Case Studies
Park Village – Initial Site Appraisal
Park Village is a very special project and is breaking new ground in its approach to sustainable development for the 21st century. Utilising an existing brownfield quarry site situated in beautiful Aberdeenshire countryside, it represents an ideal opportunity to build a sustainable community based on the best available, tried and tested designs and technologies. Underpinning the project is the proposal to minimise the energy demands of the new development and to generate as much sustainable energy as possible within the bounds of the site. Mirspot Ltd were contracted to monitor, record and model the meteorological data from the site over a period of 12 months from February 2008 to February 2009 and provide analysis using ClimateCapture™ which is the unique software developed by Mirspot for this purpose.
Project title: Park Village – Initial Site Appraisal
Project Duration: 1 year
Completion date: April 2009
Overall Project Cost: n/a
Project Description:
Four masts were used at different locations across the site sampling meteorological data at 10 minute intervals. As well as the wind resource, we measured influential parameters such as solar energy, temperature and rainfall, amongst others. The intention is to show not only what resources are available at the site, but also how building design and development layout can be optimised to suit the known site conditions.
In terms of sustainable energy resources available on site early data analysis using ClimateCapture™ suggest that there is a good solar resource available across the site and that certain parts of the site could be used for wind power generation if desired. Using appropriate and sympathetic design methods, much of the space and water heating demand could be met by ground source heat pumps and solar thermal panels.
As a second phase of the project, a proposal is in development to utilise the weather data to develop a dynamic three dimensional model of the site for master planning purposes. This will allow a detailed thermodynamic assessment of the effects of local weather and topography upon different development layouts within the site. The weather data could also be used in the subsequent stages to carry out detailed Dynamic Building Simulations to optimise the design energy performance of individual building designs.
Click here for a link to the: Park Village website
