Natural ventilation stays the course at athletics centre

WindowMaster
Combining controlled natural ventilation with the exploitation of thermal mass in Lee Valley Athletics Centre has demonstrated its effectiveness over the last year.
12 months’ experience of using a natural cooling and ventilation system in the Lee Valley Athletics Centre (LVAC) has included performing well during hot summer weather. The manager of the centre, Mick Bond, says, ‘The system did very well with hot summer weather. It maintained good air quality — which is obviously very important for athletics — whilst keeping the temperature down. During the winter, we have again been able to maintain reasonable temperatures and a fresh atmosphere.’ LVAC is the largest indoor and outdoor athletics centre serving London and the south of England. It has the only indoor 200 m track in the region, 60 m and 130 m sprint straights, permanent seating for 500 spectators and full indoor facilities for jumps and throws. In addition, it has specialist areas for the delivery of sport-science and medical-support services, a strength and conditioning gym and other facilities to provide professional support for the development of elite athletics. The natural cooling and ventilation system was designed by consulting engineers Max Fordham LLP and uses 240 WindowMaster motors to operate windows automatically to naturally ventilate the main arena and other rooms. The system includes sensors to monitor temperature and carbon dioxide, a weather station and central computer control system. The weather station monitors conditions around the centre, including wind direction and speed, temperature, rainfall and changes in wind pressure on the facades. This data is used to control and position windows to control air quality and temperature. Looking ahead to the 2012 Olympics, Mick Bond says, ‘We are confident that we can offer the Olympics organisers a venue which will not only provide a first-class training facility but a first-class atmosphere, whatever the weather.’ Neil Smith of Max Fordham, explains, ‘The building is designed to offer stable temperatures by using its thermal mass. It cools down at night in summer and then stays cool during the day. The WindowMaster system has proved very capable of giving good air quality without letting excessive hot air into the building during the day, ensuring that the interior temperature during the warmest summer weather was always lower than the external temperature.’
For more information on this story, click here: Feb08, 120
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