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 | | WOLSELEY PIONEERS WITH SUSTAINABLE BUILDING CENTER | | | Wolseley | | 10/06/2008 | | | It’s a world-first on the eco-frontier, and attracting the attention of the country’s leading architects, builders and property developers. Andrew Bailey visits Wolseley’s pioneering new Sustainable Building Center, and talks to the man behind it
Tim Pollard is Wolseley’s environmental champion and heads up its new Sustainable Building Center. He does not have a pony tail or wear sandals – at least to work, and is about as hard-headed a businessman as you will meet in any boardroom.
Yet, Tim is a passionate advocate for sustainable building, equally animated discussing the U-value of natural wool insulation, triple glazing - or the merits of the rainwater toilet flush.
All are examples of eco-friendly building technologies installed at Wolseley’s ground-breaking new Sustainable Building Center in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.
What began as “an idea over a cup of coffee” in Starbucks five years ago has now been realised. Built at a cost of £3.2m, it is a flagship statement by the UK’s leading construction materials supplier of the importance of sustainability for the future of building.
“It’s a big investment, and reflects the central role of the environmental revolution in determining how we live and what we build in the future,” says Tim Pollard. “What we are doing here moves the eco-debate decisively forward – from talk to implementation.”
Everything that has gone into the building, from the underground storage tanks for run-off, to the sustainable carpet tiles, to the self-cleaning windows and roof-top photo-voltaic cells, has real-world application.
He says: “Not all of the technology is developed to its final, finished form - advances are proceeding at an incredible pace. But what we have showcased here are examples of potentially transformational technology and materials that - together - make a vital difference to the environmental and energy impact of buildings.”
Around 170 sustainable products – all available from Wolseley – have been used to build or equip the centre. These include:
• Wind-scoops that harness the breeze for natural ventilation and cooling;
• A biomass boiler that runs on pellets of wood waste;
• Small bore ducted, high efficiency heat pump air conditioning, triggered by a carbon dioxide occupancy sensor;
• An air-to-air heat pump system to extract free energy from ambient outside air;
• And smart plasterboard panels, with a phase-change material that absorbs unwanted heat and helps keep buildings cool – without the use of energy.
The electronic brain behind it is a high level Measurable Energy Management System, which constantly monitors energy usage and demand – switching between the installed technologies, such as PV, CHP; wind and so on, to ensure the most cost-effective and environmentally sustainable mix is used at any one time.
Even before its official opening, the centre has caught the attention of some of the UK’s leading developers and property companies. Word is out, and everyone it seems wants to see what’s on offer and gain a sustainability advantage.
What are people most interested in when they visit?
“Everyone has their own agenda and points of interest, whether they are a supermarket chain, a national bank or a house builder. People are looking for solutions on a very wide front, with varying emphases on energy, water, materials, technology and so on.”
A big part of the challenge was to embody as many genuinely sustainable technologies and products as could be incorporated, to meet the diversity of needs. The other key criterion was to ensure national availability and assured support for the products.
Chris Booker, product manager for the Center, says: “We came across some fascinating ideas being developed by lone inventors working in their garden sheds. However, we took the view that, while some may develop to commercialisation over time, we would only showcase proven products that were available in volume, on a national basis, fully supported by manufacturers over their lifetime.”
He adds: “The problem until recently has been that the market for sustainable products has been pretty much a cottage industry, done on a very small scale. The whole thrust of what we are doing is to bring sustainability into the mainstream, to make it a natural part of the everyday business of building – shops, schools, homes, offices – with excellent environmental credentials woven in, from the foundations up.”
The Center is not intended to be a finished work. It will be in a constant state of evolution, with new products and materials being added as they are developed and come to market. The next generation of technologies is already being evaluated for inclusion later this year, and will include a domestic CHP unit and an air-to-water heat pump system.
The idea of sustainability and green building has been around for some time. Why is the idea taking off now?
Tim Pollard: “It’s being driven by two things: the rises in the cost of energy, and the dawning realisation that climate change is a reality – actually happening. Buildings are responsible for the lion’s share of energy usage in the UK, so there is no escape from the consequences.
“The arrival of new legislation, requiring that new buildings must be zero carbon from a fixed date in the future, has focussed people’s minds – and changed the game.”
The selection of products for use in the facility crystallises around the definition of sustainability.
“We took a lot of time reflecting on this,” says Tim. “There are literally hundreds of thousands of products out there, and it can be hard to see through the ‘greenwash’. There is also the issue of ensuring commercial availability and consistency. It is not enough to have a sustainable product – it has to be supported long term and available on the right scale.”
A sustainable product is defined as one that has less environmental impact than what was used before. Springing from this, sustainable development is defined as: “Development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
The Wolseley team has worked hard to verify the claims of manufacturers, researching and challenging claims and collating research data. It has amassed “the grand-daddy of all spreadsheets”, drawing together the responses from hundreds of suppliers to questions on product sustainability and environmental credentials.
It is perhaps on the energy front that the most dramatic changes in traditional ways of doing things will be seen, suggests Tim.
“The demographic trend is clear. People are living in smaller a unit, which means we need more, smaller individual apartment-style homes, and fewer stand-alone dwellings. This opens up tremendous opportunities for district heating schemes, where efficiencies can be light years ahead of thousands of individual boilers humming away.”
This has implications for piping requirements, not to mention the market for the traditional domestic boiler.
The coming of a new generation of sustainable technologies also has implications for the traditional boundaries between trades. The emergence of roof-mounted solar heating systems is a case in point.
“This is a water-based technology, installed at height in the open air, often requiring integration with existing domestic water systems. Is it the province of plumbers, or roofers, or builders? It requires some of all these skills, but is not a natural fit with any one.
“This kind of redefinition of long-established trades is going to be happening all over. It will result in the emergence of new specialist trades – with the skill sets required to successfully apply new technology.”
Recognising this, Wolseley is piloting a new course designed to train installers of solar panels – which cuts across traditional boundaries.
The Sustainable Building Center opens up new opportunities for both Wolseley and its customers. As a supplier, it enables Wolseley to have a different kind of conversation with clients. It is now involved at the planning and design stage of major projects.
“We are entering into strategic relationships with developers that were simply not possible before – providing intelligence and support on all matters to do with sustainability,” says Tim.
For customers, instead of having to scramble through the ‘greenwash’ jungle in pursuit of individual green products, Wolseley has done all the homework. There is now a full range of proven, sustainable technologies available nationally, as a one-stop-shop solution.
And they can be seen and touched, installed and functioning in the Sustainable Building Center.
As a result of the initiative, the company is already working with leading developers, pub chains, hotels and public institutions on a growing number of cutting-edge sustainable building projects.
Tim Pollard says: “It’s the step forward the industry has been waiting for. Proven environmental solutions are now part of the mainstream. It is going to change the way we build, and what we build. It’s an exciting time to be in the industry!” | |
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