The Selwyn District Councils new headquarters is designed to house up to 142 staff in a sustainably and energy efficient designed building.
Several Greens Engineering features have been included into the design which minimise waste and energy consumption and maximise the use of sustainable materials.
The building features mixed mode ventilation which uses a combination of natural ventilation by means of automatic opening windows and roof lights supplemented by mechanical ventilation using high level fans, all controlled by a high-level building management system.
Heating and cooling are provided by a high efficiency heat pump system that make use of the cold water main to produce hot water, which is circulated around the building to satisfy the heating needs and also provide additional cooling in summer.
Other environmentally friendly features which the building have include solar water heating which provides up to 80 percent of the building's hot water needs and rain water collection from the building's roof which is filtered and piped into storage tanks for toilet flushing and irrigation.
THE CENTRE FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES, CHINA By MARIO CUCINELLA
The Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies, University of Nottingham in Ningbo, China sets the standard for sustainable energy research. Cucinella’s recently opened building’s main purpose is to provide a specialist research laboratory for staff and postgraduate students within the new Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies.
The tower features a research studio / teaching room and resource room, along with offices, meeting rooms and a permanent display space. The exhibition space will offer a platform for communicating the newest developments in sustainable energy and construction technologies, both regionally in China and internationally.
The Centre has been designed to serve as an exemplary building, representing state-of-the-art techniques for environmentally responsible, sustainable construction and energy efficient internal environmental control.
The new building design minimizes its environmental impact by endorsing energy efficiency, creating its own energy from renewable sources, and using locally available materials with low embodied energy wherever possible.
The remaining heating, cooling and ventilation load is expected to be so low that demands for both these and electrical power necessary for computing and lighting will be met from renewable energy sources, this includes a ground source heat pump, solar absorption cooling and photovoltaic panels.
The building make use of day lighting as far as possible, while avoiding glare and solar heat gain. This lower the amount of time for which artificial lighting is required. Photovoltaic systems will be used to supply artificial lighting and small power for office equipment such as computers, fax machines, etc. For the duration of the peak period of sunshine, enough power shall be produced from the PV system to run other equipment such as the lift, the mechanical ventilation and chilled water systems. Extra power not being use, will be stored in batteries.
