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Higher learningInnova21 is home to the University of Adelaide’s Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Science. The first building to be awarded a 6 star Green Star Education v1 rating, it incorporates a range of world-class sustainability features, as Sean McGowan reports.

The $100 million Innova21 building is the flagship in the University of Adelaide’s current facilities expansion program.

Designed by local architectural firm DesignInc, its simple rectangular footprint belies the innovation applied within its walls and foundations that saw it become Australia’s first 6 star Green Star Education v1 rated building in April last year.

That it has since been recognised nationally, winning the prestigious 2011 AIA National Award for Sustainable Architecture last November, is testament

to the commitment of the university and team involved, who from the outset set out to develop a world-leading building.

The University of Adelaide believed that such a design would serve as a reflection of the technical education its students could attain at the institution.

“Achieving a 6 star Green Star rating demonstrates the University of Adelaide’s environmental aspirations and commitment to world leadership in providing sustainable learning spaces for our students,” said vice chancellor

Professor James McWha following its completion in mid 2010.

The eight-storey 14,000 sq m building offers improved staff and student amenities and incorporates computer laboratories, teaching spaces, an exhibition area, café and 24-hour, seven-days-a-week access to major resources and support facilities.

It was designed to respect the character of the precinct it shares with a number of older, red-bricked buildings, which is best illustrated by the seamless transition

The University of Adelaide believed a world-leading building could serve as a reflection of the standard of technical education offered at the institution.

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provided by a 15m high atrium that connects it with an adjacent faculty building.

This area acts as the building’s entrance as well as an exhibition space, and is roofed with an Ethylene Tetra Fluoro Ethylene (ETFE) roof membrane that inflates and deflates to maintain a constant air temperature, as well as providing insulation and natural light penetration.

An array of environmentally sustainable design (ESD) initiatives have been incorporated, among them the use of active slab technology, under-floor air distribution utilising 100 per cent fresh air ventilation, geothermal loops within the basement diaphragm wall, and a trigeneration plant.

Thermal chimneys, a low E double-glazed curtain wall, programmable DALI lighting system and rainwater harvesting add to the building’s sustainability credentials.

An InteGRAted APPRoACHThe university’s commitment to achieving its goal of a 6 star facility filtered down through the whole design team, with an integrated approach applied to the project’s design and development from an early stage.

“This gave us a mandate to push the envelope in all facets of the design,” says Umow Lai associate director Brian McDonnell, who was engaged to develop the building’s environmentally sustainable design, as well as electrical, mechanical, ICT, security and audio visual design.

He says his firm saw an opportunity to marry its core principles of innovation and quality with the university’s quest for a landmark educational facility.

In doing so, it set about achieving several “firsts”, among them the use of geothermal energy storage estimated to reduce the building’s server room cooling-related CO2 emissions by 58 per cent.

“A 6 star Green Star Educational rating has to be at the cutting edge of design, incorporating all disciplines in a holistic approach to the outcome of the building … and requires a committed client who is willing to see it through to the end, which we were very lucky to have,” McDonnell says.

A 6 star Green star educational rating has to be at the cutting edge of design, incorporating all disciplines in a holistic approach to the outcome of the building . . . and requires a committed client who is willing to see it through to the end, which we were very lucky to have’

“All elements of the design process required scrutiny and this pushed the design team to challenge the status quo and find innovation even in tried and tested solutions.”

Even the Green Star Education v1 rating tool itself provided its own challenges.

Not only was it a pilot scheme when the building was conceived (launched only after construction begun), but it also

has broad application, used for rating secondary schools through to university research buildings featuring laboratories, offices and lecture theatres.

Another was in meeting the tool’s important IEQ-1 ventilation rates credit, with the combination of high-density and low-density areas proving challenges in satisfying outside air requirements.

The early involvement of the mechanical services contractor, Watson Fitzgerald & Associates, allowed for a value-management exercise to be held in conjunction with Umow Lai and the builder, Hindmarsh, as part of the detailed design process.

This saw a number of changes to the final design, resulting in financial savings that did not affect the design intent.

According to project engineer and director, Albert Watson, M.AIRAH, from being involved early was also crucial in his team fully understanding the system design goals, and Umow Lai’s approach to achieving these.

PAssIVe beGInnInGsThe first and most important element of a sustainable building is its passive design, and the engineering services team worked closely with the architects to complement and assist the building form they had developed from the early stages of their brief.

DesignInc’s design took into consideration the overall target being sought; it included a high-performing façade and shading system to reduce the building’s energy consumption. A range of low-energy systems were then incorporated into this design, focused on ensuring a quality indoor environment for occupants.

Among these was an under-floor air distribution (UFAD) system, utilising 100 per cent outside air system to provide a single pass of air circulation.

Used widely across Europe and North America, these systems pump air into a floor void and deliver it into the space via floor diffusers, which effectively flush the warm second-hand air up to the unoccupied zone above 1.8m. This reduces the conditioned volume of air required and provides a cleaner, fresher air environment for occupants.

“UFAD was also chosen to complement the active-slab technology we proposed to employ,” says McDonnell.

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“The active-slab system allowed us to reduce the airflows required, and due to the higher supply temperature required by the UFAD system, it meant we could employ economy cycle for a larger part of the year than a conventional top-down air-delivery system.”

An active slab was achieved in this case by embedding hydronic pipework into the reo within the floor slabs that are then encased with concrete. Chilled water is pumped through the piping system to actively cool the slab. This provides a large thermal mass that is used to effectively regulate the occupied environment.

When a trigeneration system is allowed to export to the electrical grid, any drop in building electricity demand does not have to have a major effect on the system, as the shortfall in demand is offset by increasing the export to match’

Along with its low-energy benefits, it also provides both convective and radiant heat transfer within the space and maximises a building’s thermal mass potential to reduce energy consumption in combination with an all-air system.

According to McDonnell, a number of added benefits became apparent as the design of these systems progressed.

tHe lessons leARnedbrian Mcdonnell, umow lai1. Never underestimate the work involved to achieve

6 star Green Star in any of the formal tools. At last count, the Innova21 submission has required 5GB of documentation, translating into over 2,800 individual documents.

2. delivering a project of this complexity requires commitment from both the client and the entire design team.

3. An excellent design can be undone during construction. We were very fortunate to have the expertise of Watson Fitzgerald and Hindmarsh. They understood the project goals, the inherent complexities, and proactively worked with the design team to achieve the outcome we have today.

4. For any new building services systems to which the market has not been exposed, working and assisting contractors during, or prior to, the tender phase will aid them in delivering appropriate tender scopes and prices.

Albert Watson, M.AIRAH, Watson Fitzgerald & Associates1. You must match the trigeneration plant with the

building electrical load.

2. When a large volume of outside air is introduced into a building via heat reclaim coils, there is a need to introduce humidity control on days with high ambient humidity.

3. There is a need to insulate the top of the active slab to isolate it when underfloor heating is operating.

4. With large cold surfaces created by an active-slab system, higher room temperatures up to 26°C can be adopted while still maintaining comfort conditions.

Architect DesignInc’s willingness to embrace the project’s ambition resulted in a striking design, but also gave the engineering team a certain amount of freedom.

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For example, the use of floor diffusers allowed greater control of the micro climate for the occupants, which in turn helped the team meet another Green Star requirement.

The use of UFAD also met the air change effectiveness credit without the requirement for detailed CFD modelling.

Umow Lai’s design also took into account the building’s chilled water requirements. By analysing fluctuating load requirements, it was able to employ an alternative solution to satisfy the 24-hour cooling demand required by the building’s computer server rooms.

Geothermal loops had been well researched by the firm over many years, and were identified as providing an ideal resolution to the requirement of a dedicated after-hours chiller.

“Hydronic pipework was embedded into the basement diaphragm wall, which would have chilled water pumped through it during the building’s peak occupied hours, effectively cooling the surrounding earth over a period of hours,” McDonnell says.

“At night, utilising pump energy only, water is pumped through the same pipework, which then rejects the heat from the computer server rooms to the surrounding earth, thus negating the call for the main chiller to be running for this cooling load alone.”

designInc’s willingness to look at sustainable alternatives was critical to achieving credits that on conventional projects would be very difficult to obtain’

Additionally, two air-handling units were placed in the rooftop plantroom to serve the building’s east and west sections and deliver air into two riser shafts that double as floor-by-floor plantrooms. These were vertically separated by a mesh flooring, allowing the air to pass from floor to floor as a conventional riser would.

Each floor-by-floor plantroom houses fan coil units that are used to provide zoning within each floor, distributing air to the relevant sub-divided air plenum within the floor void.

Watson says that although his firm had extensive experience in heat recovery, trigeneration and UFAD systems, working on a project that incorporated innovative solutions like active slabs on such a large scale proved challenging.

“We laid 7km of plastic piping into the concrete floor slabs throughout the building, which had to be installed during the concrete pour without damage,” he explains.

on-sIte GeneRAtIonAs with other Green Star rating tools, credits for the Green Star Education v1 rating can be obtained for reductions in peak power usage in a building; when seeking a 6 star rating this becomes a must-have requirement.

In considering its options for the Innova21 building, the engineering services team undertook analysis on all feasible schemes, with criteria inclusive of energy output, cost and payback period among others.

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The team came to the conclusion that trigeneration was the best design solution, but due to local planning laws the plant could only be designed to run in island mode, isolated from the grid and unable to export excess power.

“When a trigeneration system is allowed to export to the electrical grid, any drop in building electricity demand does not have to have a major effect on the system, as the shortfall in demand is offset by increasing the export to match,” McDonnell says.

He says this allows systems to be sized greater than the building’s electricity requirements and provides the client with an avenue to sell energy back to the provider to assist in reducing the payback period.

the active-slab system

allowed us to reduce the

airflows required, and

due to the higher supply

temperature required by

the uFAd system, it meant

we could employ economy

cycle for a larger part of the

year than a conventional

top-down air-delivery

system.’However, in island mode, deeper analysis of the building’s electrical demand was required to ensure correct sizing.

“The system is sized to a baseload of electrical demand rather than a peak demand, to ensure the engine operates at its optimum efficiency. This limits the size of the system that can be used, and also brings into play the step-loading and load-shedding characteristics of the engine.

“In our case, this resulted in a detailed plan of the sequence of operation of the mechanical plant, within the characteristics of the selected engine, which was to be supplied with electricity by the island mode trigeneration.”

The unit selected after further consultation with the mechanical contractor provides the building with a 60.3 per cent reduction in peak electrical demand.

Its location on the top floor of the building posed its own challenges,

overcome through the provision of an additional floating slab to alleviate the transfer of vibration from the engine through to the structure. Additional acoustic measures were later incorporated within the plantroom during the building’s tuning phase.

enGIneeRInG InsPIResThe architect’s willingness to embrace the project ambition not only resulted in a striking building design, but gave the engineering team a certain amount of freedom to utilise systems that would not have been possible on a conventional project.

Unusually (given the time-honoured tensions that have existed between the professions) it also resulted in the architectural form being dictated to by the engineered solution in a number of places.

For instance, the UFAD and active-slab solutions called for a raised floor and exposed soffits. In the finished building, these have been used to give a clear aesthetic identity, conveying light and volume while functioning as delivery systems for the engineering services.

This architectural philosophy also extended to the materials and finishes used throughout the building.

“DesignInc’s willingness to look at sustainable alternatives was critical to achieving credits that on conventional projects would be very difficult to obtain,” says McDonnell.

And the university’s vision for the building to act as a learning aid for its students meant the engineering design and principles would be “showcased” to the very audience the university wished to inspire.

It was decided that one measure of the building’s success would be how well it could further the knowledge of engineering students, who are its primary users.

To achieve this aim, Umow Lai designed two building management systems (BMS).

The primary BMS controls all building services, as well as monitors energy usage to Green Star requirements and beyond. Metering of all utilities has been undertaken, with key areas metered separately to provide an additional level of energy monitoring to best achieve the building’s low-energy goals.

This data is then transferred to the secondary BMS, which is available to students and allows them to interact directly with the building’s controls and operational functions, without any impact on the actual building operation.

This feature resulted in one innovation point being awarded under the Green Star Education tool.

The building’s mechanical services and BMS were commissioned by Watson and his team following practical completion in early 2010.

He says overcoming the slow reaction time of the active-slab system was perhaps the biggest challenge to overcome.

“It was important to commission and tune the cooling and heating systems to accommodate the Adelaide daily temperature range of up to 15°C, and solar heat load on external glass without using excessive amounts of energy,” says Watson.

InnoVA21 At A GlAnCethe professionalsArchitect: DesignInc

Builder: Hindmarsh

ESd & mechanical engineer: Umow Lai

Hydraulic and fire services engineer: Bestec

Mechanical services contractor: Watson Fitzgerald & Associates

Structural engineer: Aurecon

the equipmentAir-handling units: Watson Fitzgerald & Associates (custom-made)

Active slab and geothermal loops: Rehau polyethylene pipework

BMS: BACnet LAN

Chillers (absorption): Broad Chiller

Chillers (electric): Powerpax

FCUs: Watson Fitzgerald  & Associates (custom-made)

Floor swirl diffusers: Holyoake

Lighting control system: DALI

Trigeneration engine: Deutz

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As the maximum temperature range in Adelaide occurs during spring and autumn, this was overcome by setting the minimum inside temperature at 20°C, with a slab temperature of 19.5°C.

“In the morning, the underfloor heating system maintains the room temperature at 20°C, and as the ambient temperature and solar load increases, the underfloor system changes to cooling mode and the slab temperature set-point is lowered to 18°C. The room temperature is allowed to rise throughout the day to 25°C, and therefore saves energy.

“With large cold surfaces created by the active-slab systems, higher room temperatures up to 26°C can be adopted while maintaining comfort conditions.”

WItHout PeeRInnova21 was opened in time for the commencement of the university’s second semester in 2010.

According to Jeremy Kwan, senior project director at the University of Adelaide, occupants have been overwhelming in their support of the building, and the goals and aspirations the university set out to achieve.

By incorporating Green Star requirements into all elements of the building’s design, construction and operation, and engaging a team dedicated to achieving the university’s ambitions through environmentally sustainable innovation, Innova21 is a major step towards the University of Adelaide’s vision of becoming an “Ecoversity”. ❚

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Innova21 is a step towards the university becoming an “Ecoversity”.