CARBON CHAMPION CASE STUDY BRADFORD UNIVERSITY
My vision was that the students here could learn about living a sustainable lifestyle so that when they finish university they become ambassadors for green living
sustainability has been engrained into everything the university does,’ he says. The university’s One Planet Carbon Strategy is born out of the Ecoversity philosophy. The strategy sets out how the institution will work with students and staff to achieve its vision of a 50% reduction in direct emissions from gas/oil usage, electricity consumption and fleet vehicle fuel (scope 1 and scope 2 emissions). It also sets out a plan to manage indirect emissions not owned by the university (scope 3 emissions), such as embodied carbon in products and emissions from commuting to and from the university. The university has invested more than
£4.5m in carbon-reduction measures across the campus, the bulk of which came through successful applications to the SALIX funding scheme, a not -for-profit
28 CIBSE Journal June 2012
Eco-learning: New sustainability centre
Bradford University’s £5.2m Sustainability and Enterprise Centre (SEC) achieved the world’s highest pre-construction BREEAM score of 94.5%. Just as well, given that when it opens in 2013, the 2,000 sq m building will contain workshops, a business unit, an open-plan office and a multi- function space, which have all been designed to provide the learning facilities to promote sustainable living. In addition to its BREEAM score, the building is also aiming to achieve a LEED Platinum rating.
‘The university’s sustainability specification and building physics drove the design, not the architecture, yet we will end up with a fabulous-looking building with performance to match,’ says Russell Smith, estates manager for engineering and building.
The result of this amalgamation is a glulam
timber-framed building, with its 450 mm thick external walls constructed from Hempcrete and Lytag to create a lightweight, insulating building envelope with low thermal inertia and high levels of thermal mass. Lytag is a lightweight aggregate manufactured from pulverised fly ash from coal-fired power stations, while Hempcrete is a concrete substitute formed from course hemp fibres mixed with a lime-based binder and water. This combination of sustainable materials has been selected to minimise the amount of energy needed to heat and cool the building.
Architect Farrell & Clark’s design has resulted in a four- storey structure built into a slope to incorporate a lower ground floor. The building is orientated to face south, where the glazed southern façade opens up onto a full-height sun space, also used to trap solar heat in winter.
In summer, brise soleil will minimise glare and prevent the space overheating.
The building’s shallow floor plan has enabled natural, cross-ventilation to be used. The relatively narrow floor plates also maximise the amount of daylight on the floors, reducing the need for artificial light. A full-height, naturally lit atrium in the centre of the building houses the central staircase and allows daylight into the heart of the structure.
Other sustainable features will include ground-source heat pumps to top-up the heating in winter, solar thermal and solar photovoltaic panels, and rainwater harvesting. These three solutions will result in a projected additional 20% reduction in the building’s carbon emissions, as well as dramatically reducing the reliance on mains energy and water.
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