Air conditioned building gets highest ever BREEAM rating

A HIGHLY-efficient air conditioning system is contributing to the eco-credentials of the new Environment Agency headquarters, dubbed "the greenest office development in the UK".

The EA building has scored 85.06% under BREEAM 2006, the most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings around the world.

There are only three other office buildings in the UK ever to achieve a score of over 80% under BREEAM 2006.

The use of a ground-source heat pump, Turbocor chiller and gas-fired boilers in combination with a sophisticated natural and mechanical ventilation system, makes this a mixed-mode building.

Underfloor fan coils

The GSHP is the lead cooling plant supplemented by the Turbocor chiller, the two systems working in parallel. CHW is provided to under-floor four-pipe fan coil units with slightly tempered fresh air being brought in at 10C and providing around 200kW of free cooling.

Through a mixture of strategies including efficient lighting complete with daylight linking, free night cooling and exposed thermal mass it is predicted that the building will operate using natural ventilation for up to 80% of the year.

Speaking at last month's topping out ceremony to celebrate the completion of the building's external structure, EA chief executive Paul Leinster said "This achievement demonstrates how organisations can work with developers to build exceptional offices which meet their needs whilst reducing their impact on the environment. By relocating to a more efficient building the Environment Agency will save around 10% every year on operational and energy costs, an estimated £180,000 saving per year."


Developer Westmark's team included consulting engineers Hoare Lea, contractor Sir Robert McAlpine and architects Alec French.

Great place to work

Euan Cresswell, md of Westmark said "We wanted to show with the Environment Agency's new office that high environmental standards and commercial viability are not mutually exclusive. Our team has worked hard to develop a building which has all the facilities which a large occupier would expect from a modern office at a price which is market competitive, but which at the same time has an unprecedentedly low impact on the environment".

"Most of all, it will be a great place to work. We have shown that going green does not have to cost developers or office occupiers the earth and that it can, in fact, bring strong commercial advantages", he added.