January Sole Soaking!

In this era and at the beginning of 2014 most city people will look out of their windows and only see man made objects, generally these are designed by Structural Engineers, Civil Engineers and Designers with only a few traces of the natural world present; an odd tree, a few blades of grass or a few patio pots are the only items which link them back to their roots. The day-to-day existence of most city dwellers is totally dependant on the performance of utilities infrastructure companies.

The extreme wet and windy weather patterns over the Christmas period within the British Isles has clearly demonstrated this point. The weather and environment factor is not an isolated phenomena but a global problem which Governments need to correctly understand and stop merely trying to pay voting lip service to and thereafter allow the financial institutions to carry on in a myopic manner.

In the modern world unless social/environment models significantly change it will become more difficult and much more costly to live on Planet Earth. Where will the prosperity come from to support this? The developed world's economic model based on continual growth cannot work in the longer term and the sooner that the G20 countries recognise this, the better the quality of life for the general public.

Societies must become more aware of holistic ways of life and must become more self governing and respectful of the piece of Planet Earth which they are inhabiting but benefit from knowledge sharing and accessible good global database stores. Humans must also learn, as the population density grows even further, to design places of habitation which provide homes for other forms of nature. Bees, birds insects alike need to be recognised as important species with which mankind cannot in the long term survive without, or do we evolve into machines and become extinct?

The time has come to be truly respectful of Planet Earth and all that dwell within its sphere. We need to learn to harmonise the needs of all and try to understand the Grand Design and from this learn to design respectively and sustainably. Resources are finite and we need to use them carefully and wisely.

Tellisford Mill - Nominated for LABC National Building Excellence Award

Tellisford Mill, near Bath, Somerset, which MLDE acted as Civil and Structural Engineers for, has been entered into the Local Authority Building Control, National Building Excellence Awards final. The awards ceremony will take place in London during November.

This follows on from the Regional Award received by the project in June 2012 in the LABC South West Building Excellence Awards in which Tellisford Mill won the “Best Small Commercial Building” Award.

The project, which involved the installation of a new 55kW micro-hydropower turbine producing clean, renewable energy and restoration of the mill to its original purpose incorporating contemporary accommodation/office spaces, also received four awards in Mendip District Council’s, Mendip Building Excellence Awards in March 2012.

Tellisford Mill - Mendip Building Excellence Awards

MLDE were in attendance at Mendip District Council’s, Mendip Building Excellence Awards on Friday 16th March 2012, for the project Tellisford Mill which MLDE acted as Civil and Structural Engineers for. The results for this project were :

> Best Commercial Building Under £1 Million - Winner
> Best Extension or New Build in a Historic Context - Winner
> Best Sustainable Development - Finalist
> Best Vernacular Building - Finalist

The ambition of Clients, Rachel Feilden and Anthony Battersby (Founder members of Mendip Power Group) were realised with the installation of a new 55kW micro-hydropower turbine producing clean, renewable energy and restoration of the mill to its original purpose incorporating contemporary accommodation/office spaces.

The Architects for the project were Klaentschi and Klaentschi and construction was carried out by local contractor Randall of Beckington.

Engineering – Autumn Statement

The global market runs world businesses, governed by global economics. The scant world resources, commodities and products naturally determine their own value and market size. The global market with subtle shifts in trends, skews the market allowing opportunities for different economies or new products to take a firmer hold of the sector. The current world economic model based on continual growth cannot function into the future, it is simply not sustainable. The current Western economies are faltering due to excessive debt caused by trying to create growth.

In the past few decades most global scale products were made in the lowest cost centres in the world, irrespective of the remoteness of the manufacturing plant. The actual transportation cost of the materials and consumables to and from the works and onwards to their markets has had little impact or influence on where they are actually made. This trend will become outdated as energy and resources become more expensive and difficult to find. More efficient local recycling of goods will also be needed in order to limit the unnecessary use of fuel and energy.

New highly sophisticated fabrication facilities will make a huge range of different mass produced products for different global brands from downloaded secure Cloud based information sources.

The design specification will be the critical intellectual property which Cloud technology will protect via safe direct non externally downloadable CadCam interfaces within the new generation of sophisticated Fabrication facilities. These facilities will be more evenly dispersed over the globe than the current production centres. Their density will increase as energy prices increase. The relentless world demand for internet and computers almost ensures that the predicted Cloud production will happen quite soon.

It is believed that about 9% of all the world energy is currently consumed by computers and the internet, albeit inclusive of the embodied energy of the systems and the power needed to run them! Regional economies will need to be re-established. The world needs joined up thinking by engaged joined up thinkers to create an holistic solution which actually works for mankind. A celestial alternative to spaceship earth is not an option for the majority of this planet.

Mark Lovell

White Elephants and Dinosaurs

In the modern era Engineers have mostly kept a low profile and have not generally become involved in politics; only reacting to the demands of others. Their design skills used to solve problems created by non holistic policies. This is a strange situation when one considers that virtually all items in the world are Designed and Engineered. Most people will look out of their windows and see only man-made objects being totally dependant on the utilities infrastructure for example.

Society must become more aware that a holistic approach to sustainable design must be put into place, and Engineers should take a much more active role in helping to guide the process. Not simply accepting the way things are. Taking “ownership” of their future. It is strongly felt that the current reactive design processes must be changed to proactive ones, and governments need to learn this too.

The time has come to truly respect that Planet Earth's resources are finite and to use them carefully and wisely. It is important for all clients, whether private or corporate, whom are awarding commissions to take sustainability and energy use seriously, with consideration from the outset. Clients need to be much more careful about the manner in which they appoint their consultants. Many, many White Elephants are currently being created in the world and never has the saying: “measure twice cut once” had more weight. Are you making an informed decision or a pre-programmed one, which might be commissioning a Dinosaur?

Mark Lovell