Ullet Road Eco Office Project The eco retrofit of a 1950s doctors - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Ullet Road Eco Office Project

The eco retrofit of a 1950s doctor’s surgery into low-carbon commercial and residential accommodation

www.ullet-eco.co.uk

The Building

• Built in 1950, with consulting rooms downstairs

and family accommodation upstairs

• Located in a late Victorian and Edwardian area

heavily bombed in the May 1941 blitz

• Solid wall property with metal lead light

windows and pebble dash façade with brick and tile features

• Cavity wall extension added in the early 1980s

as other doctors joined the practice

• Latterly used by the Primary Care Trust and then

a children’s charity exclusively as offices and family rooms

• Complex architecture - a mixture of duo-pitch,

mono-pitch and flat roofs – not ideal for retrofit!

• In need of remedial work to cure damp, replace

blown steel lintels and repair pebbledash and windows

• Lowest possible EPC rating on energy efficiency

Building Objectives

• Reduce net energy demand as near as possible

to the Passivhaus standard of 15kwh/m2/year, by a combination of

– Insulation (walls, floors and roofs) – Window replacement – Air-tightness measures

• Maximise the generation of renewable energy
• Renovate a building in need of repair
• Extend building space by:

– Erection of a new garden office (commercial) – Loft conversion (residential)

• Be true to its original style and features, but

enhance with new artwork and design

• Use recycled and ‘natural’ materials as far as

possible

• Provide a healthy and convivial working and

living environment for its occupants

• Promote low-carbon building development,

using UK and especially Merseyside firms and products where at all possible

Commercial and Social Objectives

• Provide 6 individual ground floor offices

with common meeting, reception and kitchen areas

• Be suitable for the disabled, and for people

cycling, running or walking to work, having

– Shower and changing facilities – Bike shed – Disabled WC – Electric vehicle charging points – Shared electric car for trips out for supplies and appointments during the day (if tenants require) – Good location by Smithdown Road shops, bars and cafes, bus routes and Sefton and Greenbank parks

• Suits local and especially green

entrepreneurs who would benefit from working with compatible businesses

• Provide a self-contained flat with separate

services, ground floor entrance and accommodation over first and second floors

How we’re eco

• Significant generation of renewable energy
• Replacement of gas by electricity for office heating
• Ready for the smart grid – smart vehicle charge

units and maximum use of off-peak electricity for heating and cooling

• High levels of insulation and air-tightness to

minimise heating and cooling requirements

• Controlled ventilation
• Reduction in street noise by different glass

thicknesses in triple glaze windows

• Use of natural paints, plasters and floor coverings

– no volatile organic compounds

• Reduction of journey to work carbon emissions -

support for those walking, running or cycling to work by providing showers and changing facilities, together with the daytime use of a shared electric car

• Significant planted area – green roof, grass

covered parking area, fruit trees trained up perimeter walls

• Recycled bricks and other building materials

Renewable Energy

• 3.75kwp solar PV for use in the
• ffices, using an Sanyo HIT array

mounted over newly constructed garden office – estimated 3,125kwh electricity/year

• 2.3kwp solar PV for use in the flat,

using Solar Century C21e tiles embedded in south facing tile roof – estimated 2,000kwh elec/year

• 2m2 Thermomax HP400 evacuated

tubes on east facing roof for office hot water – est. 1,368kwh/year

• 2m2 Thermomax HP400 evacuated

tubes on west facing roof for flat’s hot water – est. 1,368kwh/year

• Daikin Altherma reversible Air

Source Heat Pump to provide winter heat and summer cooling to

• ffices, using under floor pipe-

work, together with contribution to winter hot water. Planned to use mostly off-peak electricity. Impossible to estimate kwh until building’s thermal performance has been measured over time.

Project Influences

• Broxton Street – a 1880s end-terrace house in

Wavertree retrofitted in 2010 to very low carbon by the registered social landlord, Plus Dane, using government funding from the ‘Retrofit for the Future’ programme.

• internal insulation
• high levels of air-tightness
• solar thermal
• Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery (MVHR)
• Geoff Morgan from Rodney Environmental Consultants, a

member of the Eco Office team, monitors its performance remotely

• A number of useful lessons in the performance of super-

insulated buildings have been incorporated into the Ullet Road design.

• Denby Dale – the UK’s first accredited cavity wall

Passivhaus, a new-build completed in 2010 by the Green Building Store building company. They produced an excellent DVD and also assisted us at a training day in their Huddersfield base.

• The Transition Towns movement and earlier

sustainable community initiatives and writers (Fritz Schumacher, Paul Goodman etc).

Denby Dale Broxton Street

Energy saving (Retrofit)

• External Wall Insulation (the tea cosy),

rendered with brick and tile slips to retain existing appearance – u-values range from 0.12 to 0.15

• Ultra thin floor insulation - 25mm vacuum

insulation product, is equivalent to 200mm EPS – u-value around 0.15.

• Roofboards (modified resin insulation) on

pitched and flat roofs – 100mm between rafters and 110mm above - u-value around 0.10

• Visible from front - thermally broken

aluminium window frames, housing triple glazed units in which the leaded lights are encapsulated – u-value around 1.4

• Not visible from front - triple glaze uPVC

windows – u-value around 1.1

• Air-tightness membranes, tapes and

grommets at all junctions and service entrances

• Use of wet plaster on walls
• Careful detailing of window and door

apertures

• LED lighting throughout offices (around 15%

more efficient than low energy fluorescents)

The EWI tea cosy

Energy saving (New Build)

• Load bearing 175mm Structured

Insulation Panels (SIPs), with additional 30mm of EPS insulation to support render – u-value around 0.13

• 180mm EPS floor insulation – u-value

around 0.18

• Triple glazed uPVC windows and

doors – u-value 1.1 (including frame)

• Air-tightness tapes around doors and

windows, and where SIP panels are joined

• Air-tightness grommets around cable

entries

• Controlled ventilation through trickle

vents above windows

• Additional summer ventilation

through thermostatically controlled extractor fan and opening windows

• Heating through off-peak storage

heater, topped up in very cold weather with small daytime convector heater

Heating, Cooling & Ventilation

• Heating – it shouldn’t need a lot!
• Overheating may be more of a problem.
• Office heating using an Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) and a single zone

warm water under floor heating (UFH) system, principally operated at night under an off-peak electricity tariff, but with an option to switch on manually if occupants get cold.

• Warm water buffer cylinder will retain some of the heat generated at

night, for use in the day if the temperature drops.

• Air Source Heat Pumps work best when the difference between the air

temperature and the desired output temperature is low. They’re not especially good for hot water supply where you need temperatures of 55-60oC to kill the legionella bacteria. So we’re doing three things:

• Maximising the input air temperature by enclosing the unit in a lean to greenhouse
• Supplementing hot water heating with an office solar thermal system and an

immersion heater

• Keeping the UFH water temperature low – flow around 45oC with a 5oC drop on

return

• The system will work in reverse in the summer, transferring heat from

the building to the outside, like a fridge, again mostly running at night but with a manual option when required.

• Solar thermal for the flat hot water supply, supplemented by a small gas

combi boiler with radiators.

• After considering the space that would have been required by a suitable

mechanical ventilation and heat recovery (MVHR) unit and its ducting, it was decided to use constant volume extractors instead, supplemented by opening vents within the existing chimney stacks in the summer to provide ‘passive stack effect’ cooling.

Heat Pump Solar Thermal Distributed trickle ventilation & passive stack.

Conservation Area Approval

• Planning permission granted for change of

use, from D1 non-residential to B1 business,

• n 16th March 2011.
• Approval given subject to lots of conditions

regarding materials used, landscaping, further design work, conservation area considerations and office opening times.

• Although the area was designated a

conservation area on the basis of its late Victorian and Edwardian architecture, more modern houses in the area are also included. The look and materials of the 1950s metal Rea windows and Tudor style lead lights had to be preserved.

• Most of the conservation area issues were

agreed informally during a visit by the conservation officer on 11th January 2012, who selected the colour and texture of the render and brick slips replacing the existing pebbledash and brick face

• Others, such as the design of the doors, were

hotly discussed right into August 2012.

• Conditions were finally discharged on 15th

August 2012.

Original First attempt Final Sample materials and colours laid out for the conservation officer in January 2012

Retrofit Building Issues

• External wall insulation was chosen over the internal

insulation used in Broxton Street

– It retains the heat (and ‘coolth’) within the thermal mass of the building, reducing fluctuations in temperature – It involves less internal refitting – It retains the size of the rooms – There is no risk of condensation from moisture generated within the building meeting the unheated masonry on the outside of the insulation.

• With up to 230mm depth, it means extending the rafters

and roof area and also supporting the weight of the windows and doors which have to move outwards from the wall and need the additional support, provided by plywood window liners housed into the masonry.

• Within a conservation area, retaining the external façade

involves the use of additional cladding materials, e.g. matching brick and tile slips over the insulation.

• Floor insulation and the use of under floor heating

involves either digging out and replacing the existing concrete slab or retaining the slab and raising door frames and ceilings to allow sufficient room height. We chose the latter.

• The use of solar photovoltaic (PV) tiles, installation of air-

tightness membranes and roof insulation, together with the rafter extension, involves total re-roofing.

Project Phases

• Phase 1 (completed January 2013)

– Garden office constructed and fitted out, together with framework for solar PV modules and office solar PV installation – Perimeter walls rebuilt or repaired – 3,500 bricks cleaned and re-used – Existing external paths excavated and removed, and trees planted – Damp proof system repaired and asbestos removed – Separate services (water, electricity and broadband) for offices and flat – Trialling of window replacement and new materials used in the main building – Installation of office distribution boards and electric car charging points – Detailed design and costing for the main build (phase 2)

• Phase 2 (started June 2013) – T.Sloyan & Sons (Builders) appointed in May 2013

– Loft conversion and new staircase to provide second bedroom for flat – Internal repairs and reconfiguration of rooms, raised ceilings and extending doorways – Building alterations prior to external wall insulation - extension of rafters , re- positioning and conversion of windows, re-siting of drains and rainwater goods – Total re-roofing, with comprehensive insulation and air-tightness measures, and incorporation of solar tiles – Installation of heating, cooling, lighting and ventilation systems – First fit of all electrical systems – All plumbing, drainage, WCs, showers and bath

• Phase 3 (from December 2013)

– Internal finishes – tiling, residual plastering, painting and (for flat) carpeting – Fitting and (in the case of the flat) refitting kitchens – Installation of intercom, data communications, telephone, fire and security alarm systems – Office furnishings – Landscaping and shrub planting, seeding of Bodpave car park area and green roof – Marketing of units and commencement of lets

The Team

• Chrissie Brown (administrator)
• Geoff Cunningham, Calibrate Ltd (energy assessor)
• Morag Day, Ullet Road Eco Office Ltd company secretary
• Tom Farrell , Brenton Building Services (builder for phase 1, and build

consultant for phase 2)

• John Garrett (developer and owner)
• David Haime, Modero Ltd (quantity surveyor and contract

administrator)

• Geoff Morgan, Rodney Environmental Consultants, (building services

and environmental engineer)

• Daniel Smith and Mike Young, McHugh Stoppard Architectural and

Surveying Services Ltd (architects)

Key Suppliers (to date)

• Adams and Barrow (builders merchants) – Aigburth, Liverpool
• Alan Frost (waste building material removal) - Ormskirk
• Allerton Electrical & Plumbing Services - Allerton
• Arnold Laver (suppliers of UK recycled plastic ecosheets) – Manchester
• BLD Construction (EWI installers) – Wilmslow
• Bootle Glass (encapsulation of lead lights) – Bootle
• Celtic Sustainables (natural paints) – Ceredigion, West Wales
• Chestnut Roofing – Wavertree, Liverpool
• Clayworks (clay plasters) – Cornwall
• CFS Cladding and Fascias – Kensington, Liverpool
• CU-PLAS Supplies – Edge Hill, Liverpool
• David Churchill (stone mason) – Allerton, Liverpool (using sandstone from Penrith, Wales)
• Green Building Store (consultancy and air-tightness materials) – Huddersfield
• Jim Lenehan (digger driver) – Aigburth, Liverpool
• Johnson Tiles – Stoke-on-Trent
• Merseyside Ship Repairers (steel fabricators) – Bootle
• Mike Wye and Associates (primers and tools for natural finishes) – Devon
• Norgate Telecom - Wavertree
• Northern Solar (PV ) - Aintree, Liverpool
• PDC Online Accountants – City Centre, Liverpool
• Permarock (EWI materials) - Newcastle
• Photonstar LED (all lighting) – Hampshire
• Sipco (SIP panel manufacture) – Widnes
• SIP Construction Services (garden office erection) - Widnes
• Spotmix (ready mixed concrete) - Bootle
• The Lead Window Company (lead light artwork) – Penny Lane, Liverpool
• TTW Scaffolding – Garston, Liverpool
• Vision Conservatories and Windows (uPVC window manufacturers) – Knotty Ash, Liverpool
• Window and Door Solutions (aluminium window manufacturers) – Bromborough, Wirral