University Rebuilding Using Natural Ventilation

1 General data

Year of construction Type of construction Type of construction Use of building Building owner Building leaser/tenants Location/address Geological location Situated (city or country side) Heating/cooling degree days Main technology for cooling Heated/cooled building area

2003 New building Heavy Academic Facilities De Montfort University None The Queens Building, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK 52o38N,1o08W City 2251 (base 15.5oC)/252 (base 5oC) Heavy structure utilised as heat sink combined with high ventilation rate as appropriate. AreaH = 10,000m AreaC = 10,000m

2 Description of the project

Due to the poor condition of old building stock, the University took the decision to redevelop its inner city campus. A design brief was drawn up for an innovative new building with natural ventilation and daylighting. Traditional construction techniques were chosen to match the surrounding buildings.

2.1 Architectural concept

The multi-purpose building was expected to have high heat gains, but the architects were confident that tested passive techniques could work. A heavyweight structure was therefore chosen, having high thermal mass. High ceilings and a shallow plan would then allow natural ventilation and daylighting to work effectively.

Figure 1:scheme of the energy concept of the building

A central concourse allows daylight to reach the inner zones of the building, while also acting as a thermal buffer area. Shading of the windows and rooflights reduces solar gain. Exposed soffits to the concrete floor slabs, brick walls and blockwork internal walls provide the mass needed to moderate temperatures. Ventilation stacks and rooftop ventilators serve the central building which has classrooms, offices and laboratories around the full-height concourse, see figure 1.

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The adjoining two-storey specialist laboratory block has a series of hollow buttresses, see figure 2. These also act as fresh air inlet ducts, along with voids around the ground floor offices. Inlet louvres and north-facing glazed ridge vents operate automatically.

Figure 2: the adjoining two-storey specialist laboratory block

On the other side of the central building, there are four-storey wings housing laboratories. These are shallow plan and have simple cross-flow ventilation, see figure 3.

Figure 3: four-storey wings housing laboratories

Roof overhangs and cantilevered facades serve to reduce solar gain and glare.

3 Energy concept
The different areas of the building exploit a range of natural ventilation techniques. Some of these are quite conventional, as described above, while others show an innovative approach, such as the auditoria.

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Fresh air enters the auditoria via underfloor plena and directly through the faade. Two 13m high chimneys then exhaust the air with the aid of basic punkah fans when necessary. Modulating dampers on the air inlet and at the top of the stacks allow control using the building management system. Night cooling with this arrangement avoids the need for air conditioning. The building energy management system controls ventilation, heating and lighting. Averaging thermostats in the controlled zones allow effective use of night cooling.

3.1 Load reduction measures / Optimisation process

The design seeks to make maximum use of daylighting and to control the use of artificial lighting. Measures include architectural features such as the central lightwell, rooflights, careful planning of window size and location, and white cladding to the courtyard facades to reflect light in to the shaded lower floors. Energy efficient lighting is installed. Automatic control by the building energy management system, and passive infra-red sensors, helps to limit the use of supplementary lighting. Consumption is reported to be only about half the yardstick figure for a building of this type.

3.2 Passive cooling

Thermal mass and night cooling together avoid the need for air conditioning.

3.3 Heating / application of renewable energy sources

No active use is made of other renewable energy sources for cooling purposes.

4 Operation results
4.1 Achieved comfort level
The building management system logs space temperatures throughout the building. Mean summertime temperatures are seen to remain within comfort levels. Only in one or two areas have peak temperatures ever exceeded 27oC, and then only for short periods, see figure 4. There have been no complaints to the property services department about summer overheating, apart from the specific instances mentioned above.

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Figure 4: mean temperature for the building areas during one year of measuring

4.2 Energy consumption

In the first year of operation, electricity consumption was 43kWh/m gross floor area and gas consumption was 114kWh/m. This represents CO2 emissions of 53 kg/m, or about half that of a typical university academic building. Avoiding mechanical ventilation is the main factor in reducing electricity consumption.

4.3 Maintenance and operation of the systems

The ventilation systems are effective and have no plant as such to maintain. There have been some problems with the opening mechanisms for the glazed roof ventilators after an aluminium drive shaft sheared. Users also tended to over-wind the mechanisms where they did not have direct sight of the ventilators. Position indicators were proposed as a solution. Elsewhere, apparatus on benches was found to interfere with the opening internal doors on the hollow buttresses, although use has been lower than expected. Commissioning of the passive systems still required substantial monitoring and fine tuning.

5 Costs
At ~1,250/m (855/m) construction costs were reported to be no more than for a more conventional building and met the funding criteria. This was due to the use of conventional materials and construction techniques and close integration among the design team. The savings on mechanical and electrical services were equivalent to about 9% of total project costs, although they were offset by higher superstructure costs. Lower dependency on mechanical and electrical systems means reduced life cycle costs for both energy and maintenance.

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6 Justification of why this is a best practice project

This project is a good example of: Active design using analysis and modelling techniques to develop passive features A building with best practice energy performance, and carbon emissions only half those of a typical university academic building Passive cooling techniques that are effective for a range of building uses, even where internal gains are high Construction at a cost no greater than for a more conventional building.

7 Description of the implementation process

The University appointed architects to develop the scheme, working to its own design brief to achieve an environmentally sensitive building. Structural and M&E consultants provided the specialist engineering design. Natural ventilation was the chosen strategy for the building in general. It was still thought that the auditoria in the central building might need mechanical cooling, due to design heat gains of 100 W/m. Preliminary calculations by the consulting engineers suggested that natural ventilation would work so further analysis was done. The University did its own modelling, using dynamic thermal simulation software. From the analysis it was predicted that the dry resultant temperature would exceed 27oC for only 9 hours in a typical year, and never during term time. Another university was asked to test the performance of the ventilation stacks. This was done using a scale model inverted in a salt bath. Denser salt solution falling in the model simulated warm air rising in the stacks. This again confirmed adequate ventilation rates. It also suggested the use of separate stacks for the concourse and lecture rooms to avoid risk of warm air or smoke transfer between these spaces. While the salt bath can not simulate the dynamic effects of thermal mass it does allow the modelling of complex spaces. Combining both models gave the design team confidence to apply natural ventilation to the auditoria.

8 Discussion / Lessons learned / Links

The project has shown that the approach taken to achieve a passive design has been successful. The building is comfortable and functional, and offers energy efficiency without extra construction costs. Other urban buildings with high internal gains can benefit from the techniques applied to this design.

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Building Regulations:
The Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 apply to new buildings and conversions in Scotland. Technical Handbooks provide guidance on compliance with the regulations. These require a design that minimises the use of mechanical ventilating or cooling systems and uses systems that can achieve optimum energy efficiency. When considering air conditioning or mechanical ventilation attention should be given to: form and fabric of the building energy efficiency of the equipment control of the equipment.

Further sources :
Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers. Natural ventilation in non-domestic buildings, Applications Manual 10. CIBSE, London British Standards Institution'Code of practice for ventilation principles and designing for natural ventilation'. BS 5925. BSI, London, 1991 (confirmed 1995)

Information and advice is available free from the Carbon Trust Energy Helpline 0800 085 2005 or visit the website at www.thecarbontrust.co.uk/energy. Available publications include:
ADH010 - Planning for Passive Solar Design ADH011 - Daylighting Design in Architecture FSSB032 - Plastics Factsheet GIL075 - Maintenance matters to the success of your business GIR030 - A Performance Specification for the Energy Efficient Office of the Future GPCS001 - Energy Efficiency in Offices - Low Cost Major Refurbishment GPCS308 - Naturally comfortable offices a refurbishment project GPG237 - Natural ventilation in non-domestic buildings a guide for designers, developers and owners GPG290 Ventilation and coolong option appraisal a clients guide GPG291 A designers guide to the options for ventilation and cooling GPG376 - A strategic approach to energy and environmental management NATVENTGUIDE - Natural Ventilation for Offices TEB21C - The Environmental Building - a model for the 21st century

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