OLYMPICS CASE STUDY AQUATICS CENTRE


The two elevations provide a uniform light level across the hall, meaning that electrical lighting can be switched off for most daylight hours


The roof has steel trusses of up to 16 metres in depth. Inside the roof there is insulated cladding on the top and acoustic lined timber cladding facing the pool tank


Daylighting The façade will also enable year-round daylight in the pool hall. The two elevations provide a uniform light level across the hall, meaning that the electrical lighting can be switched off for most daylight hours. To offer protection from water surface


glare, the façade has a frit pattern whose intensity varies depending on the orientation of the glazing. The south overhang also provides shading on the south west elevation from the summer peaks solar gains.


The roof The main pool hall is enclosed by the two-way spanning steel roof, with steel trusses of up to 16 m in depth. There is also a ceiling on the lower surface of the roof trusses that gives a substantial roof void zone. The roof void is a warm space insulated with 200 mm of mineral wool insulation. This gives the roof a U-value of 0.20 W/sq m K. Options to reduce the heated volume of the hall were investigated but discarded. The conclusion was that the elimination of cold bridges and interface details was essential to prevent the risk of condensation and outside air infiltration at the joints. The permanent roof is a warm roof construction created by insulated cladding on the top and acoustic-lined timber cladding facing the pool tank. To ensure air movement in the roof


space, there are a number of circulation fans located at the walkways; the fans operate on a cyclical basis, or when the roof void temperature falls below a set point. The roof itself has a total design heat loss of 70 kW, so the fans are also sized to offset this load and eliminate the risks of downdraughts to the pools below. The roof temperature and humidity is monitored by an array of sensors to control void temperature above dew point at all times.


30 CIBSE Journal July 2012 Energy saving measures and further improvements


The target is indeed very challenging for the building design team, since a conventional energy efficient approach to swimming pools is to install CHP to power the building and utilise waste heat for pool heating. However, as the building is connected to the district heating network, new approaches are required to maximise the building’s energy saving potential.


Measures that have been put in place include: l


200mm insulated roof – 0.20 W/sqm K; l Insulated pool tanks and basement;


l


Double glazed argon filled curtain walling – 1.40 W/sqm K;


l 5m3/h.m2 building air permeability at 50 Pa; l Localised climatic control;


l l l l


Use of water based systems for building envelope heating;


Pool as heat sink for heating systems and condenser water system;


84% sensible heat recovery in pool ventilation systems;


Low velocity systems to achieve a volume averaged SFP of 1.6 W/(l/s);


l Passive solar gain of south-west façade to hall; l


l


Natural ventilation in Olympics mode for spectators; and


l Variable speed pumping.


Automatic day lighting control within the main pool hall;


How could this be further improved in operation? The design has incorporated this series of measures that together provide a very efficient approach to energy savings. From experience of other large pool facilities, pool energy consumption is also very dependent on how the building is operated. As the operator comes on board for the legacy, what more could be done and what could the operator do to further improve?


Measures that could be considered include: l


l l


Controlling the pool filtration system closely on demand to reduce pump power;


Closely monitoring and controlling the demand based ventilation systems;


Raising the pool moveable floors as pool cover to reduce evaporation at night and when pools not in use;


l l l l


Reducing the pool water temperature from 30C to 28C for leisure use;


Reducing the poolside air temperature accordingly to the lower ranges of the standards;


Demand control outside air using CO2/pollutant sensors;


Addition of heat recovery from shower and back wash water (propriety systems now generally available to allow this); and


l


Further decarbonising the district heating in the long term.


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