BUILDING CASE STUDY EDUCATING ENGINEERS
T
he glass and aluminium-clad New Engineering Building at the National University of Ireland in Galway was conceived as a teaching tool for the
1,100 engineering students who now occupy its 400 rooms and laboratories. Opened in July last year, the structure is intended to be a living laboratory, with a wide range of sensors and exposed features to show students how the building lives and breathes. Moreover, many of the services are on
show to the students and staff. Glass panels in the building’s energy centre give views on to the working biomass boiler and combined heat and power (CHP) units. Labelled services, exposed in the corridors, challenge students to understand the engineering principles behind the scheme’s design. And a dashboard in the entrance atrium informs the occupants of the building’s performance by means of real-time data on energy and water consumption. This design concept is unusual. It was
developed to demonstrate a host of different technologies and passive thinking, including natural ventilation, thermal mass, ground- source heat pumps, solar panels and CHP systems to inspire the engineers of the future. However, in addition to showcasing the various technologies, the building also had to be designed to be energy efficient and environmentally sustainable. ‘As a building for teaching engineering,
it was designed to be as sustainable as possible,’ says Lorcán Mooney of PM Group, which designed the building services for the project. It is an ambitious task, given the
LEARNING ON-SITE
An Irish university’s engineering department has a new building that was designed to operate as a ‘living laboratory’ of sustainability for students. Andy Pearson takes stock of its complex heating and cooling systems
28 CIBSE Journal January 2012
www.cibsejournal.com
The New Engineering Building comprises two separate sides linked by a full-height atrium. The three- storey, four-floor structure includes three storeys of laboratories, offices and teaching spaces, set around a large lightwell
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