Natural ventilation specialist, Breathing Buildings, presented what the Cambridge University-spin-off low energy ventilation specialist described as “an innovative toolkit for mechanical engineers” at this year’s Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Technical Symposium, held at Leicester’s De Montfort University.
Created in conjunction with Nuaire, a specialist in the design, manufacture, and distribution of powered ventilation and air movement solutions, the toolkit (downloadable at: www.cibse.org/ content/cibsesymposium2011/ 096%20Iss%202%20-%20010811.pdf) was unveiled by David Hamlyn and Daniel Cash, consulting engineers at Breathing Buildings, who explained that it is intended as a reference for mechanical engineers involved in design and specification of new buildings – to help them determine the most appropriate ventilation strategy. He said: “This toolkit will not only help fellow mechanical engineers in the specification of efficient ventilation, but will also enable them to combine natural and mechanical ventilation elements to produce a more effective system overall, rather than solely using either a mechanical or natural system.” At the CIBSE event, David Hamlyn also discussed different approaches to specifying ventilation, demonstrating how the toolkit could assist. Common ventilation issues were examined using UK case studies, with models used to illustrate the relative savings of the different ventilation options, which the speaker explained varied according to climate types. Breathing Buildings “spun off” from the University of Cambridge in 2006, and provides low energy ventilation systems using the principles of natural mixing ventilation in winter and natural upward displacement ventilation in the summer. Its “low energy”, ‘e-stack’ mixing ventilation system was discovered and developed as part of a major research programme at the BP Institute, with BP funding, via the Cambridge-MIT Institute. Prototyped and tested in 2006 and 2007 prior to commercial launch in 2007, the system has won several awards, and is being used in over 20 UK schools. In healthcare, the system has already been used at the new Primary Care Centre at Houghton le Spring (pictured), designed by P+HS Architects in conjunction with South of Tyne NHS. Throughout the Centre’s design the architects worked closely with both CABE and Breathing Buildings to achieve a highly sustainable building, targeting low carbon, and achieving a BREEAM score of “Outstanding” at the design stage, reportedly a first for any UK healthcare building.
