Says Bentham: “The alternative to naturally ventilating
a building this size, in terms of the fans required, would
consume much more energy because they would be
running all the time.” The windows open at the most
every quarter of an hour and the amount of energy
consumed by the motors is “so small as to be negligible”,
he adds.
Having good natural air ventilation also tackles stuffy
or hot conditions, while both indoor and outdoor CO2
sensors check for air quality.
To fine-tune the temperature in each zoned
space, radiant gas plaque heaters are used to provide
instantaneous heating. Boasting a much higher efficiency
than more traditional radiant tube system, they have a
faster heat-up rate and supply short bursts of heat.
As with the other building control mechanisms, the
heaters are arranged in zones to limit their use only to
where needed.
“None of the systems are new or revolutionary,” says
Heating and lighting has
Bentham. “What’s worked amazingly well in this building
been designed to respond to
is that each system has been designed very carefully to suit
the changing occupation and
the use of the building.” use of the building
He says that in many projects, the control systems can
end up being “hugely complicated”, so that if something
does not work “it’s incredibly difficult to find out why”.
“And that’s often why things are left to run not working as
they should be, which means a building consumes much
more energy than the designer’s calculations showed it
should.” >
Data from natural ventilation control system, summer day
www.cibsejournal.com June 2009 CIBSE Journal 43
CIBSEjun09 pp40-44 leevalley.indd 43 29/5/09 12:23:29
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