University of Leicester Centre for Medicine receives certification
The University of Leicester’s £42 million Centre for Medicine project has received Passivhaus certification. With a total floor area of over 12,000m2, the building is the largest non-domestic Passivhaus building in the UK, and one of the largest in Europe.
The scale of the project provided challenges as anticipated, although Project Manager Dave Vernon insisted there were few problems during the certification process due to the attention to detail that had been followed throughout the design and construction stages.
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One of the main issues we found was procuring a large enough air handling unit that had been certified to be used in a Passivhaus building. We considered sending the AHU to Germany to be verified, but after consulting with our Passivhaus consultants we were confident enough it would be fit for purpose.”
Dave Vernon, Project Manager, Estates & Facilities Management, University of Leicester
2000 staff and students will be moving in to the ultra-low energy building next week, having previously been housed in a draughty 1970’s office block located adjacent to the site.
A three year soft landings programme will be conducted to ensure the building is operated correctly and maximum comfort levels are achieved, whilst user groups have been involved throughout all stages of the project to make the handover process smoother.
The greatest challenge going forward is educating the occupants to operate the building. To ensure the building stays comfortable, users will be taught to operate louvres for shading, whilst reminded to be wary of the unwanted heat gains generated from appliances that would have been welcome in their previous building.”
Dave Vernon, Project Manager, Estates & Facilities Management, University of Leicester
The University of Leicester hope to run a number of site visits later on in the year. For a chance to visit the Centre for Medicine and experience a Passivhaus building first hand, keep an eye on our OpenHaus series and the UK Passivhaus Open Days 2016.
Further information
Previous news articles -
University of Leicester's Centre for Medicine nears completion, 27th May 2015
University giants battle for largest UK non-residential Passivhaus, 25th November 2014
Leicester Medical Teaching Centre aims for Passivhaus certification, 1st December 2013
23rd February 2016
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