Completion is due next month of a new industrial / warehouse development at Sandy Lane West, Oxford.

Silcock Dawson, working for the client Albion Naus, developed a sustainability strategy which meets Oxford City Council's Natural Resources Impact policy requirements.

The building design incorporates a number of innovative features which are designed to save energy and reduce the building's carbon emissions.

The energy of the sun has been harvested to contribute to the heating of the warehouse/production areas through the use of a south facing over-cladding system known as a solar wall.

Air is heated by the sun as it is drawn-up between the over-cladding and the building envelope and then channelled into the building to provide background heating or pre-heat to the main space heating system. The solar heated air will reduce the energy used to heat the space.

The office area space heating and hot water is generated by an air source heat pump. The heat pump takes low grade heat from the outside air and through a reverse refrigerant cycle, coverts it to high grade heat to heat the office space and hot water. The high coefficient of performance (CoP) means that for every 1kWh of electricity used, 3-4 kWh of heating energy is produced.

To avoid the need for mechanical ventilation and air conditioning, the office areas are naturally ventilated by a combination of opening windows and roof mounted Windcatchers. The Windcatchers use pressure differential and stack-effect, caused by external air movement to ventilate the office space. The Windcatchers have been designed to provide the required air change rate of 7-8 ach/hr with an external wind speed of 2 metres per second which is less than half the average wind speed for this location.

The design of the buildings incorporates features to reduce the need for artificial lighting during daylight hours. The warehouse areas have a high percentage of rooflights which will provide adequate daylight under most conditions. In the office areas excellent daylight is provided by a combination of perimeter windows and roof mounted Sunpipes. The Sunpipes deliver daylight into the areas of the offices which are too far from a window to provide adequate daylight.