Sustainability
Intelligent, collaborative design on the part of the design team
and thorough maintenance and management by the operator will result
in building which has a gentle impact on the global environment
whilst providing a major positive impact to the local economy.
Ventilation, cooling and dehumidification will be the largest
energy loads thanks to the nature of the spaces and the local
weather. To ensure that engineering systems work together in
harmony with the design both on the drawing board and in practice,
effort has been made to integrate the engineering systems with the
building envelope. The building has deep-set windows and overhangs
to provide in-built shade to the windows.The façade itself will be
protected from the strong sun in the south by an external shell
with reflective properties to ensure that the façade does not
conduct heat to inside. The office area at the top of the
building will have a double-façade incorporating shading systems
which control direct sunlight but which allow views out.
The internal climate will be protected from the external climate
by a well-detailed façade, which shades the hot sun, keeps out the
warm air and shuts off noise. This allows the building to choose
when it wants to interact with the environment, for night cooling
or natural ventilation and when it wants to wrap up in its
blanket.
The roof surface will be designed to emit radiation to the sky
and the coolth that it generates is pumped around the building to
cool its mass and, when that is done, it shall be used to cool a
thermal store. The store would be a phase change material,
which turns from a liquid to a gel when cooled, and the coolth
store in it over night would be extracted during the day.
Electrical photovoltaic and solar thermal collectors will be
used to create electricity and hot water from the sun's
energy. The heat will be used either for domestic (eg
hand-washing) purposes or to help with reheating of air after
dehumidification. The collectors will be integrated into the
shading devices on the façade and over the external atrium.
There will be a high demand for water in peaks during events
and, at the same time, a large amount of wastewater will be
created. The wastewater from washbasins and sinks should be
collected along with water from rainfall and be used for flushing
of toilets or for irrigation. Cleary this strategy helps to
reduce running costs but will also reduce the energy consumed in
the island's desalinisation plants.