2. CONTENTS
BUILDING OVERVIEW 3
ENERGY ANALYSIS 4
GREEN BUILDING STUDIO ANALYSIS 6
THERMAL ANALYSIS 7
CARBON FOOTPRINT STUDY 8
SUN CAST STUDY / SUMMER 9
SUN CAST STUDY / WINTER 10
BREEAM ASSESSMENT 11
3. BUILDING OVERVIEW
Located at the heart of the country Derby is a fast growing and vibrant
city with strong historic links with the engineering history of the United
Kingdom, although this is a fact well know by locals it is also an unjust
reality that the cultural and enterntainment scene of the city has being
always laking a well equiped and fit for purpose entertainment venue
that matches the ambitions and achievements of the city.
We are proposing the design of a new concert hall - pavillion venue to
host culltural and enterteinment events. It will feature the use of sustai-
nable, environmentally resilent and innovative measures. The design
makes the best use of the site and its potentials, as explained in the
masterplan. The location of the pavillion is over the north area of the site
and the building orientated for solar and heat gain in the coldest winter
days and extensive vitas over the riverside and historic buildings like the
Derby Cathedral, Derby City Council Building and the Silk Mill.
The building is raised ten meters from ground level as a buffer area
against flooding and to allow the creation of a ‘outdoor theatre’ space
for public performances underneath it. The concept of the Derby canal
will let the building to have its own water supply with filters powered by
solar energy to clean and recycle grey water back to the river. A new
hydro-turbine in the proxility of the weir will increase dramatically the
availability of renewable energy not only for the building but for the rest
of the area.
Materials used in the fabric of the building include bluegreen low-E
(e=0.05) glass, fiberglass insulation, metal sheets and wood panels
for the interior. A resilent approach to flooding was used to the building
structure and interior walls, all components are recyclable, easy to man-
tain and replace or demolish.
Benefits from a concert hall pavillion include the fact that the location of
the site next to the A52 and to the city centre will reduce energy consu-
med by the audience travelling to the theatre, and the proximity of the
new bus station and Derby’s train station adds to the convenience of this
proposal.
The proposed design maxi-
mises the use of the land
available on a floodplain site.
It will create a new comcep-
tual ‘Cultural Quarter’ much
needed for the city of Derby.
Attempts to create multipur-
pose theatre venues have
generally failed to meet all
types of different theatrical
and acoustic performances
in a single room. The propo-
sal here is to use technology
to vary the acoustics, width
and height of areas like the
procenium.
The Pavillion is raised from the ground creating a ‘shel-
tered venue’ for public performances and cultural events
in the warm season. Entensive glazing facades to allow
natural light and solar gain as well as an ‘welcoming’ and
inviting effect on passersby.
4. ENERGY ANALYSIS
From the first energy analysis run it was found some
key data regarding the buildings impact on running
costs and environmental impact, especially in energy
use and management. The life cycle electricity use (for
a design life of 30 years) was just over 35 million kW/h.
The effect of running alternatives on double and finally
on triple glazing and increased insulation from 50mm
to 100mm on exterior walls resulted on a significant re-
duction of the cost to just above 20 million kW/h, 20%
less.
Annual energy use is £203, 490 from which 65%
(6,394,442MJ) corresponds to fuel comsuption. Fuel
counts for more than £100,000 year on running costs,
this has to be addressed. HVAC consumes 81% of the
total fuel annual use, it is recommended to design pas-
sive and sustainable systems on ventilation, heating,
and air conditioning to help reduce this figures.
Final run with triple glazing and better insulation resul-
ted in reduction of just over 250,000 kW/h in electricity
use in HVAC compared with previous runs with single
and later double glazing. This potentialy saves £24,000
on electricity consumption.
Window conductivity was halved from -800,000 MJ to
less than -300,000 MJ on january in the third and last
run. This reflects and improvement but further design
decisions must be taken.
The lack of substantial thermal mass on the building
fabric has a negative effect on monthly heating load
analysis results. Infiltration is also remarkably high with
about 150,000 MJ a month.
Monthly cooling load analysis shows a high level of
energy consumption for the period april-september,
ventilation systems need to be designed to tackle this
situation.
5. GREEN BUILDING STUDIO / ANALYSIS
BASE RUN RESULTS
Initial design development ideas focused on the
curtain wall facades, especially over the south atrium.
Knowing that this large glazed walls would compromi-
se the thermal performance of the building was a fact
and the results of the first run recorded annual energy
use of 943,960 kW/h in electricity and 6,394,442 MJ
in fuel. This was an improvent from a test run with
single glass windows and 50 mm insulation recorded
1,950,167 kW/h electrical and 16,061,550 MJ fuel
usage.
Natural ventilation potential meassured in possible
electric energy savings of 151,092 kW/h resulting in
possible annual electric cost savings of £15,109.
Photovoltaic potential is also remarkable, estimated in
£22,035 kW/h on annual energy savings.
A final run was requested with a design alternative for
the fabric of the building, including a revision of the
materials and insulation for roof and walls. The simula-
tion below shows the minimum possible thermal per-
formace for the type of building proposed. The results
of this final run were dramatic with recorded annual
CO2 emissions of 131.1 Mg, far away from the 652.9
Mg of the initial tjest run.
Electric annualm consumption was 531,607 kW/h and
fuel 6,058,210 MJ.
Lifecycle energy was almost halved from 28,318,794
kW to 15,948,222 kW of electricity. Estimated energy
and cost summary saw a potential annual energy sa-
ving of nearly £50,000 a year and £2,132,048 over the
lifecycle (30 years).
6. GREEN BUILDING STUDIO / ANALYSIS
BASE RUN RESULTS
Basic roof u-value was an ‘almost average’ 0.35 and
exterior CMU wall u-value of 0.46. East and west faca-
des had a metal panelled wall with u-value of 0.19.
Other results included average lighting power density
recorded 12.91 W/m2 and reduced to 2.52 W/m2 in
the final run. Most readings recorded quality improve-
ments at the final run (right had side graph).
FINAL RUN RESULTS
Green building studio tested a alternative design for
the buildings fabric and resulted in dramatic reduction
in u-values for roof and exterior walls. The new pro-
posed roof was the R60 Wood Frame Roof (see detail
below) with a staggering u-value of 0.08.
Similar situation for the exterior wall with a new recor-
ded u-value of 0.12. These changes had a tremendous
effect on the final calculations of the building’s perfor-
mace.
Photovoltaic potential annual energy production was esti-
mated in 22,035 kW and potential cost savigs per year of
£2,203,47. This represents only a small fraction of installed
panel area:157m2 from a total roof area of 8,515m2. The
roof design and angle of the sections could be modified to
allow the efficient installation of further more PV panels.
7. CARBON FOOTPRINT
STUDY
According to the results of the study potential energy generated by a roof
PV solar panel system (working at high efficiency) could generate a maxi-
mum of around 1 million kWh/year with a carbon negative effect of 380 me-
tric tons /year of CO2. This alone is not enough to make the building carbon
neutral but on the other hand, surplus of energy created in summer can be
sold to the national grid to create income.
Alternatives need to be considered including hydro power turbine gene-
rated energy. At a cost of around £1.7 million and producing 230 kW/h
the Longbridge hydro-turbine is being used to power Derby City Council
building. A similar system can be use on the opposite side of the weir just
next to the site. In winter and by night time hydro-powered energy can
supplement the energy demands of the building, when solar energy is less
efficient.
During the first run of the anaysis we found a significant level of carbon
emissions in metric tons per year so an assessment of the building fabric
concluded in the necesity of increasing insulation thickness from 50mm to
100mm for exterior walls and from low E double glazing to triple glazing
panes. This two changes had a dramatic impact on the building performan-
ce which is shown in the graphics at the right hand side. Carbon emissions
were down from 970 metric tons to 650 metric tons / year and annual
energy use (the main contributor on carbon emissions) reduced almost one
third from £305,736 to £203,490.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Energy management as a strategy to maximise energy use. Technology can
play a part in the design of a ‘smart’ building with computerized interior cli-
mate management, use of heat recovery systems for ventilation and natural
light features. Intelligent buildings make better use of resources and limit
energy waste with a possitive effect on reducing carbon emissions further
down.
Solar access analysis showing
areas of maximum and mi-
nimum solar radiation. Solar
roof would benefit from intense
solar radiation all year long.
Large roof coverage to reduce
solar gain in summer and face-
ted structure to capture solar
rays from all directions.
A buffer zone between the ou-
ter roof and the main building
is recommended to prevent
a greenhouse effect on the
building.
8. SUN CAST STUDY /SUMMER
Graph showing sun cast analysis on summer’s solstice day, high levels of
summer exposure over the roof, the faceted design would harvest solar
power in all directions. Protruding roof panels to shade the south, east and
west facades, solar gain over the roof could be a problem and additional na-
tural ventilation meassures need to be considered to mantain thermal com-
fort in summertime when most events are normally held during the evening.
Most elevations remain in shade during the summer months and the su-
rrounding canal and commercial areas are not compromised despite the
scale of the building. Most shading on the afternoon will fall over St Alk-
mund’s Way pass at the north east of the building.
Minimum impact over adjacent public spaces. Only south atrium overexpo-
sed, solar shading solutions should be considered. Overall the building is
having adequate protection from direct sunlight and glare.
Solar study on the 21th
of june at 6pm to show
solar penetration over
the west elevation and at
ground level underneath
the building.
9. SUN CAST STUDY / WINTER
Midday on the winter solstice and full exposure on south elevation, some
mechanical solar shading systems to be considered. There is intense solar
gain on this area but from weaker winter sun.
Extensive solar exposure on the ground floor external public space.
13:00pm on the 21th of december, the shadow affects the residential area on
the other side of the A52, further analysis needs to be done and alternative
form finding for the building, also orientation can be tested and new solar
analysis undertaken.
Typical afternoon view over the south elevation, clearly showing intensive
solar gain over the interior atrium and around the building. Solar energy sli-
ghtly compromised by the low pitch angle of the faceted roof. Building could
be brought back to the drawing board for further research on form finding to
address issuess of roof pitch form and shading .
Nevertheless, solar gain can be welcomed in cold winter days and help to
reduce energy use.
