FMC Kongsberg - Well within the energy requirements

The SFP factor, which states the energy used to run the building’s ventilation system, is 2.0. “These values have been achieved without the use of any particularly advanced energy saving technology,” says project manager Jörgen Knetter.

“We have used 20cm insulation in site-poured concrete floors and walls below ground level and insulation has been increased from 15 to 17cm in the load bearing concrete section walls, which have a total thickness of 45cm. Windows and glass facades have a U value of 1.0. That is so good that the snow hardly melts on the glass roof over the atrium. The ability of the concrete walls to retain heat and cold, in combination with more than a thousand automatically controlled venetian blinds, means that the volume of air in the ventilation system is less than in a conventional building,” he explains. 80 per cent recovery of heat from the ventilating air is an important energy saving measure. The project has also thought out new ways of using less energy to transport the ventilating air. This has been achieved through the location of 15 ventilation units, so that the transport path is shorter and the channel dimensions smaller. Other energy saving measures mentioned by Knetter include room sensors to control light and heat. The window area has also been reduced by about 20 per cent from the original drawings.

“Our biggest challenge has been meeting the building schedule, not the energy requirements,” Knetter believes.

Comprehensive logistics
“The technical contracts add up to almost NOK 130 million. There is a great deal to be included in the building and some comprehensive logistics is needed to accomplish everything. FMC is a sectional building with a 240cm technical grid system. This means that there must be outlets for power, ventilation, heat and venetian blinds every 240cm,” says Bakker.

“FMC has been planned as a flexible building. That means that within eight hours you should be able to move an office space from one place to another or take away dividing walls and create an open plan. That means everything has to be led through ducts in the outer walls and in the centre throughout the building. This has given us a number of challenges,” says Bakker. Jörgen Knetter believes the high success factor has also been reflected in health and safety. During two hectic years of building, none of Veidekke’s employees have been absent due to injury, and there have only been two such injuries among the sub-contractors. 945 green sheets have been handed in. To be completely accurate the safety index is 14.1.