plumbing MEP.
- Mechanical ventilation.
- Model Format for Building Services Specifications BG56 2016.
- Non-domestic building services compliance guide.
- Panelboard.
- Passive building design.
- Performance gap.
- Pipework.
- Plant room.
- Plumbing.
- Rules of Thumb - Guidelines for building services.
- Sustainable Buildings Monitor.
- Tempering heating.
- Thermal comfort.
- Training for pre-commissioning cleaning of pipework systems.
- Types of building services.
- Types of heating system.
- Ultrasonic pipe testing.
- Underfloor air conditioning at London Grade II listed landmark.
- Utilities.
Featured articles and news
The Social Housing Retrofit Accelerator.
A change to adoptive architecture.
A must read for all built environment professionals.
A sun, tide, mass or scratch dial.
A brief description of time in the sun.
ICE Trustee Board update June 2022
Given by ICE President Ed McCann.
Artificial intelligence and project management
Two new research reports published by APM.
Association for Project Management membership offer
50% off APM Associate membership for Designing Buildings users.
Building safety, a shifting landscape for professionals
A commentary from the insurance perspective.
In brief with further links.
Walter Segal: self-built architect
A definitive book on a pioneer of green architecture.
Funding for heritage on the high street
Using heritage as a catalyst for reviving historic centres.
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting update.
Declaration prioritising sustainable urbanisation adopted.
A small hidden, often distant but key building component.
Some brief words about the actuator.
CIAT Chief Executive steps down.
After 34 years at the Institute.
Volunteer opportunity launched by the ICE
To support the next generation of engineers.
Provisional findings show illegal cartels in the industry.
CIAT reporting from the Competition and Markets Authority.
Making sustainable construction number one priority.
The future of construction report.
Interview with ECA CEO.
Many provisions came into force on June 28, 2022.
With room to expand.
An information packed session at the BSRIA conference.
Refurbishment, Energy Efficiency, Indoor air and process.
Create a profile, write informed product articles and share.
Aluminium Composite Panels (ACP) is one example.
We are indeed now 10 years old, so go on and be bold !
Write about something you know, help us build and grow !
Comments
May I know what are the 5 different types of the computing simulation of building services installations with detailed illustration of its purpose and advantages?
Designing Buildings, the construction information website is free to use and contribute to, it is a wiki. As such it cannot serve as a information to order site. If you feel something is in correct or missing please, correct it or add it. Thanks !