The heavily articulated plan allows both daylight and natural ventilation to penetrate deep into the building.
A series of five 14-metre high ventilation chimneys along the spine of the building use the natural stack effect of warm buoyant air to draw air through the building. Each chimney has a natural flow rate of 1000 l/s at peak conditions.
Glazed panels on the south side of each chimney use solar gain to boost the stack effect, further enhancing the flow rate.
All windows are manually operated. A system of simple red/green lights indicate to building occupants when the windows should be opened or closed to maximize heating and cooling.
Radiant heating from in-slab PEX piping provides the space heating throughout most of the building.
Additionally, in the gymnasium, a pioneering system of pre-fabricated concrete-glulam composite wall panels contain radiant heating and cooling systems, improving spatial heating efficiency.
Vacuum tube solar panels heat hot water to meet the building’s hot water needs, and to assist the radiant heating. Two alternate forms of solar panel technology are used for study comparison purposes.

Building Envelope

PHOTO: Ed White

Walls: Insulation value of R28
Curtain walls for optimum energy conservation

Roof: Insulation value of R30

Maximum air leakage for building envelope: 5m3/hr/m2

Windows: Triple-glazed and argon-filled

All entrance doors have vestibules

Solar Shading, Daylight & Lighting

PHOTO: Ed White

All occupied work spaces in the building are within 9 metres of a window offering daylight, views and natural ventilation.
A conventional brise soleil controls light falling on the south-facing glazing. Internal high-level opaque glass light shelves bounce the light off the ceiling further into the room.
High clerestory windows throw light into the larger volumes of the gymnasium and workshops.
Vertical light pipes illuminate deep plan spaces such as washrooms, store rooms and parts of the workshops.
A prototype sun-tracking system is being trialed in some areas of the building. The system actively tracks and collects sunlight, condensing and redirecting it through proprietary ducts to illuminate spaces deep in the building.
All lighting fixtures are high efficiency, with occupancy and daylight sensors. Many fittings use LED light sources.

PHOTO: Ed White