Energy Efficient Design Reviews That Fix the Design Before You Build It
An IS 399-aligned review of your capital project's design while it can still change, so energy performance is engineered into the project before capital is committed, not discovered as a missed opportunity after installation.
- Reviews the design before it is locked in and capital is committed
- Not whether the design works, but whether it is the right one
- System-level: how utilities interact and loads behave in real operation
- Aligned with IS 399 and design-stage funding such as EXEED
- Part of SHV Energy
- ISO 50001
What This Service Is
An Energy Efficient Design Review is the work EM3 carries out when a project is still being defined, but decisions are starting to become fixed. The client is typically developing a capital project, a utility upgrade, a process change or a major decarbonisation initiative. Engineering designs exist, vendors are often involved, and internal approvals are moving forward. The project is technically viable, but the open question is whether it is positioned to deliver the best possible outcome on energy, cost and long-term performance.
This is where the design review comes in. It is not about checking whether the design works; it is about determining whether the design is the right one, before it is locked in and before capital is committed. The service aligns with IS 399 principles and is often used alongside design-stage funding routes such as EXEED, but its value extends beyond compliance: it is about ensuring energy performance is actively designed into the project, rather than becoming a secondary outcome of decisions driven by other priorities.
Governing standardIS 399 (EXEED-aligned)
The Challenge It Solves
By the time this service is required, the project is already real. The site has identified a need, developed a concept and moved toward a defined design. Equipment may have been selected, vendors may have proposed solutions, and internal teams may be working toward approval. The issue is not a lack of engineering input. It is that energy performance is not always the primary driver of design decisions at this stage.
In practice, designs are shaped by a combination of vendor recommendations, capital cost constraints, technical feasibility and delivery timelines. These are all valid, but they do not always lead to the best outcome from an energy or lifecycle perspective. A design can meet every technical requirement and still underperform on efficiency, integration or long-term flexibility, with critical decisions made without a complete understanding of their impact on operating cost, carbon reduction potential, system interactions and future decarbonisation options. Once those decisions move into procurement and installation, they become difficult and expensive to change.
- Energy performance is not the primary driver of the design decisions
- A design that meets the technical brief but is not optimised for efficiency
- Decisions made without seeing their impact on cost, carbon and integration
- Once in procurement and installation, those decisions are costly to change
How EM3 Delivers It
Understand the project as it exists
We review the design in its current form, the system layouts, performance assumptions and intended operating conditions. This is not a superficial check of equipment specifications; the focus is on how the system is expected to behave in practice, how it fits within the wider site, and what assumptions underpin the decisions already made.
Evaluate energy performance
We analyse how energy will flow through the system, how loads will vary under real operating conditions and how the proposed design responds. We look beyond individual systems to how utilities interact, where inefficiencies may arise and where integration opportunities exist, focusing on energy flows and system behaviour rather than equipment-level detail.
Challenge the design
This is where the value sits. We develop alternative approaches and identify where improvements are still possible, directly linked to your project and its practical constraints of layout, process requirements and operational impact, not abstract recommendations.
Evaluate the alternatives
Typical areas of intervention include how systems are sized relative to real demand, how utilities are integrated rather than treated separately, where energy can be recovered or reused, and how control strategies will shape day-to-day performance. Each alternative is evaluated not just for energy savings, but for cost, operational feasibility and alignment with future decarbonisation.
Report and align
We deliver a clear view of how the design could evolve and what the consequences of those decisions will be, and where the work is aligned to IS 399 or a funding programme, we support the documentation needed to demonstrate that energy-efficient design has been properly considered.
What You Receive
A clear design assessment
The proposed design assessed from an energy and carbon perspective, identifying inefficiencies, limitations and risks that would otherwise only become visible after installation.
Defined improvement pathways
A set of improvement options grounded in the actual design, showing what changes are possible, what impact they would have, and how they compare to the current approach.
A system-level view
How utilities interact, how loads evolve across the site, and how design decisions affect overall efficiency, rather than isolated, asset-level performance.
IS 399 and funding documentation support
Where aligned to IS 399 or a funding programme such as EXEED, support for the documentation that links design decisions to expected performance and stands up to external review.
Future-proofing
Confidence that the design does not quietly build in barriers to future decarbonisation, keeping later options open.
Confidence to proceed
The shift from proceeding with a technically valid design to proceeding with one that has been tested, challenged and optimised before any irreversible decisions are made.
Proven Outcome
Across projects, a consistent pattern emerges at design stage. Sites often enter this phase with a design that is technically sound and ready to proceed: equipment has been selected, layouts have been defined, and the project appears well understood.
When that design is reviewed in detail, however, it can reveal systems sized for theoretical conditions rather than real operation, missed opportunities to integrate utilities or recover energy, control strategies that limit efficiency, and designs that constrain future decarbonisation options. By intervening before the design is finalised, EM3 reshapes the outcome without requiring major changes later. The value is not in correcting mistakes after installation; it is in preventing those inefficiencies from ever being built into the site.
Why EM3
Timing
By the time systems are installed, most major decisions are made and the remaining opportunities are constrained by what has been built. This service shifts the focus earlier, to the point where those decisions can still be influenced.
A system-level perspective
Rather than focusing on individual pieces of equipment, we evaluate how the full system will perform, including the interactions between utilities, how loads evolve across the site, and how design decisions affect overall efficiency.
Independent
Because we do not supply equipment or promote specific technologies, the review is not influenced by vendor preferences. The focus stays on the most effective solution for the site, on performance, cost and practicality.
Linked to funding and strategy
Energy-efficient design is often a requirement for schemes such as EXEED, and is a prerequisite for any credible decarbonisation pathway. Aligning the design now avoids building in barriers to future improvement.
How We Engage
Frequently Asked Questions
When in a project should we do a design review?
While the project is still being defined, before the design is locked in and capital is committed. Early enough that decisions can still be influenced, but late enough that there is a real, defined design to review.
Is this just checking whether the design works?
No. The design is usually technically valid already. The review asks whether it is the right design: whether energy performance is optimised, whether utilities are integrated, and whether future decarbonisation is left open, before any of it is built in.
What are IS 399 and EXEED?
IS 399 sets out principles for energy-efficient design, and EXEED is a design-stage funding route. The review aligns with both and supports the documentation needed to demonstrate that energy-efficient design has been properly considered.
Will you redesign our project?
No. It is not a redesign. It is a structured, engineering-led assessment of how the design performs and a set of improvement pathways grounded in your actual design, which you can choose to adopt before finalising.
What kinds of improvements do you typically find?
Commonly: systems sized for theoretical rather than real operation, missed opportunities to integrate utilities or recover energy, control strategies that limit efficiency, and designs that constrain future decarbonisation options.
How long does it take?
It is driven by your project. The work aligns with your design development and decision milestones, and may iterate as the design evolves.
Dig Deeper
ReportData centre energy reporting: what the EED requires
The recast EU Energy Efficiency Directive has made data centre energy performance a matter of public record. This report explains…
Upcoming23 Jun 2026Multi-site ISO 50001: when group certification works, and when it doesn’t
With Graciano Tornero
Case studyHow a European steel processor cut reheat furnace fuel by 14% per tonne rolled
ArticleVentilation on demand: the quiet win in mining energy
FrameworkThe chemical site electrification framework
A six step engineering method for electrifying chemical process heat: map demand by temperature, reduce it, match technologies to temperature…
Upcoming30 Jun 2026US heat electrification reality check: carbon, cost & capacity
With James Dooley