Green Office
In 2007 Maximillion bought an old industrial unit with a vision to transform it into modern, eye-catching exemplar of sustainability.
The unit sits on the western edge of Edinburgh providing Maximillion with 9000 sq ft of office and warehouse space. However, it was built in the early 70's and was an extreme example of unsustainable construction. The floors, walls, ceilings and roof were made of concrete slab with no cavity space and no insulation. The windows were single glazed and the heating was electric convectors. The building was cold, damp, drafty with a rabbit warren of small rooms and offices.
An extensive refurbishment and upgrading of the building was undertaken to realise our vision. Here is what we did:
- Building fabrication
- Heating system and controls
- Lighting system
- Solar panels
- Rainwater harvestiing
- Building design
Building Fabrication
By creating a thermal insulation envelope around the building, heat retention has been improved and energy consumption reduced. We;
- Renewed the flat roof with a 200mm warm deck system
- Removed six sky lights to improve insulation and replaced one with a new triple skin model
- Replaced all 32 windows with double glazing
- Lined all external facing walls with 80mm thermal plaster board
- Backed external wood panelling with thermal insulation
- Created self closing / double door regime to all external and unheated areas
Heating System
The heating system consisted of electrical convectors in the office and this was replaced with a LTHW (wet radiators) system in the offices and a fan coil hot air blower was installed in the warehouse. Both are powered by a 56kW biomass wood pellet boiler supplied by a ten ton wood pellet hopper. Four thermostatically controlled zones were created to provide for maximum flexibility in heat control.
Lighting System
A full lighting plan was implemented which replaced all lights with low wattage fluorescent lights and in the office work space the latest technology T5 high frequency regulating control gear and open-ended slotted top reflectors were installed. Controls included multi-gang switching, dimmers, PIR motion detectors and outside solar cell switches.
Solar Thermal Panels
A Gaskol Solar Water Heating system was installed with two panels mounted on the roof heating a 250 ltr solar hot water cylinder which would supply all our direct hot water needs for toilets, showers, kitchens and tea prep area. The system is integrated to our wood pellet boiler for heat top up when required.
Rainwater Harvesting
Tandem Tanks of 1500L each and 3000L in total, interconnected and incorporating mains water top up system, roof down pipe filtration and overflow to drain. The system is used at our wash down point for all vehicle cleaning.
Building Design
Of course it's not all about pounds and pence savings and CO2 reductions. We wanted our new building to be a great place to work for our people and a pleasant place to visit for our customers. Here's some of the things that we designed into the refurbishment:
- Finished the building in smooth render (local sand) and larch panelling (FSC) to make it look great
- Created natural slate (locally sourced) pathways and BBQ patio with a bird feed station
- Ripped down internal walls to open the space up
- Installed a shower for our cyclists
- Created an entire first floor of meeting space for internal and customer use
- Made a "Chill Room" with easy furniture to relax and chill out
- Put in a "Think Tank" with floor to ceiling magnetic white wipe walls!