VISION Issue 47 | Page 36

VISION 47 — HIGH MARKS And while sunlight-filled spaces might often test sustainability, here that wasn’t an issue. Sustainability was very important. Council certainly wants to see green design in its buildings, so we took a number of measures, including double-glazing throughout using Viridian’s EnergyTech™ Clear; there’s the thermal mass of concrete blocks on the ground floor; canopies north, east, west, shade to the glazing; and also rainwater re-use for flushing toilets. How did Viridian’s technical support team assist with the result? Viridian was heavily involved in the design and construction stage. Their people came into our office on a number of occasions and we worked through the specific quality of design as necessary. We wanted large panes of glass that were really pushing the limits and Viridian helped us achieve that, and also achieving our Section J requirements. They were very helpful in figuring that all out, because we had so much glazing and we still had to comply with Section J energy efficiency.