Leading the way in energy efficient building

The UK Government recently announced plans to reduce Britain’s carbon emissions by18 percent by 2020. Acknowledging the fact that buildings account for almost half of the UK’s CO2 emissions, there is now a major focus on improving the energy efficiency of buildings in order to contribute towards meeting this target.

The economic argument is also compelling. A recent McGraw-Hill study revealed that thermally efficient buildings command 3 percent higher rental rates and an average increase of 7.5 percent in building value. As well as this, they can deliver a 3.5 percent higher occupancy rate and ultimately improve return on investment by an average of 6.6 percent. Accordingly, the property market is keen to take advantage of new technologies that improve energy efficiency but are also cost effective to install as part of a new build or refurbishment programme.

Developed for the UK market by CA Group in collaboration with Corus – SolarWall perforated Transpired Solar Collector (pTSC) – is one such technology. An ingenious yet simple solar air heating system, that has the ability to dramatically reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions, and achieve major cost savings all the while requiring no maintenance or service.

The system consists of a Corus Colorcoat Prisma pre-finished steel sheet which has a selection of colours that have been developed to provide improved solar absorption which has been perforated with thousands of tiny holes, uniformly spaced across the full face of the collector.

As solar radiation strikes the surface of SolarWall and is absorbed, solar heat conducts to the thermal boundary layer of air which lines the outer surface of the sheet. This heated boundary layer of air is then drawn through perforations in the full face of the collector into an air cavity between the SolarWall and the original elevation behind. From here fresh, solar heated air can be introduced directly into the building, offsetting the overall heating load and providing any necessary ventilation requirements, thereby reducing the amount of energy required to heat the building and the associated CO2 emissions.

Successful refurbishment of the 50,000 sq ft Jaguar Land Rover Academy in Warwick illustrates the energy savings achievable with SolarWall. Studies undertaken have shown SolarWall will enable Jaguar Land Rover to save more than 80,000kWh of energy and reduce CO2 emissions by 19 tonnes per year.

At CA Group’s Old Profiles Mill, there has been a considerable reduction in energy costs since the installation of a SolarWall system in 2006.

Between 2000 and 2005, the average annual energy consumption of the building was 589,591kWh. During 2007 however, (following installation of SolarWall) this was reduced to 305,345kWh – a saving of 48 percent in gas consumption and a carbon saving of 58.5 tonnes. In monetary terms, SolarWall resulted in monetary saving of just under £8,000 for the year.

The ability of SolarWall to deliver major energy, carbon and cost savings through a system which is easily and cost effectively installed has already ensured high demand. As both environmental and economic pressures to reduce energy consumption increase, technologies such as SolarWall will have an increasingly importance role to play.

For more on Corus’ environmentally-friendly products visit: corusgroup.com