The Essex Business School building in Colchester is the UK's first zero-carbon business school building and houses our Accounting, Finance and Management and Marketing groups as well as over 2,000 students and staff.
It has been estimated that the design of the building reduces emissions by 18% as a result of solar panels, making use of natural light, heat circulation.
The central courtyard is open to the sky and forms a water garden, collecting roof surface rainwater, which is in turn used to irrigate the winter garden planting.
The building has been orientated to make maximum benefit of solar energy, both through passive heat gains and PV energy.
The 500sqm solar array offsets 47.9 tonnes of CO2 annually generating enough electrical energy to offset over 20% of the site's carbon emissions.