We are delighted to announce that at last week's Greater Cambridge Design and Construction Awards, the Civil Engineering Building housing NRFIS picked up the David Mackay Award for Engineering and Sustainability.
The judges commented that, “The Civil Engineering Building demonstrates the result of integrating engineering rigour into the design process – from inception to delivery. The result is a building that is a joy for those that use it, is very low energy and has been designed to be extended in the medium-term future and dismantled for reuse in the distant future. A real beacon of engineering excellence to inspire those that study and work within it.”
In the past year the building consumed only 85kWh of electricity per sq.m of gross internal area, inclusive of the energy used by hydraulic presses to test structural systems. This makes the building easily the most energy efficient of its type within the University Estate. The building was also the first University project where the carbon emissions embodied in the extraction and manufacture of the materials necessary to construct the building were measured and informed decision making. In this case the foundation and superstructure solution (a steel frame with pre-cast plank floor and roof decks) was calculated as resulting in emissions of 268kgCO2e/m2GIA; considerably less than a typical in-situ concrete alternative.
For more information about the Civil Engineering Building's BREEAM Excellent environmental rating please click here. To read about using the Energy Cost Metric in the design of the New Civil Engineering Building please click here.