Residential Apartments
Royal Arsenal Energy Centre
Gas Fuelled Boiler
Gas Fuelled Boilers
Contract Value: £2,600,000.00
Client:
Berkeley Group
The Royal Arsenal is a major regeneration project on the banks of the Thames, which will create an urban village in Woolwich in the London Borough of Greenwich. The transformation of land from a former MOD munitions complex is an excellent example of sustainable urban regeneration from award winning developer Berkeley Homes.
“We are in a unique position of having a historic site, on the riverside and in the town centre. There are no other towns like Woolwich anywhere else in London and I’m not sure if I know any others anywhere else in the country. It’s now a community in its own right in a fantastic riverside setting."
John Anderson, Chairman of Berkley Homes (Urban Development) and resident of Royal Arsenal
The development, due to be completed by 2021, will eventually deliver a high quality, high density, mixed use development; comprising over 4,000 residential apartments, including affordable homes, and over 250,000 sq ft of commercial premises including a multiplex cinema-based leisure scheme, museums, office and hotel opportunities as well as healthcare and educational facilities.
Due to our expertise in delivering quality community heating schemes, as part of the £2.6 million contract Vital Energi was charged with developing the concept design into a viable and efficient energy solution to initially serve over 460 apartments as well as nursery unit, Primary Care Trust and commercial units with heating and hot water on demand as part of the first phase of the development. VitalEnergi were responsible for all elements relating to the detailed design and installation of an energy centre; including installing a CHP plant on the site, boilers, thermal store as well as and above and below ground heat distribution network terminating with a ‘Aqua Varm’ hydraulic interface units, providing increased control over when and how much hot water can be used.
Vital Energi were also responsible for delivering a private wire network providing electricity via a localised electricity grid through a privately owned central plant. Being commissioned at an early stage in the project Vital Energi was able to work closely with the Clients team to resolve challenging design, cost and space issues within a purpose built building which had numerous architectural features that needed to be preserved. Vital Energi worked closely with the developers to ensure that requirements were all met satisfactorily whilst at the same time providing the most energy efficient and economically viable solution to both the client and the future residents and tenants of the scheme. Throughout the project, Vital Energi paid consideration to the requirements of the local environment and the residents of adjacent buildings and dispersion modelling was carried out to ensure emissions achieved Clean Air Act Requirements. The CHP plant was carefully selectedto meet stringent air pollution control regulations, whilst maintaining heat and electricity production savings.
Noise was a particular issue on this development, and careful consideration was paid to ensure that reductions at source were made wherever possible. A further challenge for the Vital Energi team was the need to ensure that the solution was future-proof and allowed for further expansion of the development. The internal pipework, layout and configuration were designed to allow double the current output, guaranteeing that predicted needs will be met.
Conclusion
The design of the scheme provides an economically viable solution to the client and future tenants and occupiers ,whilst achieving a minimum of 10% carbon reductions, satisfying the demands of a renowned developer with a strong sustainability ethos. The centralised system reduces plant maintenance and facilities management requirements and the plant selection affords increased design life and flexibility to expand as the Royal Arsenal development continues to grow.
