Sustainable, Energy

Efficient Commercial

Buildings

Umow Lai engineering sustainable

environments

Buildings

Shane Esmore

Director, Principal Sustainability Consultant

Umow Lai Pty Ltd

25 May 2011

• Designed to Holistically deliver sustainable performance:

– Low Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

– High Indoor Environment Quality

– Use of low embodied energy and low resource depleting materials

– Water Conserving (and Recycling)

– Improved Ecology and reduced Emissions

– Alternative transport and ease of use for occupants

Sustainable Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings

– Alternative transport and ease of use for occupants

• Adoption of “Green” design has been rapid and widespread.

– Strong market competition for Green Design

• Government assistance has also been very important.

– Market leadership (accommodation standards)

– Energy efficiency in building codes

– Grants and incentive programs

Commercial Green Building Rating Tools

• Green Star used to rate ‘Design’ performance of buildings

– Similar to International tools eg. LEED (USA) and BREEAM (UK)

– Green Star tools for specific project types: Office, Interior Fitout, Education,

Retail, Healthcare, Residential, Institutional, Industrial, Public Buildings

• NABERS rates existing building performance in Energy, Water, Waste & Indoor

Air Quality.

• NABERS used in Commercial Building Disclosure and Numerous Grants

KBT Automotive Centre of Excellence, Melbourne

Architect: Lyons5 Star Green Star

(Office design)

KBT Automotive Centre of Excellence, Melbourne

Hume City Council Offices

Architect Lyons5 Star Green Star Office v2

4 Star Green Star As Built v2

Hume City Council Offices

500 Collins Street, Melbourne

5 Star Green Star

(Office design)

200 Victoria Street, Melbourne

Architect: Peddle Thorp

2 Nexus Court, Mulgrave

Architect: Perrott Lyon Mathieson

Certified 5 Star Green Star Design, As Built & Interiors

171 Collins Street, Melbourne

Architect: Bates Smart

Targeting for 6 Star Green Star

990 La Trobe Street (Melbourne Water)

Targeting 6 Star Green Star Design & Interiors

Architect: Woods Bagot

C2 Government Services Office, Dandenong

Registered for 5 Star Green Star Design, As Built & Interiors 1.1

Architect: Hassell

Fujitsu Fitout, The Gauge

Architect: Woodhead

Umow Lai Fitout – 10 Yarra Street, South Yarra

Project Manager: Jonathan Wood (Umow Lai)

Base Build Architect: Architectus

Interior Designers: DesignInc & Kyle Design

University of Adelaide – Innova 21, The New

Engineering Building

Architect: Design Inc

Umow Lai engineering sustainable

environments

Trigeneration

-Electricity

-Cooling

-Heating

Underground Thermal Energy Storage

ACU – National Centre for Health & Wellbeing

(Targeting 6 Star Green Star – Education V1 Design & As Built)

Architect: Woods Bagot

•Pixel is a four-storey building located just outside the CBD

of Melbourne, Australia

•Site Area is 276.6m2; Office NLA of 899m2 over 4 levels

•Grocon as both developer and constructor, has used

Pixel to push the boundaries of Green Building

•Carbon Neutrality

PIXEL - SMALL BUILDING, BIG PICTURE

•Carbon Neutrality

•Water Balanced

•Innovative Technologies

•Exceeding LEED, BREEAM and Green Star

•There are plans to apply many of the innovative

approaches and learning lessons from Pixel across

future projects

Lighting & Ventilation

100% Fresh Air

Pixel has 100% fresh air supply with no recirculation through the air

conditioning system. Air is supplied through a plenum to individual

occupant adjustable floor diffusers.

Full Daylight Penetration

The façade provides 100% daylight penetration into the office space The façade provides 100% daylight penetration into the office space

with minimal glare. Extensive 3D modeling was undertaken to

optimise the performance of the external sun-shade system.

Automatic Dimmable Lighting

The highly efficient T5 single fluorescent lighting is controlled

by a DALI dimming system to adjust for occupancy and daylight.

Thermal Comfort

Chilled Structure

The exposed slabs contain chilled water

pipes that chill the slabs providing radiant

cooling to the office areas. This energy

while providing high thermal comfort.

Gas Fired Heating and Cooling

The gas fired absorption heat pump uses

• Pipework attached to the lower slab reinforcing

• Cool water (15oC) passes through pipes to cool the slab

• Slab provides cooling through radiation and convection

ammonia as the refrigerant. Very low

carbon emissions withzero Ozone

Depletion and Global Warming Potential.

Climate Adapted Resilience

The façade, slabs and heat pump will keep

the office cool even on extreme days when

other buildings would fail.

• Slab provides cooling through radiation and convection

• Smaller ventilation system due to active slab cooling

Thermal Comfort

Night Cooling

The building automatically opens windows at night

when the outside air is cooler than the internal

temperature to pre-cool the building.

Individual Air Vents

Circular air registers in the floor at each workstation

can be adjusted by occupants for individuals

control.control.

Air to Air Heat Exchange

Pixel has only two fans. One supplies fresh air

while the other exhausts it. This is done across an

air to air heat exchanger to reclaim most of the

energy.

Green Landscaping

Green Roof

The roof garden is the first in Australia to use native

grassland species in a xeriscape (no irrigation)

garden. The indigenous grass species have been selected

by experts at Melbourne University and are designed to

attract fauna the green roof will be used in research by the

University.University.

Living Edge Greywater Wetlands

Wetland ‘balconies’ on every level above ground contain

wetlands where occupant-used water (greywater) irrigates

carefully selected native plants. Evapotranspiration from

the plants results in virtually no greywater entering the

sewerage system.

Water Reduction & Balance

Water Usage Reduction

The vacuum Toilets in Pixel are the first in Australia.

These highly water-efficient toilets, use only 0.5litres

of water per flush (vs 4.5-6 litres). All but 4 drinking

taps are connected to rainwater that is treated to

potable water standards. Highly efficient tapware

also limits water use.also limits water use.

Water Capture

Pixel has been designed to capture, filter and

process rain water via its green roof and water

storage systems. This volume of water, based on

Melbourne’s annual average rainfall, would be

sufficient for all the non-potable requirements of the

building.

Waste Recycling & Reduction

Anaerobic Digester

Through the anaerobic digester, concentrated waste from the

toilets is converted to methane reducing the total solids content

discharging to the sewer by around 50% in the process.

Construction Waste

Over 90% of the construction waste generated • Concentrated vacuum

Anaerobic Digester

Over 90% of the construction waste generated

on site was recycled for other uses.

Centralized Recycling Facilities

A dedicated area is provided for

occupants to store recyclable waste

for collection.

• Concentrated vacuum waste goes into the Anaerobic Digester (AD)

• Waste is anarobically converted to Biogas (65% CH4)

• Biogas is piped to the Domestic Hot Water (DHW) unit

• The AD plant can supply all DHW heat

Sustainable Construction Materials

Pixelcrete

Pixelcrete is a concrete developed for Pixel. It contains half the

embodied carbon of conventional concrete for the same structural

properties.

Sustainable Timber

Over 95% of the timber material utilized, was either reused or certified

by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as being sustainably

sourced.

Indoor Contaminants

All finishes and materials were selected for Low Volatile Organic

Compound (VOC) and Formaldehyde emissions.

Reused Materials

Reused materials from other buildings were used extensively including

piping and cabling, photovoltaic (PV) panels, access floors and carpet

tiles.

Renewable Energy

Wind Turbines

A local design of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) was funded,

developed and manufactured for use on the building. These turbines are

world-leading in their ability to generate power in urban environments

with low wind.

Fixed & Tracking PV Cells

A combination of fixed and tracking photovoltaic arrays are installed on

• 3 x 1.7kW Vertical Axis Wind Turbines offsetting ≈ 20,500 Kg CO2e

• 6.4kW PV on stair roof and tracking above green roof, offsetting ≈ 13,850 Kg CO2e

the roof at Pixel. The tracking system uses a two-axis rotation to

optimise the angle of the panel to the sun’s rays.

Methane-Powered Hot Water Systems

Concentrated blackwater waste from the vacuum toilets in Pixel is

captured and stored in an anaerobic digester. Methane is generated

from that waste and used as the main energy source to provide hot

water to the showers and sinks.

13,850 Kg CO2e

• Current Total Renewable Energy Generation Offsets ≈ 35,000 Kg CO2e

Carbon Neutral - Carbon Balance

Low Embodied Carbon

Extensive energy and carbon modeling combined with the use of low

carbon and used building materials minimised the embodied carbon in

the building. and lowered the target for achieving Carbon Neutrality.

Dematerialisation such as removing ceilings in the design was also a

key strategy.

Low Operational Carbon

The extreme low energy design technologies and systems were The extreme low energy design technologies and systems were

extensively modeled to determine operational carbon emissions due to

energy and also the amount of renewable energy able to be produced.

Carbon Balance

The overall carbon balance results in negative annualised carbon

emissions so that the Pixel Buildings life Cycle Carbon Emissions can

be neutralised.

Ongoing Sustainability

Energy Production Monitoring

Separate monitoring will be conducted to determine the effectiveness

of the various technologies. Actual energy and water performance of

the building will be carefully tuned and monitored through its.

The building will be formally rated under the National Australian

Building Energy Rating scheme (NABERS) to achieve a

maximum 5 Stars.

User Health Monitoring Study

A full user satisfaction and scientific survey will be conducted through

the initial and ongoing occupancy of the building to measure the effects of improved

indoor environment, air quality and general comfort.

Sustainability Education

To increase awareness of sustainability the building has been open to public educational

tours to showcase the green buildings and its technology., with thousands of visitors.

GREEN BUILDING RATINGS AND BEYOND

Green Star Office Design v3

Pixel has achieved a perfect certified score of all 105 points (once thought impossible!)

Green Star Office As-Built v3

Completing As-Built now and still targeting all 105 points achieved in Office Design

Green Star Office Interiors v1.1

The fitout is about to be registered and is targeting 6 Star

LEED

Design stage submitted. As built stage documentation being completed. Targeting 105/110 Design stage submitted. As built stage documentation being completed. Targeting 105/110

points - Platinum (highest score in world to date)

BREEAM Bespoke International

Registered and Tool established. Design stage submission being completed. Targeting

>98% score - Outstanding (highest score in world to date)

Awards Achieved to Date

2010 Banksia Award –Built Environment

2010 Green Building Award (Hong Kong) – Award of Merit, New Buildings - Asia Pacific

Numerous other award submissions are in progress and the project has been widely

published in Australia and across the World.

PIXEL’S

SIGNIFICANCE

DELTA – THE 1st NEXT STEP� 50 Apartments

� 10 Stories above heritage

bluestone facade

� Building 10 on the CUB Site

� Apartment building constructed

completely of timber

- Cross laminated timber (CLT)

� Carbon neutral with on site base

load renewable power generation

Designed and built to Passivhaus� Designed and built to Passivhaus

Standards

� Grocon Development and

Construction

� Same core design team as Pixel

- Studio 505 and Umow Lai

Biomass Gasification Renewable Power Generation

PIXEL’S

SIGNIFICANCE

LEGION HOUSE– THE 2nd NEXT STEP

� Part of 161 Castlereagh St

development in Sydney

� Heritage Building built in 1902

� Refurbishment of existing with

two new floors

� Designed to be high 6 Star

Green Star

� Designed to be Carbon

Neutral

Building to operate � Building to operate

completely “off-grid”

� Excess energy fed back to

the main 161 Office Tower

� 6 Star Green Star fitouts for

Grocon and St James Equity

Trust

� Developed by Grocon and

GPT

� Grocon, Umow Lai and FJMT