Ashton KCJ use River Orwell to cool down historic Waterfront building...

Ashton KCJ Solicitors and Real World Energy Solutions (RWES) have been working together to develop an innovative and environmentally friendly heating and cooling system for the firm’s prestigious Waterfront House office in Ipswich.

With work already underway the new space-age office environment system is due to be switched on in six weeks time. This investment is just one of the firm’s Corporate Social Responsibility projects, aimed at saving energy and ensuring that the firm meets its environmental objectives. The system will not only save money in terms of long term investment but it will also radically improve working conditions in the building. Waterfront House was converted to offices from the original maltings in 1976 by Contship Containerlines Ltd, which was seen at the time as a radical renovation project. However today the building is in need of further modernisation.

Alan Brown, Managing Partner, comments on the project ‘Our aim is not just to improve the working conditions for our staff, but also to reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible. To invest in green technology and systems requires a large financial contribution from the partnership, but we are committed to being energy efficient and reducing our carbon footprint. The new system will help us achieve this. In fact the system will also allow each individual office environment to be set to the individual’s choice; a first for our staff. The system will also monitor the energy usage for each floor, making certain that carbon emissions are minimised at every opportunity.’

The new system has been designed by Sterling Mechanical Services, and is project managed by RWES, a division of the local SEH Construction Group. Julian Pennington, Managing Director of RWES who is overseeing the project installation said, “To achieve real savings we have looked at every aspect of the building, its actual structure and fabric and the way it is used every day by the firms staff and clients. The system has been designed to use cold water from Ipswich Marina to cool the building. This water is then returned once cleaned and, filtered back to the River Orwell.”

Peter Beckett, Engineering Manager for East Anglia for Associated British Ports has supported the project: “ABP will always try to co-operate with any of our neighbours especially where reduction in carbon emissions and energy consumption can be achieved. The RWES project for Waterfront House takes cold water from our port for the heat exchanger that cools the building and returns the filtered, warmer water, which quickly dissipates the heat into the greater volume. This is the correct way to harness resources to improve the operational environment of the building.”

Exemplary reductions in energy costs and emissions are projected for the RWES designed project at Waterfront House. Calculations point to a reduction in CO2 emissions of more than 60% and a projected halving in energy costs, which will go a long way to offset the predicted continual long-term rise in energy prices. Cutting the current energy bill by 50% is a useful commercial result of the investment in the new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.

Bernadette Bracken, Practice Manager at Ashton KCJ is confident that substantial reductions in energy costs will be achieved. “In today’s business we all have a responsibility to be aware of our energy consumption. When undertaking major projects such as this one, we need to do everything we can to promote an effective building control strategy. In addition to this project we are also renewing the lighting, replacing many of the windows for more natural light and ventilation. We are closer to being more environmentally friendly, and innovative in our approach to reducing energy consumption and being able to make long term savings.”