CREST Centre for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology: Passive House Research and Development Centre

CREST – Centre for Renewable Energy & Sustainable Technologies is a project that we feel is worthy of presentation. The pavilion is one of the most sustainable buildings in the UK and Ireland and meeting the Passive House, BREEAM Excellent and Carbon Neutral building standards. The ethos of the CREST centre is to create a sustainable technology research facility that can benefit others, by showcasing the technologies that are integrated with a very energy efficient building. The CREST pavilion building has the purpose of being a demonstration building for the pioneering design principals and construction methods adopted in it. It is an exemplar working model for other construction schemes. It was designed using all the principles of Passive House design and is the first educational building in Northern Ireland to have Passive House Certification. The building is also constructed using materials that meet the standards set out by BRE, CREST achieved the much sought after BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’. The project is distinguished by 3 key sustainable credentials: 1. Passive House Certified for energy efficient fabric and ventilation system. 2. BREEAM Excellent in terms of the BRE sustainable benchmark for UK commercial buildings. 3. Zero Carbon i.e. the building can provide, by renewable energy, its own source of heat and lighting. (Solar PV Micro farm with a tracking system coupled with Battery Energy Storage). Whilst a combination of two of these sustainable criteria has been carried out in other parts of the UK, this is the first example of a combination of all three. The combination of these credentials, integrated with the appropriate renewable technology makes this project a shining example of sustainable development. Carbon neutrality is achieved by virtue of the low energy input and sustainable energy technologies installed in connection with the building. There is 49kW of solar photovoltaic panels installed at the Pavilion. This is comprised of a 45kWp robotic solar tracker – the first of its type to be installed in Europe – and 4kWp of wall mounted panels. The energy from these panels is first used in the Pavilion. Excess energy generated is transmitted to the 40kVa energy storage system and to the adjacent building. In addition to the project, PhD level research has been undertaken and as part of the research the building is being monitored for Indoor Air Quality, Temperature, energy consumption, energy generation and energy storage. We feel we can deliver a unique presentation at your conference from the perspective as the client, the end user, the researcher and the trainer.