Opal Sustainability

Sustainability and the Opal Property Group

Action is needed. It is generally agreed that world carbon levels are rising and that this is having a devastating impact on our world. The effects of raising carbon levels could lead to increased rain fall, increasing world temperatures and the melting of the ice caps – these changes in our environment will be devastating.

Sustainable design is the art of designing physical objects, particularly in the built environment to comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability. It ranges from the design of small objects for everyday use, through to the designing of buildings, landscapes and cities. It is an essential tool within the fields of architecture, urban design and planning engineering, graphic design, industrial design, interior design and fashion design.
The needed aim of sustainable design within Building services is to produce buildings and services in a way that reduces the use of non-renewable resources, minimises environmental impact, and relates people and buildings with the natural environment.
Renewable energy can be described as the energy flows derived from natural sources that are continuously at work in our environment and are not depleted by being used. Solar radiation is responsible for the majority of renewable energy sources; however there are other sources where the energy generation comes from sources other than solar radiation.

OPAL is committed to play its part in reducing carbon levels and to support the UK Governments commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 60% by 2050.

OPAL currently houses 18,000 students and professionals, changes that we make will have a positive effect on reducing carbons levels.

Its not just words, OPAL has implemented policies on its existing schemes and future projects that actively seek to reduce energy consumption and thus reduce the amount of carbon emitted,  these and other sustainable initiatives  include:


  • Biomass Boilers which burn wood pellets as energy to heat water. The wood pellets are specially produced to be dense and high in energy. The pellets are made from wood and are therefore sustainable. Whilst burning wood produces carbon, the manufacturers of Biomass Boilers state that the carbon produced is no more than the carbon released when the wood decomposes naturally. 57% of all energy consumed within our developments is used to heat hot water, the introduction of the Bio Mass boiler is a big leap forward in our schemes becoming more sustainable.
  • Heat recovery systems are used on the extract ventilation serving the shower facilities, this provides warm air to the internal circulation areas. This reduces the demand on the boilers and reuses the energy consumption within the building
  • Water restrictors fitted to showers to reduce the amount of water used.
  • Dual flush toilets
  • Light sensors fitted to reduce the amount of time lights are left on.
  • Push button timers fitter to heaters so that they cannot be left on.
  • Good insulation standards to reduce heat loss.
  • Recycling facilities are available to all students.
  • Energy saving lights fitted where possible
  • Redevelopment of brownfield sites 
  • Implementing policies that encourage our suppliers to work in an environmentally sustainable way.
  •  All offices implement paper recycling initiatives



The Future:

Opal is considering installing the following sustainable technologies within its future projects:


Solar Hot Water Collectors
Technology Overview:
Solar Hot water systems are already well established in many countries across Europe, however  the perception that the UK weather is not sunny enough has reduced their use in the UK. Solar thermal systems do not actually require direct sunlight and so work very successfully within the UK.

Solar thermal panels, along with a condensing boiler, most often represents the best green investment for all types and sizes of buildings. They can heat 100% of the hot water in the summer and save 60% of the annual fuel cost for heating hot water.  For buildings with high levels of insulations, solar thermal panels can also be incorporated in to the heating system.

Solar panels can absorb direct and indirect energy from the sun even on dull days and convert it into heat. Many systems offer flexibility to suit all applications with panels that are easily connected together, to generate the right amount of hot water for the building.



Solar Photovoltaic Systems (PV)
Technology Overview:
Photovoltaics, or PV for short, modules convert sunlight directly into DC electricity, this electricity is then converted from DC to AC via inverters situated in a desired location, generally a designated electrical switch room area which may be situated in the loft or roof void. 

During daylight hours enough electricity could be produced from PV panels to meet typical household electrical needs. If the demand cannot be met then the supply would be supplemented by the national grid. If however excess electricity is produced then electricity can be fed back into the electricity grid.


Wind Power
Technology Overview:
Most wind power is generated in the form of electricity. Large scale wind farms can be connected to electrical grids whilst Individual turbines can provide electricity to isolated locations. Wind energy is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean and reduces greenhouse gas emissions when it displaces fossil-fuel-derived electricity.

The design of the wind turbine blades has been developed over the recent years into a highly sophisticated element that encompasses aeronautical design with blades harnessing the lift effect of the wind passing over them. The output from a modern wind turbine is dependent on the speed of the wind and power from the wind increased to the cube of the wind speed, meaning that only small increases in wind speed can provide dramatic increases in power output. As wind speed increases with height above the ground a wind turbine is best located on a high mast or tower.



Heat Pumps
Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP)
Technology Overview:
Ground source heat pumps use a buried ground loop or vertical piles to transfer heat from the ground into a building to provide space heating and, in some cases, to pre-heat domestic hot water. As well as ground source heat pumps, air source and water source heat pumps are also available. The efficiency of a ground source heat pump system is measured by the coefficient of performance (CoP). This is the ratio of units of heat output for each unit of electricity used to drive the compressor and pump for the ground loop. Average CoP is around 4 although some systems may produce a greater rate of efficiency. This means that for every unit of electricity used to pump the heat, 4 units of heat are produced, making it an efficient way of heating a building.


 
Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP)
Technology Overview:
ASHPs supply more energy than they consume. By extracting heat from the surrounding air, the heat energy released can be up to 4 times the energy required to power the equipment (COP =4). An ASHP system consists of a compressor and a carefully matched evaporator coil and heat exchanger. A refrigerant liquid which circulates within the system has a boiling point as low as minus 40°C and evaporates when absorbing heat from the outside air. It is possible to extract considerable heat from the air at temperatures as low as minus 15°C.The resulting refrigerant gas is then compressed adding more heat energy and raising its temperature to around 75°C. This heat is then passed via the heat exchanger into water and used to provide space heating through radiators as for conventional heating systems, or via underfloor heating systems.

ASHP’s can be used to provide space heating to a wide range of building types. They are used in houses, community buildings and many commercial Air Conditioning systems across the country
Heatpumps are most suited to energy efficient buildings and are most efficient when supplying low temperature distribution systems such as underfloor heating.




Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
Technology Overview:
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) is the simultaneous generation of usable heat and power (usually electricity) in a single process. CHP is a highly efficient way to use both fossil and renewable fuels and can therefore make a significant contribution to the UK’s sustainable energy goals, bringing environmental, economic, social and energy security benefits. Micro CHP can be installed in to individual buildings or a central plant can be built to serve part of or all a site. Excess electrical energy produced from the CHP plant can be sold back to third parties.
OPAL is committed to reducing its carbon emissions and is constantly working to improve energy efficiency.