Tackling climate change requires concerted and focused action as buildings consume nearly half the energy used in the developed world.
As part of a project which is seeing the creation of a building aiming to be the country’s most environmentally friendly commercial building, built environment professionals are now reaping the benefits of the first of several seminars run by the Centre for the Built Environment (CBE) which focus on low carbon ‘green’ building.
Using the University of East Anglia’s Low Carbon Exemplar Building project as an example of how low carbon thinking has evolved from reducing operational energy towards the Passivhaus standard to considering the impact of materials and embodied energy, the first seminar, presented by Gareth Selby of Architype, explored the reasoning behind the brief and the design team's response.
"The seminar provided an excellent insight into low energy building design, the pitfalls that might exist and how another design team are approaching the design and delivery of what is likely to be the most sustainable building ever," commented Dr Joel Gustaffson, Architect at Max Fordham LLP.
"The embodied carbon presentations were particularly interesting. It’s a new area and the knowledge gained will help me work with clients in an informative manner as well as help us deliver our projects in a better, more efficient and effective manner."
Designed by Architype and due to be delivered by Morgan Sindall, the Norwich Research Park (NRP) Enterprise Centre, is targeting BREEAM Outstanding and Passivhaus Certification, meaning it will be incredibly environmentally friendly, need very little energy to heat and cool and act as a carbon sink.
The project was awarded £6.2m from the European Regional Development Fund in October 2011. As a condition of this funding, the Centre for the Built Environment will provide free business support delivered through a series of CPD accredited seminars, webinars and workshops showcasing the design, build and post-occupancy of the project.
During the creation of the building, around 540 SMEs from across the region will have access to a series of educational events including CPD (continual professional development) accredited seminars, webinars and workshops showcasing the design, build and post-occupancy of the project.
The aims of this is to ensure that not only will the area benefit from having an innovative building on its doorstep, local businesses working within the built environment will also be able to learn new skills and meet with experts in the creation of ‘green’ buildings. This support will be delivered by the newly launched Centre for the Built Environment.
Project Director John French hopes the building will be a beacon to inspire similar developments locally, nationally and potentially around the world. “It will be a huge benefit to the local economy and to our reputation as a green capital," he added.
The project is being part-funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), in addition to funding from UEA, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Norwich Research Park (NRP) and BRE (Building Research Establishment).
