‘Quadrivium’ educational and laboratory building

Project description:

The Arenberg campus of KU Leuven in Heverlee was be expanded with a new educational and laboratory building.

The expansion included of new classrooms, didactic laboratories, a large auditorium for 600 people, an administrative area, the necessary sanitary facilities and a cafeteria that also serves as a study area.

At the level of the building envelope, a number of passive measures were taken to reduce the demand for heating and cooling, which can be seen in the low K level of the new building, as for the application of glazing with a high-performance solar factor in the cafeteria and entrance hall.

Heat is produced by a ground-coupled heat pump and a borehole energy storage (BTES) combined with two gas-condensing boilers. The BTES is equipped with 28 drillings of 140 meters depth. The distribution of the heat is realized at a low temperature by means of underfloor heating, radiators and reheating batteries provided on the ventilation system. Cooling is foreseen in the computer classes via a number of fan coil units and process cooling at the laboratory rooms directly connected to the BTES field. At the cafeteria and entrance hall, cooling is done by natural day and night ventilation. The linking of a future nearby building on the BTES field is also envisaged to meet the potential cooling demand in a sustainable way.

The ventilation is realized by a central mechanical ventilation unit, system D. Various ventilation zones are housed in the building, of which the supplied ventilation flow is adjusted according to the actual demand by means of CO2 and temperature measurement.

As an additional renewable part of energy, an extensive PV-installation of 92 kWp is provided on the roof, which also results in the predetermined E-level of E40.