Construction World February 2015

PROJECT PROFILE

is based on leading global concentrated photovoltaic technology that uses multiple Fresnel lenses to focus a beam of sunlight onto a small section of silicone at up to 500 times the original intensity. Efficient water management The building will utilise 30% less water than a conventional building through dedicated recycled water systems. This is achieved through the use of rain water collectors which collect all roof rainwater runoff, which is stored in storage tanks and used to feed evaporative coolers and irrigation systems. Grey water systems were utilised to further minimalise demand for fresh water consumption. Grey water was designed to be collected from wash-hand-basins and sinks and fed through water treatment plant and reused for toilet flushing. Off-shutter concrete finish Grade 1 off-shutter finish green concrete which consists of reduced natural resources and increased fly-ash content, dominates most of the buildings external face. Design Integration & Building Information Modelling (BIM) A key imperative for the design and construc- tion of the DEA project was to ensure that performance was optimised and any poten- tial waste was minimised while ensuring all opportunities to maximise the building performance were explored. The entire project team across all disciplines adopted the Autodesk REVIT platform as the basis for

accessible three dimensional communi- cation medium furthering the integrated design approach. As the building will be operated by the development consortium for a period of 25 years the BIM benefits have provided the ability, on completion of construction, to hand over to the operator a fully docu- mented 3D model and database of the building to assist with the optimal manage- ment and lifecycle cost optimisation of the building over time.

undertaking the design as a building infor- mation model (BIM) rather than a collection of independent 2D drawings. The project team reaped the benefits that began to emerge and this painted a clear picture of progress and the validity of BIM as an appro- priate tool in support of sustainable design. The BIM process has provided a visual platform to optimise the building structure, fabric and services in such a way that mate- rial wastage and the inherent environmental impacts of this wastage have to date been limited, as well as recorded in a visually

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD FEBRUARY 2015 C STR CTI RLD EBR ARY 015 IO W 2

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