magazine
32
Sustainability
A fresh approach
The University of Bradford’s origins
go back to 1832, when The Mechanics
Institute was set up to meet the
city’s growing need for workers with
cutting-edge skills.
Today, the University gathers together
10,000 students from 110 nations and,
with its ethos of ‘making knowledge
work’, is the number one university for
graduate employment in the north of
England and number two in the UK.
The University of Bradford continually
invests in its campus to provide a world-
class teaching and learning environment
and state-of-the-art facilities designed
to the highest sustainability standards.
In autumn 2013, it opened The Bright
Building, a monolithic hemp and timber
frame building that utilises a range of
recycled materials and incorporates a
variety of renewable energy technologies.
The building received a BREEAM
(Building Research Establishment
Environmental Assessment Methodology)
‘Outstanding’ rating and, at the time of
award, had the highest BREEAM design
stage assessment on record of 94.95%.
According to the consultant engineer
on the project, James Allister of Silcock
Leedham, a major factor in the building’s
success is its natural ventilation system,
which allows fresh air into the building
space while, at the same time, removing
stale air through passive means, such as
wind and pressure differences.
He said: “In order to use the fewest
possible electromechanical interventions,
The Bright Building has been carefully
designed so that its physics drive
everything – not the engineering. It’s fully
naturally ventilated, usingWindowMaster
technology from Trend integrated
into a Building Energy Management
System (BEMS). In addition to the lower
investment costs as a result of having
no mechanical ventilation (MV) plant,
there is a reduction in on-going lifecycle
costs and less technology to service and
maintain.”
Naturally ventilated buildings
consume as much as 50% less
electricity than ones with mechanical
ventilation (MV) plants, according to
The Carbon Trust, and produce 40% less
CO
2
(source: The Danish Technological
Institute).
In order to work effectively in all
prevailing conditions, the ventilation
can be swung from North to South
depending on environmental factors
The Bright Building at the University of Bradford – one of the most
eco-friendly structures in the world – usesWindowMaster technology
from Trend Control Systems to facilitate natural ventilation throughout.
such as outside air temperature,
humidity, rain, wind and CO
2
. This is
important, for with each person exhaling
10-75 litres of carbon dioxide and
around 175g of water vapour per hour,
air quality can deteriorate quickly.
TheWindowMaster system used in
The Bright Building features MotorLink
actuator technology, which allows
window positions to be controlled and
monitored with unrivalled accuracy, as
well as providing near silent operation and
enhanced levels of safety and security.
Trend project manager Ian Knapton
said: “Millimetre by millimetre control
achieves the most effective natural
ventilation, as a window that is open too
wide or too little will actually impede
the ventilation of a space. By using a
graphical real-time user interface, it is
possible for the University of Bradford’s
facilities management team to view the
exact position of any window and receive
an early indication of possible faults, as
well as showing if the controls have been
over-ridden. There is a security benefit,
too, as a signal can be sent to confirm
that all or selected windows are fully
closed outside normal working hours.”
Paul Lambourne, mechanical project
manager at the University of Bradford,
is delighted with the results. “As well
as low running costs, reduced energy
consumption, low maintenance and
lower initial cost, it is also healthier
for occupants and allows the building
to work in harmony with the natural
environment,” he said.
For further information please call
Trend Marketing on
01403 211888
or
email
in brief
Europe’s leading holiday cruise company,
Costa Cruises, has achieved a 60% reduction
in the amount of electricity needed for ships
lighting and a 30,000 tonne reduction in CO
2
emissions by converting 10 of its cruise ships
from 50Watt bulbs to 7Watt LED technology.
The 300,000 Philips MasterLED spots and
CoreProLED tubes used are also longer lasting
(up to 40,000 hours) and provide a bright,
warm and inviting ambience for passengers.
Bruynzeel Storage Systems and Masterlight
have joined forces to create sustainable LED
lighting for paper archives, as an alternative to
conventional fluorescent lighting. The use of
LED lighting enables organisations to reduce
power used by lighting by up to 98%. Another
advantage is that, unlike fluorescent lighting,
LED emits no UV light that can damage
sensitive documents. The two companies have
already created LED lighting for the aisles in
Bruynzeel’s mobile shelving systems and are
now working on LED solutions for office and
library products.
Dick Lovett has halved energy consumption
at two of its Bristol dealerships by installing
a centralised energy management system
controlled by Vickers in its Manchester offices.
After 12 months of operation, the prestige
car dealership group has reduced energy
usage by the two dealerships by 47.32%,
shaving £9,599 off its gas bill and cutting CO
2
emissions by 48.18 tonnes.With savings of
this scale, Dick Lovett expects to achieve ROI
six months ahead of schedule. The Vickers
system uses highly accurate digital sensors to
monitor and regulate heating across different
temperature zones, without the need for
different systems, clock settings or equipment.
It constantly adapts heat settings to maintain
the required temperatures in every zone,
automatically factoring in unpredictable
elements such as the weather, open doors
and machinery malfunctions.
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