Case Study 14 Offices, Junction

Owner: Project Description • pond water cooling loop to Welsh Government The new Welsh Government offices provide free cooling to the main at Llandudno Junction are built on air handling unit. Architect: the site of a former Hotpoint factory The new Llandudno Junction offices Austin–Smith Lord and provide new office space for achieved a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ score 650 staff. of 75.8%, the highest of the Location: The building has an area of Welsh Government estate. , 8,800 m2 comprising three wings and two atria spaces, and employs Building Types: a wide range of passive design Offices features, energy efficiency measures, and renewable and Public low carbon technology through the installation of a biomass boiler The new Welsh Government offices at and pond water cooling. Llandudno Junction Source: xxx Key Drivers The building also incorporates The Welsh Government was a wide range of passive design keen to develop a new centre features and energy efficiency at Llandudno Junction to provide measures, including: residents in with a full • natural ventilation and free night breadth of Government Services. cooling (via purging); • heat recovery for mechanically In line with Welsh Government ventilated spaces sustainability targets, the building • high thermal mass; was to achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ • passive solar gain in winter and LZC Technologies: rating and maximise the use of fixed solar shading for limiting passive design features to minimise summer overheating; Biomass boiler the carbon footprint. Pond water cooling Key Features of fresh air The building employs the following renewable and low carbon technologies: • two 160 kW biomass boilers, fuelled by woodchips; and

Case Study 14 – Llandudno Junction • additional automated solar Following demand reduction shading (tracks the sun in the through passive design, further summer to prevent overheating); energy efficiency measures • rainwater harvesting with up were implemented at the site to 7 days storage in 32,000 to minimise energy consumption. litre tank; The lighting strategy for the building • ammonia chillers; incorporates daylight dimming, • daylighting linked to artificial whereby peripheral artificial lighting via dimming controls; and lighting levels respond to daylight • a Building Management System via a Digital Addressable Lighting (BMS); Interface (DALI) control system. Procurement Heat recoveries of up to 85% are The scheme was procured in 2008 achieved through the mechanical through a Design and Build (JCT) ventilation system which supplies contract. central core areas of the building, where natural ventilation is not possible. Mechanical cooling is Scheme costs and finance also often a requirement of office The overall contract cost was buildings due to the high proportion £22 million. of computer server plant and IT equipment. Ammonia chillers Technology selection with inverter driven pumps were process selected for the new offices due to their high efficiency and the The primary objective of the zero ozone depleting potential building design was to reduce of the refrigerant. energy demand through passive design. Natural ventilation is In order to achieve a BREEAM achieved through much of the ‘Excellent’ rating, the team decided building via stack effect (which to pursue renewable and low exploits the natural buoyancy of air). carbon technologies at the site. Night cooling is employed at night A feasibility study was carried in summer to purge excess heat out, covering a wide range of and pre–cool the exposed concrete technologies. Due to the relatively ceiling slabs. This stored coolth is constant heating baseload of the then released slowly during the day office building and availability of to help dampen and delay external locally sourced woodchip, biomass rises in temperature; effectively was considered a suitable option a ‘free cooling’ for the site. Two 160 kW biomass boilers were selected to give some Fixed solar shading is also provided level of redundancy, and these on the main glazed areas of the were sized to meet 90% of the office space, which helps to prevent annual space heating and hot water overheating in summer and optimise load (Approximately 180 MWh passive solar gain. Additionally, per annum). Peak load top–up is the three west facing ends of the then provided via high efficiency building are fully glazed, to aid modular gas boilers. daylighting, with automatically controlled solar shading louvres attached.

Case Study 14 – Llandudno Junction System (BEMS) at the building is currently being reviewed in terms of maximising existing performance and identifying ways of reducing energy consumption.

Boiler and Woodchip specifics: Boiler : See http://uk.remeha.com/ Energy efficiency modelling outputs (SBEM) for index.php?id=612 WAG offices – 60% carbon reduction compared to Part L of 2006 Building Regulations Woodchip: Current supplier pending long term contract tender Source: S.I.SEALY is Clifford Jones Timber of Ruthin, Denbighshire, trading as Blazers In order to ensure a reliable supply Fuel. of biomass fuel, a 43 m3 store for woodchip fuel was also constructed Woodchip is sourced from various at the site. This provides storage for locations, but are generally off cut up to 2 weeks winter supply of fuel. wood from the manufacture of wooden stake posts. The carbon footprint of the biomass heating system is approximately Energy consumption 13 tonnes CO per annum, 2 Total energy consumption of the around a fifth of the footprint for building has been higher than what an equivalent office heated using was envisaged at design stage, natural gas. with a Display Energy Certificate rating of ‘D’ with a score of 82, Monitoring and operation the average would be a score The Welsh Government has of 100. a carbon management strategy for its whole of its administrative Green Transport Plan estate which includes an action A Green Transport Plan has been plan for specific CO2 reduction . developed to meet the needs of staff The electricity and gas consumption to encourage cycling and walking, for the Llandudno Junction office public transport and car sharing. is currently being monitored on a monthly basis which provides CO2 emissions benchmark data. Lessons learnt In addition, there are electricity, Technological supply issues: gas and water sub-meters that • Consistency in quality of woodchip allow the energy and water supply consumption to be monitored • Ensure designers / suppliers on a day-by-day basis. understand design parameters Performance of the building is • Early engagement with the supply not yet at its optimum however chain the Building Energy Management

Case Study 14 – Llandudno Junction Occupant involvement: References and • No impact on occupants due Acknowledgements to the gas boilers working as Main Contractor: back up. Pochin Construction Ltd • Educate users in understanding Building Services Consultant the design principles of the S.I.Sealy environmental design and its Architect: operation. Austim Smith Lord BREEAM Assessor Financial Lessons: WYG • 50Mwh of energy £6240 in wood Further information chips. Welsh Government • Undertake detailed feasibility http://wales.gov.uk/location/north_ of studies of sustainable design west_wales/llandoffice options to fully understand risks. If you would like to arrange for • Whole life costing – pv panels, tri- a group to come and visit the generation were considered and new office please contact the discounted. Communications Team on 0300 Awards and Achievements 062 5603 or e-mail ybontnorth@ wales.gsi.gov.uk. • BREEAM Wales 2010: Winner of Bespoke category award. • Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ‘A’ (score of 24). • Constructing Excellence Wales Demonstration Project 2010.

These case studies are presented to show examples of how buildings can be designed and built to be low carbon and incorporate renewable and low carbon technologies. This case study is part of a series of case studies supporting Practice Guidance Renewable and Low Carbon Energy in Buildings a separate practice guidance document on low carbon buildings. For further information see 1 Introduction www.wales.gov.uk/planning July 2012 WG14120 ISBN 978 0 7504 7715 4 Crown Copyright 2012

Case Study 14 – Llandudno Junction