Scotch House is located on the corner of Burgh Quay and Hawkins Street in the heart of Dublin city centre, within two minutes’ walk of DART, LUAS, bus & rail services. The development consists of 3,700sqm of Grade A office accommodation over seven floors. It also boasts 177sqm of roof terrace.
The redevelopment of an existing 1970’s building included the retention of a large extent of the existing concrete structure, greatly reducing the embodied carbon of the building in line with sustainability best practices.
The building is designed to LEED Gold standard and achieved a A3 building energy rating with the added accreditation of WiredScore Platinum. The façade was specifically designed to reduce energy consumption for heating and cooling while allowing sufficient daylight transmittance.
The completed works include the installation of new M&E Shell and Core installation, including reception, shower suite, ancillary space, and sample CAT A fit-out installations using VRF air-conditioning systems and LED lighting. Automatic lighting controls including daylight harvesting were installed.
The building is designed to cater for multi-let floor plates and is also suitable for a single occupier.
The building achieved a BER of A3, with all the buildings heating provided by renewable means, and from an active energy basis is 100% carbon-free. There are no fossil fuels on site.
Sustainability was at the forefront of the building design, and the targets in terms of Carbon Performance Coefficient (CPC), Energy Performance Coefficient (EPC), and Renewable Energy Ratio (RER) all significantly outperform the reference building.
Lighting
LED lighting is installed throughout the building. Sensors were incorporated throughout to monitor occupancy and daylight levels.
Energy consumption monitoring
Energy metering is installed on each floor distribution board, as part of the overall LEED strategy. This allows for monitoring of the overall usage through the central BMS system. Power factor correction was installed within the main switch room to further limit energy wastage.
Water consumption management and monitoring
Water meters have been added to monitor water use throughout the building. These are linked back to the central BMS. They notify if high levels of water are being used, which may be caused by leaks in the system. Booster pumps have incorporated variable speed drives. All sanitaryware including WHBs, showers and toilets are low flow/flush.
Heating and cooling
High efficiency VRF air-conditioning systems provide heating and cooling to the office areas. These are installed in a modular fashion so that they operate based on tenant occupancy on each floor. Similarly, the heat recovery ventilation systems are installed on floor-by-floor basis with dedicated plant. These can be scheduled to meet the individual tenant requirements.
The sustainable design of the development presented an opportunity to ensure the overall building performs efficiently and meets the sustainability challenges posed by the project. The entire building was dynamically modelled with the sustainable inputs, and the analysis and the calculation of the building performance metrics to show compliance with the Part L and BER.
The building’s sustainable objectives were measured through the LEED assessment process during design and construction. The development achieved a LEED Gold rating.