Buildings Case study
> Max Fordham says it put in place a series of robust
strategies over the zoning and the timings of when
different elements would be on or off, so that the
building is simple to build, and writing the control
software is also straightforward.
“A big part of it is thinking in advance, having
a clear idea of what you want to achieve and the
simplest way of achieving that. This makes it
much less likely that you will have problems in
practice.”
Operational monitoring of the building found
that, in summertime, it met the good air quality
needed for athletes but kept the temperature down.
In winter it was found to maintain good temperature
and a fresh atmosphere.
Smith says that, barring some minor
commissioning issues relating to the set-up of the
radiant panel heaters and some seasonal refinement
of the window controls, there has not been any
significant system failure to date: “The passive
solutions and zoning strategies actually reduce the
maintenance burden compared with a standard
External shading minimises solar gain in summer and maximises it in winter for passive heating approach.” l
Integrated design
Energy-saving measures to Well insulated building fabric: The design Minimising plant energy
reduce dependence on of the building fabric uses best practice in consumption
M&E systems insulating standards and an optimised ratio Radiant gas plaque heaters: These are
Natural ventilation: The main athletics of solid to glazed areas to keep fabric heat used in the athletics hall and sprint track
hall, sprint track, and the majority of the loss and solar gain to a minimum. to provide instantaneous radiant heating.
ancillary spaces are naturally ventilated. They have much higher efficiency then more
An automatic natural ventilation control Air-tightness: The detailing of the envelope traditionally used radiant tube systems
system ensures optimal user comfort and and its construction has been made as and heat up fast, allowing shorter heating
that the correct amount of ventilation is airtight as possible to minimise infiltration periods. The heaters are arranged in zones
supplied to spaces at all time to satisfy both losses. to ensure that only the areas being used are
air quality and temperature. heated.
External shading: The fixed external shading
Thermally heavyweight materials: Extensive to the south façade of the main hall has Efficient boilers: High-efficiency low-
exposed thermal mass within the building been designed to minimise the solar gains NOx condensing gas-fired boilers are
attenuates temperature swings within the in summer but maximise the solar gains in used to heat ancillary spaces. Water flow
spaces and, when coupled with night-time winter for passive solar heating. temperatures are weather compensated
natural ventilation, eliminates the need for to maximise condensation and latent heat
mechanical cooling. Minimising general power extraction from the flue gases.
consumption
Daylighting: The main athletics hall is well Energy efficient lighting: Wherever possible Good controls: A comprehensive building
lit during the day using north light ridges light fittings with high-efficiency lamps, control system constantly monitors all
at each truss position and clerestories at such as compact fluorescent or discharge of the spaces. The BMS monitors energy
each end of the hall to provide very uniform lamps, have been used. The normal lighting consumption. Pumps are variable speed.
lighting of the space. The sprint rack has in the main athletics hall for everyday PIR-controlled ventilation to toilets and
a roof light running its entire length and operations uses fluorescent lights. showers.
also uses borrowed light from the main
hall. Most of the ancillary spaces have Lighting controls: Lighting is automatically Renewables
high-performance solar-control glazing at controlled by light level and presence Infrastructure has been installed for
high level, which ensures optimal daylight detectors to switch lighting off when not the future provision of a large-scale
levels without high solar gains. The daylight required, and to dim it down or turn it wind turbine adjacent to the building,
strategy allows the artificial lighting to be off when supplemented by natural light. and the aerofoil profiles above the roof
dimmed or switched off when daylight Lighting in the main athletics hall is zoned to have been design to take photovoltaic
levels are sufficient. allow switching off of zones when not in use. panels.
44 CIBSE Journal June 2009 www.cibsejournal.com
CIBSEjun09 pp40-44 leevalley.indd 44 28/5/09 15:27:37
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