The brief
In March 2016, Jacksons undertook a services renewal of the Hastings District Council’s Civic Building, to replace all air conditioning, lighting and electrical services. Work was to be staged, one floor at a time, so as to provide minimal disruption to the 180 occupants of the building.
The main driver for the services renewal was to replace equipment that was at the end of its life. The existing systems were old and not performing well. The District Council wanted them replaced with equipment that was as energy efficient as possible.
Our solution
The previous construction of the building meant there were a lot of holes in the perimeter — the wind whistled through the building and everyone on the south side would freeze in winter while everyone on the north side would overheat in summer, with no air flow. We implemented a new HVAC system, meaning we could plug all the holes and completely manage the air and climate inside the building. This delivered a more consistent interior temperature and made a huge difference to the working environment.
The lighting throughout went from fluorescents to LED and a new responsive system was implemented, integrating lighting with air conditioning so that when meeting rooms or the office is vacant, the air conditioning pares back and lighting turns off.
The outcome
From a sustainability point of view, the work we did made the building a lot more energy efficient to run and staff were excited to move back into a refreshed, quieter working environment with a more even climate and no drafts.
The new air conditioning system and lighting will have made the biggest impact on energy savings, with an independent energy management company observing a 38% energy use reduction for a 3-month period in the first year after the services renewal. This was based on the building’s gross energy consumption and didn’t even take into account the decrease in gas consumption — the gas supply to an old boiler was decommissioned during the work.