Case Studies

"The Bramhall Learning Centre is a showpiece building for environmental construction, proving what can be done to create contemporary buildings that are truly sustainable
and we are proud to have been involved in helping it achieve its aims."

Richard Kimpton, Kimpton Limited

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Renewables

We have decades of experience in the design, installation and maintenance of building services infrastructures - water, gas, heating, ventilation, plumbing, cooling and power  - all now aimed at incorporating low energy, low carbon, micro generation and renewable energy technologies to minimise your building's carbon footprint.

Hebden Bridge Town Hall

SBEC Building, TATA Steel

Harlow Carr

Hopton Mills

Shibden Park

Wellington Business Park

 

Hebden Bridge Town Hall

Hebden Bridge Town Hall

The Client
Hebden Bridge Town Hall is a listed building that has undergone a major refurbishment including a 2 storey extension to provide facilities for small business start up units including conference and meeting facilities. The scheme has been funded by investments from the Community Builders fund and the European Regional Development Fund.

The Challenge
Part of the funding for the project was dependant upon the building achieving a BREEAM "Very Good" rating. Also the planning consent stipulates 15% of the energy consumption must be provided from low or zero carbon technologies. The M&E installation is critical in achieving this requirement.

The Solution
To meet the planning consent of 15% energy from low or zero carbon sources on site, a trio of technologies had to be employed.

The majority of the 15% is achieved via a CHP that is capable of delivering 30kW of heat and 17kW of electricity. The heat energy is used to provide heating and hot water. Acting as the lead heat source the CHP is supported by 2 No. 115kW condensing boilers for generating low temperature hot water.

In addition 12m2 of solar thermal panels have been installed to help meet the hot water demand.

To ensure that 15% renewable energy is generated onsite, 24m2 of solar PV panels have also been installed. Both the CHP and the PV have been configured to export any unused electrical energy to the national grid.

Ventilation to the conference and meeting room facilities is provided by air handling units equipped with high efficiency exhaust air heat recovery heat pumps.

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SBEC Building, TATA STEEL

SBEC Building TATA Steel

The Client
The SBEC (Sustainable Building Envelope Centre) in Deeside is a pioneering partnership between the Low Carbon Research Institute, TATA Steel and the Welsh Assembly that will test, monitor and evaluate various low carbon technologies in different combinations to help inform specification decisions for both new build and refurbishment projects.

The three-year research project has been designed to investigate the next generation of low carbon whole building solutions to help create a blueprint for the most effective use of renewable energy technologies.

The Challenge
The building comprises various office spaces and facilities located across the ground, first and second floors. The heating and cooling to these areas is to be provided via a combination of sources, a full building energy management system is required to ensure the most efficient use of these energy sources. The Transpired Solar Collector also delivers energy as a primary heat source which has to be factored into the overall operation of the building services.

The Solution
Kimpton was responsible for designing and installing the VRF system, hot water services, rain water harvesting, gas fired heating system and the full BEMS network as part of the energy efficient installation.

The facilities on the three floors are heated and cooled by a Mitsubishi VRF heat pump system and the Transpired Solar Collector (TSC) is used to temper the incoming air.

For the VRF system Kimpton installed four air handling units complete with DX refrigeration coils, which have been integrated into the VRF system. An additional VRF system has been provided to heat/cool the meeting rooms and circulation areas via fan coil units, along with a Mitsubishi Heat Pump Boiler to provide under floor heating with water at 45°C flow temperature.

The hot water system features a Stiebel Eltron hot water heat pump that utilises air from within the room and extracts the thermal latent energy which the heat pump uses to warm the water in the cylinder.

The SBEC test bay is provided with warm air in the winter months via a gas fired air heating system connected to a network of ducts. Surplus heat from the TSC is used to warm this air before the gas is used, thus helping to reduce the consumption of natural gas.

Kimpton also installed a Rainwater Harvesting system to provide water to the staff and visitor toilets.

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Harlow Carr

Harlow Carr

The Client
The £3.3 million Bramall Learning Centre at the Royal Horticultural Society's (RHS) Harlow Carr gardens will provide free education facilities to more than 10,000 children each year. The building has been designed to reflect environmental sustainability and biodiversity in every element and has already achieved the highest BREEAM score ever awarded for a public bespoke building.

The Challenge
As a popular visitor attraction, the Bramall Learning Centre's energy demands for power and heating are high and a key objective is to meet all energy needs from a range of renewable sources including a ground source heat pump.

As part of this new build project, Kimpton was appointed to provide the heating, passive cooling, ventilation and plumbing services.

The Solution
The ground source heat pump installed by Kimpton will provide the low grade heat to cater for the thermal comfort requirements of the occupants delivered via an underfloor heating system.

Such is the groundbreaking use of renewable energy built in to the building's design, including the ground source heat pump installed by Kimpton, all of its energy needs will be met from renewable sources and it is also expected to feed power back into the national grid, saving the production of 75 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

Commented a spokesperson from the Bramhall Learning Centre: "Indications to date are that the equipment installed by Kimpton will rise to the challenge and help the building to achieve carbon neutral status with all of the energy coming from renewable sources.

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Hopton Mills

Hopton Mill

The Client
Hopton Mill in Mirfield near Huddersfield began manufacturing cloth in 1790 and by 1815 was exporting to America. The mill buildings have remained in commercial use ever since and their current owner is currently investing in a £multi-million refurbishment of the site to create a contemporary, sustainable office park in a rural setting.

The Challenge
The first building on the complex to gain a complete face lift was 'The Watermill', a 3,000m2 , two-storey former mill building. Main contractor, NU Construction, is responsible for delivering the transformation, with Kimpton Renewables contracted to design and install the development's heating, comfort cooling, ventilation and plumbing services.

The Solution
It was the existing water abstraction bore hole used in the building's former textile production processes that provided the key to Kimpton's ingenious approach to eco-friendly comfort cooling.

With the water extraction license renewed, Kimpton were able to refurbish the bore hole and engineered a solution that will both safeguard the local water table and provide reliable cooling for the building.

Kimpton's expertise was essential in this complex project which required accurate calculation, control and treatment of the water flow and discharge rates in order to ensure that there was no effect on the local water table and that acceptable levels of cooling were maintained. The bore hole refurbishment and integration with the cooling system were part of a wider mechanical installation by Kimpton, which also included installation of a gas fired low pressure hot water system, decorative panel radiators and occupancy ventilation for the deep plan areas.

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Shibden Park

Shibden Park

The Client

Shibden Hall and Park are located near Halifax in Yorkshire, they date back to 1420. It became a public park in the 1920s when it was donated to the people of Halifax.

The Challenge

As part of a mulit-million pound restoration project of the historic Hall & Park, a new learning centre called Shibden Mereside, was to be built to house a café and a range of versatile function rooms.
Kimpton were contracted to provide the heating, ventilation and plumbing services to the new-build and the refurbishment of the outbuildings throughout the park.

The Solution

Heating throughout the building is sourced from the low grade energy source of gournd loop 'slinkies' buried in the banking to the rear of the building which are interconnected to a Dimplex Fighter 24 water to water heat pump. The heat pump increases the water temperature for both heating and hot water purposes, circulating heating water temperature at 43°C to serve 3 underfloor heating manifolds with loops closely centred at 75cm.

The building benefits from an all glazed east facing elevation to allow the sun to assist with the heating of the building in the morning and a Trend Control System to open and close high level windows and low level vents to promote natural ventilation for thermal comfort during the summer.

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Wellington Business Park

Wellington

The Client

Built by the Langtree Group, Wellington Business Park consists of high specification office premises and is located in Newton-le-Willows.

The Challenge

To achieve maximum energy efficiency and minimum carbon emissions for the offices, the implementation of a series of environmentally friendly measures were necessary, including the heating and cooling system.

The Solution

Kimpton Building Services was responsible for the design, supply and installation of the heating and cooling system to the 2-storey office block that will be fuelled by a ground source closed loop heat pump.
The ground source closed loop heat pump works by collecting heat from the ground and transferring it to the Park's HVAC system for use in heating the offices.

The park will be able to reduce its carbon emissions and energy consumption by as much as 70% thanks to the ground source heat pump.

Ground source water systems are one of the recognised renewable energy sources listed as part of the Government's push for 10% renewable energy usage.

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