The new £7.5 million Digital Aviation Technology Research Centre (DARTeC) for Cranfield University, which opened in 2021, has been awarded BREEAM Excellent. The project is the first of its kind; a new build research institute creating an environment for collaboration between academics and industry partners specialising in the future of Aviation technology. Digital and sustainable technologies will be the future of aviation and DARTeC supports this cutting-edge research.
The facility provides a research environment which is protected from, and yet accessible to, a live airport that allows research at a variety of technology readiness levels. The facility consists of a central building containing a suite of digital aviation research laboratories, a partially covered ‘hangar laboratory’, a 737-400 aircraft, an intelligent movement area, and a remote air traffic control centre with conventional and advanced holographic radar systems capable of monitoring and controlling the airspace around Cranfield’s airport.
The new facility is home to a number of research groups whose needs are both diverse and changeable. A key goal was built-in adaptability to reduce the need for future modifications; this is a long term approach that is the essence of sustainability.
The aim was an exemplar project regarding energy and resources conservation, so the following principles were adopted:
Incorporation of passive design techniques
Intrinsically low energy use through optimisation of building fabric
Harnessing of local renewable energy resources
Efficient, intelligent engineering services
The campus benefits from an existing district heating network so a natural solution was to extend this to serve the new development, thus connecting to a heat source that is both low carbon and low cost.
To develop a building with intrinsically low heat requirements, the team focussed on the quality of the building envelope, targeting ultra-low U values for the building fabric and a highly sealed construction with low air leakage.
The availability of adjacent land allowed consideration of a passive approach to deliver “free” heating by installing a network of “earth tubes” to take advantage of the stability of the below ground temperature. The open surroundings also allowed use of a large ground mounted PV (photovoltaic) array that was not limited by the available space on the roof.
The design maximises natural light, with daylight penetration enhanced by full height perimeter glazing and significant areas of roof glazing. Solar gain, (and hence cooling energy), is limited by careful building orientation and use of brise soleil to critical rooms on the southern elevations. The internal lighting controls include both daylighting and occupancy sensing in all spaces.
BREEAM provides a holistic sustainability assessment framework, measuring sustainable value in a series of categories and validating this performance with third-party certification. Each of these categories addresses influential factors, including low impact design and carbon emissions reduction; design durability and resilience; adaption to climate change; and ecological value and biodiversity protection.