Showing the way to zero carbon in new build
Moving steadily towards becoming zero-carbon is a building in the ZEBRA (Zero Emissions Building Renewing Alnwick) project in Northumberland, which won for consultants Faber Maunsell the award for new-build project of the year.
Lion House in Alnwick is a 160 m2 2-storey office building that replaces an existing building and provides office accommodation for three sections of DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs).
As part of the Lion project, Lion House is a flagship low-emissions development designed to achieve exemplary standards of sustainability and environmental performance. It achieved a BREEAM score of 80.72% under the Offices 2006 rating scheme, the highest BREEAM score in the UK in 2008 and which is to be compared with a target of 70%. The building has achieved an A+ (-14) Energy Performance Certificate .
This building aims to be one of the first new zero-carbon office buildings in the country, generating enough electricity from carbon-free energy sources to more than offset carbon emissions from using electricity, gas and biomass.
Energy consumption is minimised by using natural and passive measures wherever possible and then highly efficient mechanical systems only where necessary. The use of renewable (zero-carbon) technologies is a key feature in achieving a zero-carbon design. Water consumption is minimised by low-use fittings and rainwater harvesting.
The new building was occupied in July 2008, and the old Lion House has been demolished to enable the installation of wind turbines and a biomass boiler. Solar-thermal hot water meets half of the hot water demand.
The use of energy and mains water is being monitored. Although electrical consumption is higher than expected, the output from the photo-voltaic arrays is higher than predicted. Seasonal commissions and defects are still being resolved, with the aim of pushing for monitored zero-carbon performance in 2009.
