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SBS Architects were commissioned for the design and delivery of a new Eco Station for Accrington, a manned station used by approx. 240,000 passengers a year. The project replaced the existing station building with a new building, completed in August 2010, which is currently under assessment to achieve a recommended BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’. The project links the town centre with the station itself by relocating the ticket office to the other side of the tracks, in the meantime setting up a strong visual and physical connection in the provision of an extended footpath, tower and feature walls made of reclaimed local sandstone paving, which link the modern station building with the historical fabric of the town and adjacent conservation area. Materials were selected both for their ability to provide a modern, dynamic aesthetic which nonetheless fits in with the local urban fabric, and for their embodied energy as a means of reducing the development’s carbon footprint. The primary approach to energy conservation, a key aspiration for the project, was in the passive design of the building by reducing heat loss and solar gain along with reducing operational electrical demand. This included employing a rainwater harvesting system, Photovoltaic panels for electricity generation, solar water heating and passive ventilation strategies, resulting in optimum reduction in demand for active electrical, heating, cooling and water provision solutions. The resulting project as delivered by SBS goes beyond the current requirements of British building regulations, and through the active and passive design employed, it is anticipated that energy savings up to 20% per annum will be achieved. The architects worked closely with both the design team and contractor to overcome issues inherent in the use of reclaimed materials and sustainable technologies in a rail environment, and this has resulted in a highly efficient, sustainable new station building which it is hoped provides a yardstick for future schemes on this scale.
3 Comments
Here in the UK we have a British Standard for rainwater harvesting, the BS8515 2009,/strong> which limits the size of rainwater harvesting tanks to avoid the risks involved with storing stagnant water, e.g. Legionnaires Disease.
We are limited to a tank which is the smaller of either 5% of the annual useage or 5% of the volume of water that falls on the roof/year.
You must ensure that the tank size fits this criteria.
20% saving, O’ that is so fantastic! I mean by 2016 the government wants all buildings to be 100%. Keep up the good work, NOT!
Hi Gary,
With a 5% storage capacity of the ANNUAL rainwater volume that falls on the roof or 5% of the annual useage, you can still fit a tank big enough to supply almost 100% of the non-potable water supply as it tends to rain so often. Granted, you would revert to mains during a drought, but for the vast majority of the time the non-potable water would come from the tank.