Innovative Building Management

New Signature homes fitted with a Building Management System (BMS). There are centralised computer controls for all heating, ventilation, energy, fire and security systems. Monitoring and tracking of performance allowing building users to optimise systems, reduce energy consumption and identify faults early.
An example of use is within the fire alarm systems, in case a fire is detected then the fire alarm panel will close dampers in the ventilation system to stop smoke spreading, shut down air handlers and start smoke evacuation fans in the area affected.

Fire Safety

Our priority is to keep our residents safe by using heightened fire detection and protection to avoid undue stress and concern should a fire be detected. We’ve noted specialist advice from a Fire Engineer for the design of our safety systems. Early detection alarm systems are linked directly to an outside monitoring service for speedy calls to the emergency services. Buildings are fully fitted with a sprinkler system throughout the home to control any fire that may break out and limit the spread of flames. Fan assisted smoke clearance systems installed to corridors to ensure routes out of the building are safe for evacuation should the need arise.

Air Filtration

Enhanced ventilation system to ensure continuous fresh air circulation and clearance of possible pollutants. The number of air changes per hour set in our homes is much greater than industry requirements; there’s fresh air, through fan assisted ducting, which is supplied into the corridors and communal areas with extraction through the apartments and ancillary spaces. Ventilation plants are zoned to limit the number of spaces served reducing risks of cross contamination throughout the home.

Renewable Energy

• Government standards are ever evolving to address issues of energy use and carbon emissions. As such our homes have varying degrees of energy conservation measures and renewable technology. Newer homes include:
• Low energy light fittings
• Smart controls (DALI) to LED light fittings to ensure they switch off when a room is empty or the sun is shining.
• Inclusion of photovoltaic panels to generate electricity (new homes can have around 100 panels on the roof)
• Charging points in our parking spaces for electric cars.
• CHP (combined heat and power) for heating, hot water and electricity generation, this is where a a gas fire turbine is run to generate electricity and the bi-product, heat, is used to warm hot water for space heating and domestic hot water services.

Current homes under construction will move to air source heat pumps, where, like a refrigerator but in reverse, air temperature is converted from outside to inside, this time to provide warm air heating and heat domestic water. Moving forward new homes to be all electric to ease transition of government targets to a Zero Carbon built environment through this Signature looks to achieve a Very Good standard accreditation as a minimum for the building energy and sustainability performance under the Building Research Establishment scheme.

Other sustainability items include

Enhanced ecology features including bird and bat boxes, inclusion of native plant species in the gardens to encourage insects and support the local natural environment. Water usage reduction measures including low flush WC’s, reduced flow taps and showers.
And finally, materials used for the construction of the homes is responsibly sourced, recycled materials used where practical.