The Westfield Avenue multi-residential development in Edinburgh has won the Large Scale Housing Development Award in the Saltire Society Housing Design Awards 2012. The use of low carbon combined heat and power (CHP) and district heating from SAV Systems, supplied by East Linton based DBSA Ltd, played a significant role in enabling the development to meet the award’s sustainability criteria.
The development was constructed by East Lothian based Hart Builders: “The quality and range of awards that this site has now accrued is testament to the skill of the whole team that delivered this building on time and within budget. I consider SAV to be an integral part of that team,” said Hart Construction Director Colin Jack.
The Large Scale Housing Development category applies to developments with more than 150 dwellings and requires that the design ‘address issues of sustainability, energy efficiency and adaptability’. At Westfield Avenue sustainability and energy efficiency were key criteria in the design, with developers Dunedin Canmore Group stipulating a reduction in CO2 emissions by at least 20% compared to traditional design. With limited space available for plant, and high load demands, this was a major challenge that was met with the help of four SAV LoadTracker CHP units and FlatStation heat interface units.
The district heating system was designed by Edinburgh based The Keenan Consultancy and installed by the Emtec Group of Cambuslang. “This was a very demanding project and SAV proved to be an invaluable partner from conception to completion,” noted Keenan Consultancy Director James Culbertson.
The CHP system supplies 74% of site heating and hot water demand and 54% of electrical demand for the 192 flats and eight business units that make up the development. Each of these spaces is fitted with a 5 Series FlatStation with integral energy meter to ensure accurate billing. Each FlatStation provides a complete solution with a built-in water heater and differential pressure controlled heating system, as well as an idle temperature controller to provide instantaneous hot water for tenants.
As well as a significant reduction in CO2 emissions, the use of LoadTracker CHP is delivering considerable savings on gas and electricity for Dunedin Canmore.