Sustainability Technical Lead profile – Jake Timothy-Dorward
28 November 2023
Role: Planning Services Lead
Office: London
At QODA, we have a dedicated team of sustainability experts who work with design teams and industry leaders to provide design detail, guidance, and professional expertise. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be introducing each of our leads.
First up is Jake Timothy-Dorward. Read on to learn more about how Jake became a sustainability consultant, what his role at QODA involves, and a project that has inspired him.
What is your background?
I have a bachelor’s in mathematics and statistics and my master’s focused on renewable and sustainable energy technologies. Since my entry into the built environment, I have worked across many different project types at all different stages, primarily delivering critical advice at early design stage that safeguards projects through to post-construction and beyond.
Due to the holistic nature of sustainability and building design, the ambition in the early stages of my career has been to deliver a diverse range of assessments and to appreciate the impact of each assessment on the ever-growing list of designers, contractors, and other stakeholders.
My main focus in the past year has been delivering whole-life carbon and circular economy assessments, covering embodied carbon, in-use energy, and end-of-life strategies. My ability to deliver the role has been supported due to having exposure to sustainable assessment methods, including certification as an accredited professional for BREEAM and LEED. This offers the holistic perspective to appreciate appropriate interventions with the path of least resistance, highest impact, and lowest cost.
As well as delivering several GLA referral projects with whole-life carbon assessments and circular economy statements, I have specialised in providing design for performance models which involve detailed HVAC modelling. Providing critical feedback for building use types including offices, data centres, and mixed-use buildings, against TM54 and ASHRAE 90.1 standards, I have developed a niche and deep appreciation of building physics and occupant behaviour which enables a client to develop very clear targets in line with their net zero carbon targets.
Early engagement with the client to assess what bespoke outcomes they would like to get out of their projects has been key as I have provided workshops and presentations to highlight the available options and impact to project programme schedules.
I sit on City of London’s “Skills for a Sustainable Skyline” Taskforce which aims to upskill the industry in green skills, as well as finding solutions to encourage an increased intake of people into the industry from education, to support the challenge to mitigate the impact of climate change. Furthermore, I am supporting the London Central Investment Fund and London Forward to improve the green and digital skills curriculum in Central London.
What do you do at QODA?
“My main role at QODA is to ensure that processes are in place so that sustainability is delivered at planning stage in a practical, plausible, aspirational, and cost-effective manner.”
Often tasked with supporting ambitious clients with assessing the whole life carbon of their building, I work closely with the design team and client to come to the optimal solution for the whole team by linking carbon and energy reductions, water stewardship, pollution and waste reduction, enhancement of ecology and wellbeing, optimal transport solutions, and proper sourcing of materials.
Specialising in energy and carbon assessments, I spend a lot of my time auditing and reviewing internal and external evidence and assessments to ensure that proposed carbon emission figures are accurate and achievable. Moreover, I am continuously monitoring the QA processes for software such as OneClick LCA and IES to ensure that all reported emissions targets are auditable and evidenced.
What is one project that has inspired you, and why?
A project that has inspired me would be a Central London project where the law firm Linklaters designed their office in such a way that much of the fitout could be easily disassembled and relocated in their new office in another part of the city. This type of forward-thinking and simplicity in design emulates the approach we should take on all projects.
“We do not need to recreate the wheel, let’s just make sure the wheel can spin with as little resistance and energy as possible.”
Tell us something about your life outside QODA
Outside of QODA, I spend a considerable amount of time at the local gym (predominantly in the sauna), spending time with my partner and kitten, and running through parks in London as I prepare for the Paris marathon in April 2024. I am from Newcastle, so I am football crazy and make sure to find time to watch the Geordies play whenever they have a game.