ATTRACTIONS
Externally, Wilkinson Eyre have cre- ated a façade that reflects the natural, angular forms of a crystal – and not something that needed to specifically stand out as a ‘sustainable building'. Project architect Sebastien Ricard,
director at Wilkinson Eyre, says the photovoltaic panels (created by Sanyo, with energy converted with Siemens inverters) covering two-thirds of the building's roof have been totally inte- grated into the roof design so that people – especially those with a bird’s eye view from the cable car – won’t even know they are there. “The panels are very high perform- ance and able to function well under London’s grey skies and also on the shallow slant of the roof,” he says.
The building's
angular lines contrast with the curved 02 Arena beyond
InnovatIve materIals Ricard admits the Crystal may be an expensive building per square metre, but the payback will come in terms of the knowledge and awareness of green systems that it can deliver both now and in the future. He says: “We always like to push the boundaries in terms of the materials we use – we’re not saying it’s the most cost-effective building in terms of the payback period. This project is more of an exploration, a working laboratory, where everything can be monitored. “Electricity is not currently the
The energy performance of the building is constantly monitored
smart moves S
mart meters – the two-way communicating electric meters being installed in the UK both domestically and commercially – are seen as the first step in building a smart grid. The grid will be an electricity distribution system that uses information and communications technology to control energy usage, outages and power generation. The benefits will include greater
reliability (fault detection and self fixing), flexibility (two-way energy flows and distributed generation), efficiency (load adjustment and
flexible pricing), and sustainability (for instance, the intermittent nature of solar and wind will be better integrated). As the Crystal’s architect
Sebastien Ricard, says: “We wanted to explain to the public that the aim is not to be carbon neutral. Carbon neutral schemes may be more appropriate for isolated developments in, say, the countryside, but in dense urban environments there will be a need to rely far more on decentralised energy generation and distribution to manage supply and demand."
greenest type of energy, but with the introduction of renewable generation the grid is slowly decarbonising. This
building is designed for the future – in 20-25 years it will be the only way to produce clean energy. The build- ing is also ready for connection to the smar t grid, which may happen in five to 10 years time.”
Inside, Siemens’ state-of-the-art building management system (BMS) means that every part of the build- ing can be adjusted for optimum heat, light and ventilation and minimum energy consumption – even from the other side of the world. Every kw of electricity used and every litre of water consumed or generated can be meas- ured within the building and compared with buildings internationally – with results being displayed on a ‘green screen’ in the exhibition hall. Because of the extensive glazing used in the building, there is little need for artificial light in the daytime. When needed, automatic lighting con- trols constantly adjust every lamp according to time of day and occu- pancy. To create a comfortable working environment, both the office and exhi- bition spaces are naturally ventilated where possible, using motorised open- ing vents in the façades and roof. There are even more high tech sys- tems going on underground. Around 17km of ground source heat pump provides 100 per of the heat and majority of air cooling for the building. Heat is pumped from the ground into the building on cold days – and on hot days the cooler water is pumped from the ground to help cool the interior. Ricard says the high specification of
64 Read Leisure Management online
leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital ISSUE 1 2013 © cybertrek 2013
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