ESD design guide for Australian Government buildings: Edition 2

case studies
SES Headquarters
BUILDING TYPE
CLIMATE
LOCATION
CLIENT
ARCHITECTS
ENGINEERS
SIZE
New
Temperate
Melbourne, Victoria
Victorian State Emergency Services
H2o Architects
AHW
1700 m 2 net lettable area
Figure 49. SES Headquarters, H2o architects.
The new Victorian State Emergency
Services headquarters are located in
the Melbourne CBD. The building has
won several awards for its approach
to sustainable design and architecture
and was a finalist in the “Leadership in
Sustainable Buildings” category in the
2004 Banksia Awards.
BUILDING OUTPUTS
Energy 510 mWh per year (300
kWh/m 2 )
Water Figure not yet available
Greenhouse Figure not yet available
Gas
Emissions
Capital cost
Savings
Payback
$3.5 million
construction costs, $6.5
million total end costs
Figure not yet available
Figure not yet available
KEY AREAS OF ACHIEVEMENT
• Maximising use of natural lighting
to reduce need for artificial lighting.
• Solar hot water panels provide
most water heating requirements.
• Central ducted vacuum system
takes dust and other pollutants
outside into a collector located in
the car park, rather than allowing
portions to escape into the air from
conventional vacuums.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
The brief from the Department of
Justice was to design and construct
a benchmark environmentally
responsive building as a model
to the construction industry and
other government departments.
This outcome was achieved by
incorporating:
• A design with a shape and
form responding to sustainable
requirements;
• Passive and active venting and
lighting solutions;
• Sustainable material selection; and
• Promotion of sustainable
construction approaches.
ESD CONSIDERATIONS
ENERGY
Natural lighting is an important
energy saving feature in the design
of the building. The main façade
is orientated towards a southerly
direction with minimal exposure to
the west and south. North facing
clearstory windows provide most of
the natural light needed for most of
the year. Internal light shelves direct
and diffuse the light into the office
spaces through the clerestory louvre
windows. External shading has been
designed so that it limits the amount
of sunlight and solar radiation in the
summer, whilst allowing both to enter
in the winter period.
Artificial lighting is supplied by lowenergy,
high frequency T5 tubes.
These uplights focus the light towards
the curved ceilings, which are painted
white, to evenly distribute the light
over the workspace. They are also
dimmable and are programmed via
a central system that measures the
amount of natural light present. A
conscious effort made by the design
team was to provide only 200 lux
to the working area when operating
at 100%. This level is below the
recommended 320 lux. This was to
encourage the use of task lighting
when required. The task lights are also
wired so that they are turned off by
the central control system when out of
hours.
Passive cooling / heating is provided
by a large concrete slab located
underneath the raised floor. Night
purging using outdoor air cools
the slab which stores coolth and
then releases it over a period,
thereby reducing the instantaneous
cooling load and reducing energy
consumption.
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ESD DESIGN GUIDE FOR AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS