Sistovari Theatre
Environmental Stratergy
The overarching aim of the environmental strategy is to ensure that the theatre development will have lightest possible touch in terms of both the local, proximal environment as well as the wider regional or national implications of importing resources to the site. To achieve this, the strategy will comprise two key steps:
- Reduce demand for energy and water by design.
- Satisfy any residual demand from resources which create the smallest practicable impact.
Energy
There are three key strands that define the energy demands for the development; energy embodied in the materials and construction process; heating and cooling energy to provide thermal comfort within the buildings, and thermal and electrical energy to support the activities carried out on the site.
Reducing demand by design
Where possible the selection of construction materials and processes will focus on locally available resources and skills which limit transport, manufacturing and construction energy requirements. Passive solar design principles will be adopted for the buildings, particularly the house and the technical block, to reduce heating and cooling loads. This means orientating spaces, selecting materials and developing built forms that allow these buildings to work with the prevailing climate conditions and provide appropriate levels of thermal comfort while minimising the need for additional systems. Where such additional systems are required they will be supported by technologies, such as thermostatic controls, that allow users to optimise their thermal environment efficiently. For activities on the site that require energy, such as lighting and food and drink chillers etc., demand will be managed through the adoption of energy efficient appliances and fittings.
Satisfying residual demand
Limiting the impacts associated with energy supplied to the development requires the appropriate selection of low carbon or renewable energy technologies (LCRETs). Until exact demand profiles have been established it is difficult to determine which LCRETs would be suitable. However, likely options will include: the use of solar thermal collectors on southern elevations to provide preheating for boiler water to augment either space heating or water heating applications; battery powered site lighting charged through the use of photovoltaic panels; a generator set to provide main theatre and building lighting as well as other electrical loads which will be designed to operate on both locally/regionally available bio fuel and conventional fossil fuels.
Water
The main element of a successful water strategy for the development is to deliver the minimum quantity necessary to achieve a specific purpose and to ensure it is of an appropriate quality. Demands are likely to include washing and cooking, toilet facilities and drinking water.
Reducing demand by design
Demand reduction for cooking and washing will focus on the use of efficient appliances and is likely to include the use of aerated taps and showers. For the toilet facilities, waterless units, which compost waste and do not need direct connection to a sewerage system, will be considered.
Satisfying residual demand
To reduce reliance on external water resources two approaches will be adopted: harvest the water that falls naturally on the site and reuse the wastewater generated through the normal activities of the development. The requirements of efficient rainwater harvesting will help shape the built forms employed on the site and the resulting water will be held onsite to provide inter-seasonal storage. Harvested rainwater will be used in non-potable applications such as washing etc. and may require some limited treatment which will also be carried out onsite. Opportunities to reuse wastewater from the site are difficult to determine until detailed demand profiles have been established, however it is likely that some of the washing and cooking wastewater could be treated onsite and combined with rainwater for use in non-potable applications. Depending on the relative balance between demand and supply for these applications it might be necessary to provide some storage for water that is sourced from outside of the site. Treating the available resources onsite to potable standards is unlikely to cost effective, consequently alternative supplies need to be established. To reduce the need to import potable supplies to the site, a number of technologies currently available, such as those that produce drinking water by extracting water vapour from the air or high efficiency, small-scale marine desalination systems, will be investigated.
