A new home for part of the Ministry of Defence is optimizing
environmental friendliness and cost efficiency, largely through the
diversity of solutions from Passivent Ltd.
Defence Estates, the property and estates management arm of the MOD,
worked with industry partner Debut Services to remodel an existing
two storey building to centralize the Service Personnel and Veterans
Agency (SPVA) operations at Imjin Barracks, to create a more
effective and efficient environment for the team. A key criterion of
the design brief was to make the 1960s, 3800m2 building as
sustainable as possible, achieving an ‘excellent’ rating under DREAM
(Defence Related Environmental Assessment, equivalent to the
‘mainstream’ BREEAM tool).
Passivent’s breadth of sustainable solutions enabled Debut to use
just one source to design and supply an integrated, complimentary
internal office environment, maximizing natural resources of air and
light- and simultaneously cut both installation and running costs.
Chris Kenny, project architect at Stride Treglown who designed the
building for construction by Debut Services, elaborates, “The
original building was 80% mechanically ventilated. We needed to
replace the façade, so decided to explore the use of natural
ventilation through openable windows and Passivent natural
ventilation to ensure good levels of ventilation throughout the deep
plan: this option was actually cheaper than maintaining the façade
and replacing all the M&E plant associated with mechanical
ventilation!
“We were also concerned about providing adequate daylight,
especially in the deep plan circulation areas: Passivent’s Sunscoops
optimize natural light across the floor space, thereby improving the
quality of that space, and reduce running costs.”
Passivent’s ventilation strategy encompasses a selection of
Passivent’s products, chosen to deliver the design requirements. In
total, six Passivent RAD Airscoops- ventilation terminals divided
into four chambers- mounted on the roof of the building both draw
fresh air through their windward chambers into the upper storey of
the building, displacing the ‘used’ internal air and extracting it
via the leeward chambers. The RAD Airscoops offer the flexibility
whereby the internal windward chambers can be adjusted to provide
airflow without draughts where needed, even if the office layout is
altered.
On the ground floor, five Aircool motorized ventilators installed
above the windows draw fresh air in; a roof mounted Airstract acts
as a passive stack, exhausting the ‘used’ internal air. All the
ventilators are operated by the iC7000 controller, which monitors
indoor air temperature and quality including CO2 and adjusts the
ventilation rate in larger office environments to maintain the
required levels of 10l/s/person of outdoor air supply.
Complimenting the natural ventilation, 38 no. 350mm dia Sunscoop™
tubular rooflights optimize penetration of natural daylight into all
areas of the building, without artificial light. Each Sunscoop
features a Light Sun Deflector (LSD) which can further increase the
natural light level within by up to 20%, minimizing the need for
artificial lighting.
Paul Nix, Debut Core Works Director, commented, “Collaborative
working between ourselves and our supply chain partners, including
Passivent, has ensured that we have delivered a high quality,
sustainable facility for our customer.”
Passivent is the UK’s leading supplier of natural ventilation and
daylighting systems for both domestic and commercial applications.
The company is a founder member of the NatVent EC-EU-funded project
co-ordinated by the Building Research Establishment to develop
practical natural ventilation solutions for the commercial sector,
and has contributed to the BISRIA guide BG2/2005 Wind Driven Natural
Ventilation Systems, as well as being members of the DfES steering
committee on ventilation guidance for schools, Building Bulletin
101. Its range of rooflighting solutions, including Sunscoop™, is
eligible for BREEAM credits under both Energy and Health &
Wellbeing.
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