Recreating the low carbon Georgian terrace
The Electric Ireland Building services engineer, Diarmuid Reynolds, explains how ten years of research has closed the knowledge gap in global office energy use 80
When the Electrical Supply Board for Ireland approached us to take a 45,000m² office building within a famous Georgian streetscape, retain the aesthetic and make it one of the most sustainable workplaces in Ireland, we couldn’t wait to get started. The project also offered an excellent opportunity to research Passivhaus techniques, phase change materials, solar control, natural ventilation, daylight and biodiversity to formulate the next generation of sustainable office design. The ESB HQ is set in Fitzwilliam Street in Dublin, once the longest continuous row of Georgian buildings in the world. This posed a challenge in implementing modern passive design responses within a traditional setting. We took a comprehensive, all-encompassing approach and knew that by considering all elements we could create something of real significance that was a true gamechanger. Traditional practices were analysed. Were they really the best strategies or was it just the way it was always done? We accepted a commission to review the systems of ten other office buildings in the city from an environmental perspective, and this provided valuable insights into traditional design. Each building system was developed to test new principles and the finished design contains more than 12 new techniques not used before in office design. Some of these required research and testing, including in-house developed Diarmuid Reynolds
