Presentation at the Institute for Sustainable Energy

On Tuesday 12th March, AP will present at The Institute for Sustainable Energy annual conference. The presentation titled 'The New Brewhouse, Mriehel: Environmental Control Through Natural Ventilation and Shading Devices' will present results from a study based on a simulated model.

The presentation will reveal how the new Farsons Brewhouse works as a protective shell accommodating the various building services whilst simultaneously assisting the environmental control of the interiors through two primary strategies: natural ventilation in the brewhalls and shading devices in the office building.

The results of the study showed that the induced air flow reduces the temperature by 10.7 °C and 8.5 °C in the lower and upper brewhalls respectively during the summer months. Whilst the ventilation system works successfully during most of the time, air changes drop when wind forces create a higher pressure outside of the building, as a result reverse flow occurs.

The presentation will also include the office building and its different design strategy. The office building incorporates various passive measures with the main feature being an expanded aluminium shading mesh. Monitoring of the internal temperatures before and after the mesh was installed shows that the introduction of shading reduces the peak temperatures in summer whilst maintaining a well-lit internal environment. A simulated energy analysis of the building shows a potential reduction in energy consumption of 24% when compared to the same building with typical construction materials.

The study concludes that by introducing moderate insulation, shading and night time ventilation internal temperatures are reduced effectively. On the other hand, the type of double glazing has to be carefully weighed, so as to avoid counter-productive results given the mild climate of Malta.

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