Ecolibrium - Fantastic voyage UNSW's new Science and Engineering Building is worth exploring - Airepure
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SEPTEMBER 2019 · VOLUME 18.8
THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF AIRAH
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Ecolibrium
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Fantastic
voyage
UNSW’s new Science and
Engineering Building
is worth exploring.
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COV ER FE AT U RE
Fantastic
voyage
Just as science itself is a journey of discovery, so too
was the design and construction of the University
of New South Wales’ new Science and Engineering
Building. As Sean McGowan reports, the facility offers
multi-disciplinary teaching and laboratory spaces
that can adapt as research needs change in the future.
For the first time in the University of opened to students and staff in April.
New South Wales’ (UNSW) history, It continues the expansion of the
the schools of chemical engineering, UNSW Physical Sciences Precinct
chemistry, arts and media learning at the Kensington campus.
environments have been brought
As well as accommodating the
together under one roof.
university’s leading researchers, the
Following three and a half years of building is expected to attract researchers
consultation, design and construction, from around Australia and the world.
the new multi-disciplinary Science Among the research already being carried
and Engineering Building (SEB) out in the building is the exploration of
Large exhausts act as
outlets from the manifolded
fume-extraction system.
The smaller chimneys are
exhausts from individual
non-manifolded fume-
extraction systems.
Image courtesy A.G. Coombs.
COV ER FE ATURE
Heating hot water is achieved via three hot water heaters with modulating gas burners suitable for use with the low gas supply available on the site.
Image courtesy A.G. Coombs.
unique properties in liquid metals, and FLEXIBILITY IN After providing design and specification
the harnessing of molecular machines of the mechanical, electrical and
that are 300,000 times thinner than the MODULARISATION laboratory gas systems from design
diameter of a hair. Having been involved with a number concept through to the completion of
of projects at UNSW Sydney, Arup design development, Arup was retained
Designed by architectural firm
was engaged in mid-2015 to provide in a review role. Meanwhile, design and
Grimshaw, the 10-storey building
high-level design input at the feasibility construct (D&C) contracts were awarded
features seven levels of laboratory
space as well as light-filled student stage of the proposed new UNSW to various trade sub-contractors under
spaces with high ceilings and Science and Engineering Building. head contractor, Multiplex.
windows. These include three lecture “The focus at this stage was on design In November 2017, A.G. Coombs
theatres, undergraduate laboratories options for ventilation of the laboratory was engaged as mechanical services
and contemporary classroom spaces spaces, and the electrical maximum contractor on the project.
with interactive audio-visual facilities. demand of the building, and its impact
on the site’s high voltage network,” says The building reflects that of the adjacent
The ground and basement levels are
dedicated to teaching and study facilities Stefan Sadokierski, associate principal Hilmer Building, with an internal core of
and the future home of the Mark and mechanical engineer for Arup. laboratories surrounded by a perimeter of
Wainwright Analytical Centre (MWAC).
This centre accommodates tools for
electron microscopy and research
into biological processes that control BENCHMARKING ENERGY
disease and metabolism. UNSW SEB is a mechanically intensive To determine the building’s energy
The basement level also houses the building, owing to its high density performance, an analysis using
university’s Creative Practice Lab (CPL), of fume cupboards and exhaust Labs21 – a benchmarking tool that
including the Io Myers Studio and Studio air requirements. compares energy consumption across
One teaching and performance theatres – The diverse use of laboratory spaces US laboratories – was completed.
both completed in mid-2019. and typology means that overall energy Chemical laboratories located in
efficiency targets were difficult to set similar climate zones and of similar
These world-class environments and
state-of-the-art facilities will foster and assess using a rating scheme such usage to SEB were analysed to
the study, practice and research of as Green Star or NABERS. identify an appropriate target.
performance, music and media.
38 SEP T EM B ER 2019 • ECO L I B R I U M
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COV ER FE ATURE
offices to reduce façade loads. The design engaged at an early stage to provide Additionally, A.G. Coombs redesigned
also meets the university’s objective of input into the high-level design the equipment cooling water (ECW)
having capacity for future fitouts. as well as building operations and system from a closed-loop system to
maintenance. These stakeholders a gravity-return system, and improved
As well as similar layouts, the two
remained involved through to the fan coil units (FCUs) serving
buildings share a number of facilities.
project completion. the foyers of the basement performance
A modular mechanical layout was theatres to multi-zone air-handling
Three rounds of user group meetings
designed for the laboratory floors of units (AHUs).
were held in which the very specific
UNSW SEB, with risers located at each
requirements for each laboratory The chiller plant room layout
corner of the laboratory reducing in size,
were determined. was identified as being suitable
and being self-balancing in the event of
for pre-fabrication, resulting in
intensive laboratory use. Supply, general “This resulted in a fitout laboratory the repositioning of the low-load
exhaust, equipment exhaust and fume design that met specific user chiller and the grouping of pumps.
cupboard branches were all standardised requirements, while maintaining The exhaust fan system was also
across these floorplates. If not to be in use a flexible base building design,” relocated out of the chiller plant room
from day one of the building’s operation, says Sadokierski. into the service corridor and away
these were capped for future use.
from the cooling towers to assist
This strategy was also applied waterside, REFINING THE DESIGN with coordination.
with capped chilled water, heating hot Before work commencing onsite, “We also double-stacked the laboratory
water and equipment cooling water A.G. Coombs proposed that the AHUs, improving the layout further,”
connections made to each laboratory laboratory exhaust be moved out of says A.G. Coombs senior engineer
module. the service corridor and instead run George Courtis, Affil.AIRAH.
“This layout allowed for maximum through the laboratories side by side
with the supply duct. Wilkinson Consulting was engaged
versatility in the laboratory fitouts,
to rationalise the acoustic and
minimal disturbance when cold shell labs A.G. Coombs and Arup made a formal vibration treatments nominated by
were to be installed, and presented the submission to UNSW highlighting the the acoustic engineer, SLR Consulting.
opportunity for off site pre-fabrication benefits of this design change. This included the deletion of acoustic
of ductwork and pipework,” says
louvres at the cooling tower compound.
Sadokierski. “It had the effect of decongesting
Rather, low-noise cooling towers
the corridor, allowing for an
Every module is served by a fabric duct featuring water silencers were adopted.
easier installation of pipework in
diffuser at the “clean” office end, and
pre-fabricated modules and making it Both the Arup mechanical services
exhaust grille pick-up at the “dirty” service
easier for other services by minimising design and A.G. Coombs design
corridor end. This promotes laminar
penetrations through the smoke-proof documentation were reviewed by
airflow across each laboratory space.
laboratory and corridor interface a third-party, with Jacobs engaged
Building users and the UNSW walls,” says A.G. Coombs senior independently by UNSW to perform
facilities management team were project manager Adam Ewers. this role.
The high-performance façade.
40 SEP T EM B ER 2019 • ECO L I B R I U M
COV ER FE ATURE
LESSONS FROM THE MECHANICAL SERVICES ENGINEER
Arup associate principal and mechanical power, external static pressure, thermal
USER ENGAGEMENT
engineer Stefan Sadokierski shares efficiency and the like are assessed in
terms of “good” (what is needed to For a project like SEB there are several
the lessons from three aspects of the
achieve the code required minimum layers of users.
firm’s work on the UNSW Science and
Engineering Building. performance), “better” (a feasible A specific researcher or school may
improvement on “good”) and “best” be identified as the first end-user
ENERGY EFFICIENCY (best-in-class performance). Knowing of a space, but all of the spaces
A top-down approach to benchmarking where each of the building systems sits will likely be repurposed several
in this hierarchy ensures that easy wins times over the lifetime of the
energy usage of laboratory buildings (i.e.,
are not missed and helps to identify building. The Facilities Management
comparing to other similar facilities) is
opportunities to improve performance. department is the custodian of
only so useful because specialist research
buildings such as the SEB vary hugely in the building. They will undertake
FLEXIBILITY maintenance, keep it operating,
terms of ventilation rates, heating and
It’s easy to say that something has been manage upgrades and changes, and
cooling loads and the like.
designed for future flexibility. The reality eventually decommission the building.
A complementary approach suggested is that in most instances flexibility comes At a higher level the building is an
by Labs21 is to develop a bottom-up set at a price. Thinking about what may asset for the university and a place
of benchmarks. Here the key parameters happen in the future and understanding where students, researchers and their
of each system such as Coefficient of the cost of making provision for that is collaborators spend their day and do
Performance (CoP), specific fan/pump not easy, and often quite subjective. some amazing work.
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COV ER FE ATURE
A MANIFOLDED
SOLUTION
Following the update of AS/NZS 2243.8
in 2014, the manifolding of fume
cupboards is now permitted in Australia.
The construction of the Science and
Engineering Building represents the first
time manifold fume cupboards have been
used at UNSW.
“Traditionally, a fume cupboard has a
dedicated exhaust fan whose speed ramps
up as the sash is opened, and ramps down
as the sash is closed,” explains Courtis.
“At the SEB, the manifolded strobic
exhaust fan system operates to maintain
a duct static pressure established during
commissioning. Each standard fume
cupboard is served by an air control valve,
and as the sash opens, this valve opens
to achieve the required sash velocity
regardless of pressure. Then as the sash
closes, the valve closes.”
In this way, a single large fan system with
N+1 redundancy can handle hundreds of
fume cupboards rather than installing the
same number of exhaust fans.
Where perchloric and hydrofluoric acids
are in use, manifolded fume cupboards
are not permissible. Rather, dedicated
fume cupboard exhaust fans with on-
board scrubbers have been used, with a
constant volume achieved by virtue of a
bypass sash.
The laboratory AHUs were double-stacked to improve the plantroom layout.
Image courtesy A.G. Coombs.
More challenging, however, was that as
well as manifolding many of the fume
cupboards, the designed also manifolds
the laboratory exhaust system. This design
makes the overall system less costly,
LESSONS FROM THE MECHANICAL reduces space requirements, is more
efficient and reduces the risks associated
SERVICES CONTRACTOR with cross contamination. It did, however,
raise issues about code compliance.
Senior project manager at pre-fabricated risers could have been
A.G. Coombs, Adam Ewers, pre-fabricated with fan modules, Consequently, a considerable amount of
offers some lessons learned from and more pre-fabrication should have design work was undertaken to justify the
the mechanical services installation been implemented into the L8 plant noncompliance and to realise the benefits.
on the UNSW Science and room, including seismic supports. In reaching agreement with UNSW
Engineering Building project. It is always good to have a strong stakeholders to adopt the manifold
pre-fabrication strategy and plan arrangement, a risk assessment was
Using the university’s incumbent developed early in the project. carried out. A hybrid solution was
BMCS company was advantageous to
Especially in technically challenging adopted where the risers for 16 dedicated
the project. It saved a lot of time and
projects like the SEB, the more fume cupboards were provided to allow
avoided issues at the end of the project,
work that goes into planning and for the use of chemicals that require
during commissioning and at the
coordinating the detailed works with individual ducted exhaust by code, or
handover of systems.
all delivery team member the better. where chemical interactions within the
Have confidence in the benefits that This work pays off all the way through manifolded system posed an issue.
can be offered by off-site fabrication. the project, but especially so in the final The mechanical services design was
In review, the tops of the four stages and in wrapping up. also required to balance the onerous
ventilation and control requirements
42 SEP T EM B ER 2019 • ECO L I B R I U M
COV ER FE ATURE
of laboratory spaces with system
energy efficiency. For example, the
tight temperature and humidity
control of laser laboratory spaces
required special attention and led to
these requirements being met locally,
with local HVAC plant fed from the
building’s central plant.
A CENTRAL PLANT
The building is served by a central
energy plant located in the Level 8 plant
room. It provides cooling chilled water
(CHW) and heating hot water (HHW)
to the laboratory AHUs, also located in
the Level 8 plant room, as well as to the
AHUs and FCUs serving the theatres,
located in a basement plant room.
This plant also serves office AHUs In addition to the manifold
located in the same plant room, which fume cupboard arrangement,
16 dedicated fume cupboards
in turn provide outside air to FCUs
were provided to allow for the
– typically 16–17 per level – serving
use of chemicals that by code
offices from Level 1 to 7. These AHUs require individual ducted exhaust.
feature a pseudo-zone pressurisation Image courtesy A.G. Coombs.
function in fire mode.
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As well as meeting the needs of the PRE-FABRICATED plant room were also pre-fabricated
SEB, the cooling needs of the adjacent to overcome the challenges of
Roundhouse Building are met via PRIORITY, PREFERABLY a compressed timeframe.
a CHW heat exchanger located in a Corridor modules, services risers,
“The Level 8 plant room was not made
dedicated basement plant room, at the laboratory supply-air branches and
available to us until very late, and with
base of the south-west pre-fabricated other elements were constructed using
the majority of our services residing in
riser. The laboratory ECW system is also off site prefabrication techniques
this space, the pre-fabrication of so many
located in the basement. that reduced site activity and the
elements allowed us to overcome the
associated safety risks.
The chilled water system consists of compressed timeframe,” adds Ewers.
four chillers – three 1,940kW magnetic Importantly, this method also
He says that in review, more of the
centrifugal chillers and one low-load improved the build quality by
Level 8 plant room could have been
580kW dual-circuited fixed-speed scroll enabling significant manufacturing
pre-fabricated including the tops of four
chiller. The low-load chiller has a low- and assembly works to be carried out
risers to have fan modules pre-installed.
temperature bypass local to the chiller. in a controlled, factory environment.
Additionally, there may have also been
“The colder the condenser water, According to Courtis, it also helped scope to pre-fabricate office FCUs,
the better it is for the larger chillers’ A.G. Coombs shorten the installation plenum boxes and drip trays.
efficiency,” says Courtis. program significantly.
Staying on top of all code requirements
Four induced-draft counter-flow “Pre-fabrication reduced the congestion was also important, particularly given the
cooling towers have been sized to suit of multiple trades working in multiplicity of laboratory research spaces
the four corresponding chillers and particularly services-intensive areas like and the complex mechanical services
provide 1,900kW of heat rejection each. corridors and plant rooms,” says Courtis. required to serve them.
A side-stream filtration system and water “It also reduced the number of
These included the NCC, Australian
treatment plant has also been installed to materials deliveries to site and
Standards, Arup’s design documentation,
treat the condenser water system. assisted in meeting the challenges
Jacobs’ documentation and reviews,
of the construction program.”
Heating hot water is achieved via three UNSW Guidelines, the fire engineering
hot water heaters with modulating gas The pump skids and large chilled report, and room data sheets and
burners suitable for use with the low gas water and condenser water pipe specifications. Arduous requirements
supply (2.75kpa) available on the site. modules that serve the Level 8 from the Office of the Gene Technology
Each standard fume cupboard is served by
BIM CRITICAL an air control valve, and as the sash opens,
this valve opens to achieve the required
TO DELIVERY sash velocity regardless of pressure.
Image courtesy A.G. Coombs.
With a tight construction program
and a complexity of services
challenging all services installations,
the use of building information
modelling (BIM) was critical in
delivering the project on time
and on budget.
Taking the services lead in the
model, A.G. Coombs faced a timing
challenge in ensuring all modelling
of the mechanical services design
was completed before the model
was issued to other trades.
“Coordination without BIM
would have been near impossible,”
says Ewers.
“The difficulty though was that
the mechanical design needed to
be finalised. In the end, design
finalisation and construction
documentation occurred
concurrently. Although not ideal,
it did ensure we stayed ahead of
the other trades.”
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AS 1668.1 2015 ■COV ER FE ATURE
The chilled water system consists of
four chillers – three 1940kW magnetic
centrifugal chillers and one low-load 580kW
dual-circuited fixed-speed scroll chiller.
Image courtesy A.G. Coombs.
Regulator (OGTR) and the Department
of Agriculture and Water Resources PROJECT AT A GLANCE
requirements for PC2 laboratories also
needed to be well understood.
The personnel
The level of interface required with
the other trades also presented its own ▲ Acoustic engineer: ▲ Independent commissioning agent:
challenges. A.G. Coombs worked closely SLR Consulting CSI
with the laboratory gases contractor, ▲ Architect: Grimshaw ▲ Fire and hydraulic services engineer:
AB Mandal, which relied on a number Arup
of mechanical services systems to ▲ Architect (laboratories):
HDR Rice Daubney ▲ Lab gases contractor:
complete its installation. AB Mandal
▲ Builder: Multiplex
“They hooked up their lab equipment ▲ Mechanical services contractor:
to our point exhausts and used our ▲ Civil and structural engineer: A.G. Coombs
ECW for the heat rejection of their lab Taylor Thomson Whitting
▲ Mechanical services engineer:
equipment,” says Courtis. ▲ Electrical services engineer: Arup Arup
“They were also responsible for the ▲ Electrical services contractor: ▲ Services engineer (for UNSW):
life safety systems (LSS) installed in Star Electrical Jacobs
the laboratories, which had high-level
interface to the building management
control system (BMCS). Our lab air The equipment
systems go into purge mode when ▲ AHUs: York ▲ Fume cupboards:
called for by the LSS.” Waldner (via G3Lab)
▲ Air filtration: Airepure Australia
▲ Grilles: Quality Air Equipment, Trox
▲ Air and dirt separators:
RESEARCH UNDER WAY Masterflow Solutions ▲ Laboratory exhaust system:
UNSW’s Science and Engineering Strobic Air Technologies
▲ BMCS: Schneider Electric
Building reached practical completion (via Airepure)
in late January. ▲ Boilers: Simons
▲ Plate heat exchangers: Sondex
The Io Myers Studio and Studio ▲ Buffer tanks:
▲ Pumps: Xylem
Masterflow Solutions
One theatres at basement level were ▲ Sensors: Schneider Electric
completed recently. ▲ Chillers: York
▲ Specialised grilles:
Although mechanical services ▲ Cooling towers: EVAPCO
Holyoake, Smart Air
systems have operated as expected, ▲ CRAC units: Stulz
▲ Side-stream filtration system:
post-completion building tuning ▲ Dampers: Celmec HydroChem
has only recently begun following
▲ Diffusers: Klimagiel, Trox ▲ Thermal energy meters:
the engagement of Commissioning
Siemens (via HVACR Supplies)
Services International (CSI) by ▲ Duct: Kavanagh
Multiplex – as required by Jacobs in its ▲ DX split systems: ▲ VAV boxes: AccuValve
commissioning framework document. Mitsubishi Electric ▲ Ventilation fans and cowls: Fantech
It is expected that a range of operational ▲ FCUs: Temperzone ▲ VSDs: ABB (via HTC)
measures to reduce energy use will be (Source: Arup & A.G. Coombs)
implemented through this process. ❚
46 SEP T EM B ER 2019 • ECO L I B R I U MYou can also read
