Graduate Sustainability & Physics Engineers Intake 2021

From helping shape entire cities to adapting infrastructure to deal with the climate emergency, a career at Buro Happold presents the chance to make a difference. With a world class reputation, our creativity and our people have delivered positive change to clients, the environment, and communities alike. If you want to be part of something bigger, this is your chance.

The role

Sustainability engineering can be extremely broad, however we tend to split this down in ‘building physics’ and broader sustainability consulting.

Building physics includes energy modelling, advanced simulation, micro-climate analysis and parametric modelling. Sustainability consulting includes embodied carbon analysis, sustainability assessments (BREEAM, LEED, Living Building Challenge etc), building performance (e.g. post occupancy evaluation), social value, health & wellbeing and circular economy.

Wherever you would like to focus, you can have high-value, low environmental impact solutions that meet sustainability objectives while creating comfortable, productive and effective environments valued by the people who use them.

The team works across a range of scales and project types from policy, strategy and masterplanning through to building design, soft landings, monitoring and management.

Our clients and collaborators include world leading corporates, developers, institutions, architects and government across a wide range of sectors including commercial property, higher education, arts and culture.

What sort of projects would I work on?

Our team of sustainability experts is responsible for some of the UK’s highest-rated sustainable buildings, such as 2 Redman Place achieving a BREEAM Outstanding score of 94%, where rainwater harvesting saves the equivalent of four and a half Olympic swimming pools of water each year. At One Angel Square, the Co-operative headquarters in Manchester we achieved the highest ever BREEAM Outstanding score in the UK (95.1%) at the time of certification.

Working extensively with stakeholders for the David Attenborough Building refurbishment we developed a bespoke sustainability framework setting over 50 targets spanning design, construction and operation. At the Urban Sciences Building we developed a similar framework focusing on digital urban sustainability. Further examples of our extensive stakeholder engagement work include Zero Carbon Cornwall and West of England zero carbon workshop.

We are Pioneering Delivery Partners for ‘Design for Performance’ and are leading advanced HVAC simulation on Statesman House and 4 Angel Square. We led the net zero energy strategy at Dubai Expo 2020 Sustainability Pavilion incorporating innovative ‘Energy trees’, as well as engineering ground-air earth tubes at University of Exeter Forum. In terms of embodied carbon, our ingenuity saved over 3,300 tonnes of carbon at 5 Broadgate.

We work extensively with C40 Cities to generate original research, thought leadership, tools and methodologies and pilot these with cities across the world. Our team led a major two-year programme of technical assistance to 25 global cities to assess the air quality, health and economic benefits of climate action. Our sustainability consultants also led a C40 study into the multiple benefits of deep retrofit, including job creation, as well as reduced energy poverty, asthma and cold mortality.

Buro Happold won the coveted CIBSE Building Performance Consultancy of the Year four years running (2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021). We are also active members of UK Green Building Council and World Green Building Council including advisory groups on Delivering Social Value, Circular Economy and Advancing Net Zero Renewables and Offsetting. Many staff globally are members of boards, organisations, and/or visiting lecturers at universities.

What would I do?

• Advise clients, engineers, architects and urban planners on sustainable measures, technologies and holistic solutions (through design, specification and construction techniques) for building, masterplan and strategic consultancy projects.

• Undertake analysis, reporting and presentations to develop design concepts, using simulation techniques such as dynamic thermal modelling, daylight simulation and energy /carbon modelling to inform:

  • Urban design and building form, massing and orientation strategies
  • Façade thermal and solar performance
  • Natural ventilation and mixed-mode strategies
  • Passive cooling strategies and design to prevent overheating
  • Climate change resilience
  • Health, wellbeing and productivity
  • Embodied carbon strategies to reduce whole-life impacts
  • Building / system performance in operation and strategies to close the performance gap
  • Daylight provision
  • Internal and external comfort (thermal, wind, glare etc.)
  • Energy performance
• Undertake assessments of sustainability and environmental impact, using a range of measures, including LEED, BREEAM, WELL Standard, Home Quality Mark, Passivhaus, Living Building Challenge and bespoke sustainability frameworks
• Bridge the gap between ‘design’ and ‘reality’ undertaking energy audits, post occupancy evaluations, operational energy modelling, calibrated energy modelling and Design for Performance / NABERS UK analysis.
• Prepare reports on sustainability and building physics to accompany Planning Applications as well as design and construction stage reports.
• Research, analysis and advice on innovations in sustainability relating to:
  • Big data analysis
  • Climate change resilience
  • Systems change
  • Corporate responsibility
  • Stakeholder workshops
  • Economic appraisals
• Undertake day-to-day to support the sustainability and physics group, which will include:
  • Attend regular team meetings, as required
  • Assist in developing marketing material, as requested
• Actively participate in marketing activities to raise the profile of the analysis discipline both externally and within the company.
• Provide sustainability guidance (particularly in your field of expertise) to other Buro Happold staff.

Requirements

We welcome people into our team with a broad range of experience. Typical degrees include:

• Building Services/MEP Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Engineering Design
• Engineering Science
• Environmental Design
• Environmental Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Social science
• Physics

What's in it for you?

A plethora of interesting and challenging projects to stretch your professional skills, a friendly and close knit team, flexible working and a competitive reward package. The opportunity to work on multidisciplinary projects aside a range of specialist engineers and designers both within Buro Happold and our collaborators.

We have recently adopted a new framework focussed on early careers development. This allows our Graduates to learn the fundamentals of design and technology whilst building a base in consulting and professional skills. This is a blended learning programme where participants gain experience against our internal professional and technical frameworks in relation to their specialism.

In addition, we see membership of a professional body and professional registration as crucial to the development of our engineers and offer substantial support to those aspiring to achieve this. We aim to support employees to achieve the highest level of membership and registration their academic background allows.