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Architect
Hewitt Studios
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Main Contractor
Willmott Dixon
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Renewable Energy Contractor
Solarsense
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Electrical Contractor
CMB Engineering
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Brise Soleil Manufacturer
Taunton Fabrications
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System Size
11.07kWp
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Estimated annual yield
7,550kWh
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Annual CO2 savings
2,091kg
Client
Located in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Stroud College (SGS) is a new school, formed by the merger of Filton and Stroud Colleges in February 2012. The newly constructed Brunel building on the college’s Wise Campus in north Bristol, will be the home to sixth form Science, Technology, Maths, and Engineering courses.
The three-storey Brunel Centre building at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College puts sustainability at its heart, with a number of key features prominent in its design. The building is naturally ventilated throughout, uses air source heat pumps, and a solar photovoltaic (PV) system integrated into the building’s brise soleil – just one of the examples of putting renewables at the forefront of design for students to see every day. The building also features a live monitoring panel in the foyer where students can see exactly how much energy, water and other services the building is using.
The project also saw the replacement of 400sqm of car park and tarmac replaced with wildflower meadows aimed at encouraging biodiversity on site. The solar brise soleil also features a number of LED lights, making an artistic feature at night.
The building has been funded by the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) through the Local Growth Fund, administered by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA). SGS Group Chief Executive, Kevin Hamblin said: “Credit must be given to WECA (West East of England Combined Authority) who had the foresight and confidence to make this investment, as it will provide a world class environment for another 400 students a year to study at SGS.”
CLEAN ENERGY SYSTEM
The project required a large amount of coordination between different companies involved in the development. Solarsense worked closely with the lead architect Hewitt Studios, main contractor Willmott Dixon and electrical contractor CMB Engineering to provide a turn-key solar brise soleil system in order to generate clean energy on-site and reduce the sites’ carbon footprint.
Solarsense also worked closely with brise soleil manufacturer Taunton Fabrications, regarded as one of the leading UK manufacturers of architectural and secondary metalwork to the construction and house building sectors. The solar panels were delivered to the Taunton Fabrication workshop to be fixed to the frames off-site and then delivered to SGS College Brunel Centre in Filton to be craned and fixed to the exterior of the building.
27 x JA Solar 410W panels were fitted vertically to a brise soleil, consisting of 9 banks of 3 panels and connected to an 8kW SolarEdge inverter with solar PV optimisers and a fire fighter gateway to enable remote, panel-level shut down in the event of fire on-site. The smart enabled SolarEdge inverter also communicates with the BMS (Building Management System) to provide system status reporting and feed into the live monitoring panel in the foyer of the building.
The design engineers at Solarsense opted for high efficiency 410W PV modules to maximise on-site energy generation. SolarEdge optimisers were fitted on each solar panel to enhance the performance of each individual module and minimises the impact of shading issues. SolarEdge technology also meant that each panel could be monitored individually, providing full visibility of the system’s technical and financial performance.
Awards
- 2021 Structural Timber Awards - Education Project of the Year – Winner
- 2021 CESW Awards - Sustainability Award – Winner
- 2021 Education Estates Awards - College Project of the Year – Highly Commended
- 2021 Offsite Construction Awards - Education Project of the Year – Finalist
Client Quote
“I am delighted with the fantastic development of this new centre for high tech skills at SGS. The build will provide increased capacity in the area for the next generation of scientists, technicians, engineers, and creatives and inspire them to push harder to achieve their educational goals”.
Kevin Hamblin – SGS Group Chief Executive
