Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
5.2 What Are the Main Features?
Zero energy
The project is designed to use only energy from renewable
sources generated on-site.
—
Energy ef
The houses face south to take advantage of solar gain, are
triple-glazed and have high thermal insulation.
cient
—
Water ef
Most rainwater falling on the site is collected and reused.
Appliances are chosen to be water ef
cient
—
cient and use recycled water when pos-
sible. A
'
Living Machine
'
system of recycling wastewater was installed, but is
not operating. A
(LM) (as designed by Living Technologies
(LT)) in a greenhouse located in the BedZED services building for the purpose
of full on-site wastewater treatment would:
'
Living Machine
'
(iii)
supply treated ef
uent for landscape irrigation and the sports
field,
uent for reuse in the toilets in the clubhouse,
(iii) act as a small botanical nursery and an educational resource for the site
and residents,
(iv) grow plants in the LM for production of essential oils.
(iii)
supply treated ef
Low-impact materials
Building materials were selected from renewable or
recycled sources within 35 miles of the site, to minimise the energy required for
transportation.
—
5.3 What Were the Strengths?
Green roof concept (stormwater attenuation, rainwater harvesting)
Water conservation measures on the potable supply
Sky gardens (subsurface trickle irrigation)
5.4 What Were the Main Challenges and Results? (Shirley-
Smith and Butler
2008
)
Costs higher than anticipated (labour, energy, extra equipment and water quality
testing).
Values of properties reported to be 15 % higher than similar adjacent properties.
At the local (design) level, the concepts of demand management, rainwater
harvesting, stormwater management, green water recycling and thermal heat
storage, which were supposed to be combined within the same system, were
never really integrated into the same design concept. This led to oversized
underground tanks, wasted treated ef
uent, large amounts of main water top-up
and uncertainty about the quality of water supplied for various purposes.
At the organisation level, the project was handled by different parties, which was
inef
cient and error-prone.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search