The Sophi Taylor Building and associated glasshouse and service buildings
were funded by the NIAB Trust and the. European Regional Development Fund.
THE SOPHI TAYLOR BUILDING background The Sophi Taylor Building and associated glasshouse and service buildings were funded by the NIAB Trust and the
European Regional Development Fund. The building is named after Oxfordshire farmer Mrs Sophi Taylor who left a significant legacy to NIAB in 2010. Opened in 2013 the glasshouse and buildings were built by CambridgeHOK and SDC Construction Ltd respectively; both under design and build contracts. The total cost of the combined projects was £2.16 million.
The Building Research Establishment has developed the BRE Energy Assessment Methodology (BREEAM) as the world’s leading building environmental assessment method. BREEAM Outstanding was the primary objective for this building project. The standards required are very high, and encompass all aspects of the project, from the earliest design stage right through to building operation. BRE currently has 52 projects in the UK within its Outstanding category; NIAB’s Sophi Taylor Building is one of only 15 at the
less is more
Final stage.
minimal
The building is designed to meet the needs of users with electrical and mechanical interference. It operates simply, making the most of the energy available to it from the sun and the users themselves, harvesting rainwater and conserving these resources for release when required.
rainwater harvesting 145m2 of the roof area (over half the area of a tennis court) is used to collect rainwater for use in the toilet cisterns.
40% of the total
Over a year, this will save over water consumption of the building
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cross laminate timber The building is constructed of Cross Laminate Timber (CLT) which is environmentally sustainable and thermally efficient. It also facilitates rapid construction; an essential project requirement. Timber is the only truly renewable construction material with the lowest energy consumption of any building material across its lifecycle. This reduces CO2 emissions because trees act as a carbon 'sink' removing CO2 from the atmosphere, releasing oxygen and storing carbon. 1m3 of CLT panels removes 0.8 tonnes of CO2 from the environment. Compare that to the emissions with the production of one tonne of portland cement - 0.8 tonnes of CO2 - and one tonne of steel - 1.75 tonnes of CO2.
e-stack ventilation The building is ventilated using an innovative low energy E-stack system. These units are a low energy method (less than the consumption of a 100W light bulb) of ventilating areas of high occupancy. E-Stack units automatically adjust between the modes of ventilation for winter and summer to optimise the ventilation strategy based on the environmental conditions. There are two modes of operation; mixing and displacement ventilation. Mixing mode operates when the outside temperature is cold (10°C to 17°C) and displacement ventilation operates when the outside temperature is
warm (>16°C as a default).
When the external temperature is below 10°C, the E-Stack units will not operate. There is also a night cool mode which operates under displacement ventilation.
other features
Summer Pre-heating is not required System operates in upflow displacement mode The damper in the unit opens as temperatures in the space rise to maximise heat flow and minimise head build-up
Winter System uses a mixed ventilation strategy when external air is too cool Fresh air is brought in through one side of a divided shaft At the same time, the warm polluted air is drawn out of the room and vented outside through the other side of the shaft Incoming air is warmed by internal heat gains The E-stack uses far less energy than conventional systems
The roof is a combination of living sedum plants, photo voltaic cells ( PVCs) and zinc. The sedum helps the building to regulate rainfall flow; the capacity of the PVC’s is precisely balanced to ensure the building is carbon neutral in operation. Zinc is maintenance free and has a 100-year lifespan. Thirty-two 250W photovoltaic panels are mounted on the roof. These are capable of providing 8kW of electricity, the equivalent of saving 50,000 kW hours/year (or 3.5 tonnes of CO2 per year), which would provide sufficient power for 10 households. The building benefits from high performance triple glazed windows (some 30% more efficient than standard domestic units). Heating to each area of the building can be controlled to reflect differing user demands and is via regulated input from a
biomass boiler. The design and ecology of the garden and landscaping is an integral and important part of the overall design and is an important part of the BREEAM assessment process. David Neill, NIAB ERDF project manager
