We’re thrilled to announce that the Active Office is following in the footsteps of its big sister, The Active Classroom, and has been shortlisted for numerous awards in 2019…
The project was funded by Innovate UK and delivered in collaboration with innovative partners such as Wernick (off-site construction), Tata Steel (cladding), Cisco (communications systems), Naked Energy (PVT tubes) and BIPVco (building integrated solar panels).
The shortlisted awards celebrate ground-breaking projects across the UK and Wales that demonstrate innovative or sustainable design:
- Constructing Excellence Wales ‘Sustainability Award’ and ‘Offsite Award’
- Constructing Excellence Wales ‘Offsite Award’
- The Guardian University Awards ‘Sustainable Buildings that Inspire’ Award
The Guardian University awards were held last night (10th April). We were shortlisted alongside Huddersfield University and University of the West of Scotland, but unfortunately, our Active Office didn’t scoop a win this time. We’re privileged to have been selected for the last three projects nationwide and wish the winners a huge congratulations for their ‘sustainable campus for sustainable minds.‘ The ‘Constructing Excellence in Wales’ final will be held on 7th June at the Celtic Manor Resort, find out how we get on our via our social media channels (Twitter | Linked In).
The Office is the latest in our demonstration programme, which aims to test and prove the ‘Active Buildings’ concept in a range of uses and challenge the traditional methods used in the construction sector. It combines a range of commercially available, innovative technologies that enable it to generate, store and release solar energy in one integrated system.
– A curved roof with integrated solar cells
– A photovoltaic-thermal system that generates heat and electricity
– Lithium ion batteries to store the electricity generated
– A 2,000L water tank to store excess thermal energy
As the building is a net energy exporter, it is able to contribute to the energy supply to the engineering buildings on the campus, reducing the University’s fuel bills. In the first four months of operation the Active Office generated 7300kWh, and consumed 6837kWh, which included approximately 800kWh of charge into electric vehicles (sufficient to travel almost 3500miles).
[Photo credit: Alicia Canter, Guardian Photographer]