Mark Elton is from ECD Architects. ECD stands for Energy Conscious Design, to see their website click here.
The talk was themed around Wolseley UK Sustainable Building Centre in Lemington Spa, to see the website specific for the Wolseley Building Centre click here.
The building was designed by the following team;
- Techniker//engineers,
- Fulcrum Consultants,
- DWB//Dobson White Boulcott//Quantity Surveyors,
- RGA Landscape//landscape architects.
The part of the talk that I was most interested in was the roofing system, that had been chosen for this building. The roofing is a Sedum roofing system. These differ from the typical green roof systems because its not structually dependent. Green roof's come in 2 styles;
- Intensive is mostly made up of turf and plants needing soil
- Extensive is mostly made up of Alpine plants also needs soil
A sedum roofing is a low maintenance matting, which is rolled out onto roofs. The main benefits from a sedum system are;
- Aesthetic benefits, green roofs are visually attractive.
- Protecting the waterproof membrane, the membrane lasts longer as a result of green roofing protecting the membrane.
- Reduced cooling, the plants on the roof absorb a lot of the heat on hot days and stops the building heating up.
- Biodiversity, wildlife live and breed on the roofs and help with to sustain the plants.
- Noise abosrbing, Mark Elton claims the noise from the airplanes is less with the sedum roofing in place.
- Storm water run off, this acts like a sponge and stores water which can be used in other ways.
The main disadvantages from the sedum roofing are;
- Cost, the client has to want to do it and it would cost about 30% extra.
- Maintenance, this is low compared to the intensive and extensive roofing, but needs checking once or twice a year, mainly to remove any unwanted plants from the roof.
The other material that interested me in this build is the GGBS (Ground Granulated Blast furnaced Slag). Click here for more information about GGBS. The main benefit of GGBS is the CO2 emissions are lower then standard concrete, and this helps the Wolseley building take big steps towards being a zero carbon building.
Picture source here.
