Introba’s leading-edge design and advisory practices apply technology, advanced engineering, and thoughtful creativity to elevate the human experience by creating Living Systems.
We recognize that business-as-usual engineering will not future-proof against the impact on our planet’s resources or ensure human safety and comfort. As a result, critical changes to global infrastructure, material supply chains, and government and corporate policies all play a role in our transformative design and consulting work.
Through our network of strategically integrated practice areas, Introba seeks to remedy inefficiencies, capitalize on shared opportunities, and find practical solutions to create adaptable, efficient, flexible, equitable, cost-effective, and resilient environments today and for future generations.
Our blended expertise in built environment engineering practice areas with specialty advisory services creates Living Systems that are intelligent, resilient, highly sustainable, and connected to their environments. Together, we are leaders in advanced engineering and innovation.
Bill Overturf PresidentWe are a global network of changemakers creating smart, resilient, and connected Living Systems.
Introba is a global team of planners, engineers, and consultants dedicated to transforming the built environment. With over 1,000 employees in offices across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Serbia, and Australia, Introba is one of the world’s largest building engineering and consulting firms.
Committed to reshaping the world, our problem solvers combine cutting-edge digital solutions with emerging innovations and industry-leading sustainability strategies to transform the built environment. We collaborate with our clients to create living systems that are smart, secure, resilient, and connected – spaces that uplift communities, protect the health of the planet, and adapt to meet the demands of the future.
Our expertise is guiding cities, regions, and nations to develop policy to meet energy and climate change goals.
Our unique approach, deep expertise, and a proven track record as net zero pioneers make Introba your ideal project partner.
Introba designs net zero energy and net zero carbon projects costeffectively collaborating with architects and planners to prioritize passive design strategies that enhance occupant experience. Working with occupants, we identify and drive down energy demands. Our world-class energy modeling capabilities allow scenarios, systems, and behaviors to be simulated, compared, and shared with the project team.
Our net zero projects deliver on their promise.
We’re proud that verified energy consumption data shows our projects meeting or surpassing energy targets. Effective commissioning and finetuning of systems enables our projects to stay within their energy budgets.
Controls that are simple to understand and operate help building owners manage to zero, year after year.
Introba is the world’s leading engineers of net zero buildings, campuses, and districts.PHOTO CREDIT: ©EMILY HAGOPIAN 2015
Defining zero
Ever since we began our deep green journey we’ve been helping define best practice by:
• Acting as technical advisors to the World Green Building Council’s Advancing Net Zero program
• Leading the development of the Canada Green Building Council’s Zero Carbon Buildings Framework
• Being founding members of LETI - the Low-Energy Transformation Initiative
• Authoring CIBSE Technical Memorandum 65 Embodied Carbon of Building Services Equipment
The strategies that enable buildings to achieve net zero have benefits beyond energy and carbon.
Our net zero buildings consistently demonstrate higher levels of occupant satisfaction than their peers.
Users report improved air quality, visual and thermal comfort—all major contributors to health, wellbeing, and productivity.
The integrated design process that supports net zero also drives up quality and increases project value.
As we drive down operational carbon emissions the role of embodied carbon becomes more evident.
MEP systems can account for more than half of a building’s whole life carbon emissions.
Our lifecycle analysis team are tackling this challenge head on.
We are the authors of the industry standard for embodied carbon assessment of MEP systems, and share best practices on system selection through thought leadership and case studies.
The World Green Building Council’s Net Zero Carbon sets a vision for all new buildings to operate at net zero carbon by 2030.
By 2050, all new and existing buildings need to operate at net zero carbon, and all new buildings, infrastructure, and renovations should be net zero embodied carbon.
We must slash energy demands and increase the operating efficiency of every building, while switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy generation and storage.
The good news is that the technologies we need exist and are proven, prices continue to fall, and Introba has the know-how to integrate them cost-effectively and elegantly into projects of any scale.
Introba’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment underpins our own race to zero, and sets out how we will help our clients to achieve zero carbon across their buildings.
Buildings and their construction consume are responsible for 39% of global carbon emissions
Atmospheric CO2 levels have increased by 30% since 1960
To turn the tide on climate change the buildings sector needs to race to zero.
16 offices
1.7 tCO 2 e portfolio carbon emissions
500 employees
4 countries of operation
Company drive to build high performance buildings that respect and enrich the earth. Have designed over 100 net zero energy projects including 10 projects completed that have gone through certification and verification pathways.
Committed to occupying only net zero Scope 1 and 2 carbon assets by 2030 with an accelerated target of 2020; and aspirational target for zero carbon emissions from operational waste, water, business flights, and employee commute by 2030.
Disclose social and environmental metrics through an annual report which includes: environmental footprint, equity & diversity, health & well-being, education & impact.
Implement ongoing energy efficiency upgrades across tenancies and work with landlords on renewable energy procurements.
Verify our annual Corporate Social and Environment Responsibility (CSER) report by 2020 to ensure integrity and alignment with our goals and commitments.
Provide a net zero carbon pathway for every design project undertaken by 2020.
a member of four GBCs globally
Net zero energy (NZE) buildings generate as much renewable energy on site as they consume on an annual basis. If they generate excess renewable energy they become energy positive.Energy demands are reduced by optimizing building form, skin, and systems and enabling energy saving behaviors for every user.
All electric NZE buildings go a step further by eliminating the burning of fossil fuels and biomass on site.
These can become net zero carbon if they are supplied by 100% renewable electricity, supplementing sources harvested on or near the site, with green power drawn from the grid.Some net zero definitions also permit use of carbon offsets, as a last resort.
Monitoring and disclosing performance is a central principle of all net zero definitions. Gathering and sharing data incentivizes ongoing maintenance and optimization of buildings and ensures integrity of net zero labels.
In recent years policy makers, and green building councils and institutes have developed local and international standards to recognise net zero buildings.
As buildings become more energy efficient and are powered by renewable energy, embodied carbon can dominate their whole life carbon impact.
Net zero embodied carbon addresses the upfront greenhouse gas emissions across the whole lifecycle of a building associated with extraction of materials, production, and transport of products, construction, repair, replacement, disassembly, and disposal.
Carbon offsets are used to address residual embodied carbon to achieve net zero embodied carbon.
Business as usual
Demand reduction building form + skin, equipment selection, behaviors
Design out upfront carbon
Business as usual
Efficiency gains high performance systems
100% Renewable energy onsite renewables maximized
> 100% Renewable energy
Net zero energy Energy positive
> 100% Renewable energy + zero combustion
Net zero operational carbon
0
Net zero embodied carbon
System selection to reduce upfront carbon
System optimization to minimize upfront carbon
Operations + maintenance to avoid future embodied carbon
End of life strategy for reuse, recycling + responsible disposal
WHOLE LIFE NET ZERO CARBON
Offsets equal to unavoidable embodied carbon
Whether your project is a single building, a campus, a corporation, or a city - we follow the same proven process to guide your journey to net zero operations.
Our approach is collaborative, iterative, interactive, evidencebased, and analysis-led.
SET THE IMPERATIVE
Understand why achieving net zero is essential for a sustainable future
FINE TUNE TO ZERO
Continually improve systems, operations + behaviors
COMMISSION FOR ZERO
Verify that systems and strategies work as designed and can be easily controlled
EMBED THE GOAL
Commit to net zero and set it as a simple, clear and compelling target
PERFORMANCE
Share best practices. Set new and higher future targets
DESIGN + BUILD FOR ZERO
Clear documentation, specification and construction to meet performance targets
Assemble analysis of climate, uses, energy infrastructure and local context
SIMULATE
Simulate a ‘business as usual’ baseline - with all energy demands included, and when they occur
Meet residual demands using renewable energy - prioritizing on-site, then near site and finally off-site. Add energy storage where needed to protect grid or improve economics
COLLABORATE
SWITCH, GENERATE + STORE
Test combinations of energy conservation, and load-shifting measures, then iterate until technical or economic limits are reached
Our investment in global policy incentivizes energy performance targets and calls for a dramatic and ambitious transformation towards a completely zero carbon built environment.
Introba’s advisory team accelerates the achievement of sustainability goals for organizations, at all levels of government, and for infrastructure, district, and masterplan developments.
Rewriting the rule book through policy on a global scale is the key to sustainable change.PHOTO CREDIT© 2019 CLEANBC BETTER BUILDINGS The London Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI)
From Thousands to Billions - Coordinated Action towards 100% Net Zero Carbon Buildings By 2050, sponsored by Introba
Following the declaration of climate emergencies across the globe, districts are working towards sustainable change at scale. To reach ambitious climate targets, taking a holistic approach combines green technologies with a vision to promote ongoing investment and funding in net zero strategies and infrastructure.
We help clients to identify and set sustainability goals and then monitor, manage, and certify delivery against agreed targets to benefit individuals and their communities for years to come.
Action planning has never been more important in supporting the transition from fossil carbon to net zero emissions and renewable energy.Cambridge Getting to Net Zero Project, Cambridge, United States
Our net zero buildings range from historical sites, where building renovation has been used as a model of regenerative design, to innovative new builds, including the UK’s first true net zero carbon school.
Not only do our net zero buildings push the boundaries of engineering and design, they house institutions that lead within the fields of education, research, conservation, science, and environmental causes.
With over 100 net zero energy buildings in over 30 countries, we have experience across all aspects of sustainability planning to achieve performance goals.
David & Lucile Packard Foundation Headquarters, Los Altos, CA, United States
PHOTO CREDIT: JEREMY BITTERMANN
Hackbridge School Wallington, United Kingdom
Half Moon Bay Library, Half Moon Bay, CA, United States
Pitzer College, Robert Redford Conservancy
Claremont, CA, United States
George Brown College, The Arbour
Toronto, ON, Canada
PHOTO CREDIT: ANTHONY LINDSEY PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTO CREDIT: COSTEA PHOTOGRAPHY, INC.
Through the installation of innovative technologies including geothermal systems to meet 100% of annual heating and cooling requirements, solar PV, wind turbines, and integrated design solutions that reduce reliance on the grid, we meet our client’s needs for maximized energy efficiency, improved indoor environmental quality, and reduced operating costs, accelerating their progress towards net zero.
Through ongoing research and industry collaboration, the development of new guidance also provides a strong framework for practical action towards net zero systems.
CIBSE Technical Memorandum 65: Embodied carbon in building services: A calculation methodology
Vancouver Fire Hall #17, Canada
PHOTO CREDIT: INTROBA
CIBSE TM65
Louise Hamot Global Lead of Lifecycle Research Louise.hamot@integralgroup.com
Embodied carbon of MEP equipment calculation toolkit
Refrigerants & Environmental Impacts: A Best Practice Guide, Elementa Consulting
PHOTO CREDIT: HGA PLANNING, ARCHITECTURE + INTERIORS
Erie County Industrial Development Agency, New York
We are a diverse and highly qualified team who focus on understanding our clients’ unique objectives and context while collaborating with them to provide seamless project delivery and a tailored approach to meeting their specific needs.
We apply multidisciplinary capabilities, technical excellence, and a lifecycle approach to deliver creative, resilient, and effective solutions for our clients’ toughest challenges.
From innovative multi-modal designs and complex transportation projects to iconic bridges and buildings, our global portfolio spans the range of sectors in advanced mobility infrastructure, smart buildings, and sustainable water solutions.
At Introba, we work to inspire change and empower changemakers.
Our policy, planning and strategic consulting teams provide advisory services to governments, real estate investors, developers and owners at local, regional, and national scales.
The policy frameworks, design guidelines and delivery road maps that they generate accelerate the transition to net zero.
Ali Nazari Vice President, Energy & Sustainability
David Green Senior Principal, Building Performance
Richard Palmer Director of Global Sustainability APAC
Megan White Vice President, ESG North America
Eric Solrain Senior Principal, Building Performance
Chris Doel Senior Vice President, Canada
John Andary Vice President, Education
Mary Casey Principal, Sustainability APAC
Clara Bagenal George Associate, London
David Barker Managing Principal, Sustainability APAC
Lisa Westerhoff Principal
Louise Hamot Global Lead of Sustainable Innovation
