HVAC A LESSON IN EFFICIENCY


A new, state-of-the art facility at Dudley College will train the next generation of construction professionals in using the right approach to heating and cooling, with a centre equipped by Uponor.


In the education sector, the specification of new buildings must consider the triple imperatives of operational cost efficiency, ease of maintenance and service life – all within the context of the available budget. At Dudley Advance II, a new, state-of-the art facility at Dudley College that will train the next generation of construction professionals, a fourth imperative was added to this list when considering the right approach to heating and cooling. The further education college wanted to showcase the most advanced construction techniques and technologies in the specification, literally building an insight into construction best practice and sustainability into the fabric of the building. The facility has been designed to contribute to the students’ education during the build phase and throughout the lifecycle of the building. Indeed, students were regularly taken on site tours during the construction programme, making the building a place of learning even before it was finished.


advanced construction methods and technologies, it is the UK’s first project to use the IPI (integrated project insurance) procurement model, which was first mooted in the Government’s 2011-2015 Construction Strategy. The model aims to encourage greater collaboration from the delivery partners by making them jointly responsible for design decisions, sharing any cost savings from an outcome-centred approach, along with any cost risk. This includes early engagement with the FM and estate management functions to ensure that ease of maintenance, service life and whole life operational costs are given due consideration as part of the specification process.


The project strategy has also been centred around using the most advanced construction technologies available to create a building that’s as efficient as possible within the designated budget. To achieve this, the college’s estates team stipulated three core goals: to maximise the performance of the building fabric by constructing a heavily-insulated envelope, to implement a natural ventilation strategy and to minimise building services. Against these criteria, a TABS (Thermally Active Building System) from Uponor was specified to provide ambient temperatures with minimal energy load all year round, managed via automated controls linked to external weather monitors and weather pattern data.


Steve Johnson, Director of Estates and Capital Projects at Dudley College, said: “We wanted to create a best-in-class teaching facility that brings together the best technologies and design capabilities available and inspires our students to embed the efficiency of the built environment into their everyday experience because this is the talent that will be constructing the buildings of the future.


“We chose the TABS system because we’d visited a similar Uponor installation at Manchester Metropolitan University and not only found that the operational costs and ambient temperatures offer tangible benefits, but also heard from MMU’s FM team that it was a fit-and-forget solution requiring no maintenance, which is a massive plus for any estates department.”


Best in Class First Established in the 1930s, Dudley College is undergoing a renaissance. Once spread across the borough, it acquired land for its new ‘Dudley Learning Quarter’ campus in 2009 and the first of its new buildings – an 8,500m2 centre called ‘Evolve’ - opened in 2012.


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Dudley II is The College’s fifth construction project on the new campus. A £12million teaching centre for


32 | TOMORROW’S FM


Efficient Heating and Cooling The Uponor TABS system was specified very early in the design stage and designed into the BIM level 2 model for the scheme. This is because the pipework for the system has to be laid within the slab. Heating and cooling water then circulates within this pipe network and the concrete mass of the floors and ceilings stores and exchanges thermal energy, minimising the additional energy required to heat or cool the water. The system has been specified to work in conjunction with an extremely thermally efficient building envelope, maximising the energy efficiency


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