SA: ABB Longmeadow head office goes Green
ABB’s Longmeadow head office, manufacturing and logistics centre has been designed to ensure the site is a resounding example of ABB environmental best practices. To this end an impressive depth of research and consideration to design, construction facilities management automation; recycling and minimal environmental impact has been implemented in the facility.
This facility has consolidated four of ABB’s previous operations under one roof which comprises 17,800m2 of office space and 22,000m2 of warehousing and factory space. Occupation of the new R550 million (US$ 73.8 million) site occurred in June this year with over 1000 of the group’s employees from four previous sites converging into their new home.
The company expects that centralising its activities will contribute to reducing its operational costs, improving its efficiency and reducing its carbon footprint through negating the need to travel and communicate between branches.
“This is probably the greenest building in South Africa today and is as green as can be achieved with today’s technology,” says ABB (South Africa) CEO and country manager Carlos Poñe.
The building was built with superior energy efficiency in mind and features key green building elements such as, solar panels; grey water recycling; efficient lighting system; and in addition to the building being insulated reducing energy loss, the facility is equipped with the company’s own high efficiency ff1 motors and building management systems.
Lead in: ABB’s focus on environmental sustainability and energy efficiency within their new head office facility encompasses wide ranging applications that may set a new standard for commercial and industrial developments.
ABB Building Management System (BMS)
The ABB Building Management System (BMS) is programmed to automate, control and manage all of the energy demands in the building with the result that the entire operation is as energy efficient as possible. The BMS provides a wide range of control functions, including fire control, security, power monitoring and air conditioning control.
Variable speed drives, or VSDs, provide infinite control over the speed of motors driving pumps and fans, maximising the building’s environment by matching the temperature and humidity to the demands of the prevailing weather and the number of occupants.
The other major advantage of VSDs is energy saving – by controlling the speed of the motor so it runs only at the speed needed. Energy usage is controlled via the BMS and results in significant cost savings as well as raising the building’s green profile. Lower pump speeds extend mechanical life and reduce maintenance costs.
H-shaped design contributes to efficient use of light
The building’s H-shaped design contributes to lower energy demand for lighting by ensuring the office workstations are located in the exterior portions of the building where they receive good natural light. The factory has also made good use of natural light through the roof design.
Each workstation is fitted with a photo-sensitive switch that turns the light on when people arrive at their workstations and off when they depart. All lights are low-energy and all of the service areas are located in the middle of the office plan layout where down-lighters and emergency lighting are installed.
Low energy consumption, compact fluorescent lights are fitted in the factory component. The power reticulation grid to the lights allows individual units within the factory to turn their lights on and off as required, eliminating the need of the entire light grid to be on when only a section needs to be lit.
Solar heating
A north-facing solar heating system on the roof heats the water delivered to the showers. This natural, free energy source replaces the need for electrical heating and does not produce carbon emissions. Energy consumption for the building’s heating system is also reduced with a heat exchange system that uses hot air from the air conditioning system to supplement the building’s boilers.
Greywater
All rain water collected from the roofs and the hard stands goes into an attenuation pond, which also serves as a water feature. The factory’s roof and hard stand independently accounts for about 40,000 m2 of catchment area, yet should a rainstorm deliver 100mm of rain, a total of 4,000 litres of rain water will be diverted into two attenuation ponds which feed the indigenous gardens.
Building insulation and air conditioning
Building insulation and air conditioning are other areas where energy efficiency is top priority. The basement is open and was designed for effective natural ventilation. Fans are fitted but have carbon dioxide detection meters that will automatically turn air extraction on when the CO2 reaches a pre-determined level. The fans and air-conditioning plant are driven by ABB’s low energy, high efficiency, variable speed drives, which use energy more efficiently and increase speed in a slow controlled manner eliminating a high power burst at start-up.
Winter temperatures in the basement can drop to 5°C, hence the above office floors have a 200mm-thick concrete slab insulated with a 100mm deep Styrofoam layer, (similar to those on the façades and the roof of the building) ensuring the air conditioning plant is 20 - 30% more efficient in maintaining the right temperature.
Waste handling
Due to the size of ABB South Africa, the company generates a lot of waste; hence an appropriate waste management plan had to be implemented. The waste collection area and its management were outsourced to Enviroserv, a specialist in the field. All waste is sorted and paper, metal, glass and plastic are separated and removed for recycling. The wet waste from the canteen is taken to a worm farm where earthworms process it into compost for the Longmeadow gardens.
Green with Envy
The investment and consideration of ABB green initiatives greatly exceeds conventional standards within the South African and global built industries. It is expected that the new facility will become a beacon of sustainable development within the commercial and industrial developments for years to come.
PROJECT TEAM
| Client | Imperio (PTY) Ltd. |
| Structural Engineer | JRA |
| Architect | MCM Architects |
| Electrical Engineer | JKA & Associates |
| Fire Tech | Specialised Fire Technology |
| Space Planners | I4C> |
| Mechanical Engineer | RPP> |
| Logistics Engineer | ILS |
| Wet Services | IG |
| Landscaper | JDLA |
