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Dudley Advance II is a £ 12 million teaching centre for advanced construction methods . |
All-round performance
Against these criteria , a Thermally Active Building System ( TABS ) from Uponor was specified to provide ambient temperatures with minimal energy load all year round , managed via automated controls linked to external weather monitors and weather pattern data .
“ We wanted to create a best in class teaching facility that brings together the best technologies and design capabilities available and inspires our students to embed the efficiency of the built environment into their everyday experience because this is the talent that will be constructing the buildings of the future ,” explained Steve Johnson , director of estates and capital projects at Dudley College .
“ We chose the TABS system because we ’ d visited a similar Uponor installation at Manchester Metropolitan University and not only found that the operational costs and ambient temperatures offer tangible benefits , but also heard from MMU ’ s FM team that it was a fit-and-forget solution requiring no maintenance , which is a massive plus for any estates department .”
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Maximised performance
The building requires no air conditioning or mechanical ventilation but relies solely on the TABS system . Window opening is linked to a building management system ( BMS ) and air entering the building through the BMScontrolled roof-top clerestory .
Dudley Advance II is a steel frame building with metal decks for the concrete floors , which were painted white to provide a reflective surface for the TABS system , maximising thermal performance . Embedding the heating and cooling in the floors and ceilings in this way not only removed the need for any wall-mounted radiators or air conditioning and air handling plant , but also allowed the building ’ s interiors to be designed without ceiling voids or raised access floors . As a result , all remaining building services have been installed below the metal ribbed deck and are fully visible from within the building .
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The pipework for the system has to be laid within the slab .
The TABS system has already been fully tested to full heating and cooling capacity .
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Customised climate control
The Uponor TABS system is divided into three to four zones on each of the building ’ s five storeys to enable heating and cooling to be adjusted according to the purpose of the location and occupancy rates . Weather stations positioned externally will collect weather data and this will be used to automate temperature control through the TABS system via actuators . The thermally efficient building envelope will minimise both heat loss and solar gain , so that the water in the TABS system will only need to be adjusted by +/ - four or five degrees in order to deliver a comfortable temperature all year round .
The TABS system at Dudley Advanced II has already been fully tested to full heating and cooling capacity – way beyond its normal operating requirements .
“ This is the first time we have specified a building with a TABS system ,” added Steve , “ but the cost , operational and student welfare benefits it offers mean it ’ s unlikely to be the last .”
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Getting specific
The Uponor TABS system was specified very early in the design stage and was designed into the BIM Level 2 model . This is because the pipework for the system has to be laid within the slab . Heating and cooling water then circulates within this pipe network and the concrete mass of the floors / ceilings stores and exchanges thermal energy , minimising the additional energy required to heat or cool the water .
For the Dudley Advance II installation , thermal modelling data was used to estimate the heating and cooling requirements for the 3,500m 2 building and it was calculated that two domestic boilers ( with a third for standby ) would be sufficient for both the TABS system and the domestic hot water .
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October 2017 | 27 |