September 2011: Though there was a lot of coverage on the launch of the new Stratford Westfield shopping centre, there was little mention of the new high efficiency decentralised energy system installed providing the heat and power onsite. The press material released by Westfield states that 75% of all Stratford City’s electrical power will be met through an on-site Combined Cooling, Heat and Power Plant (CCHP). It goes on to say that the building was designed with a number of energy efficiency measures including the “use of natural light, effective insulation, high efficiency lighting, heating and cooling and control of solar gain will ensure the buildings are at least 10% more energy efficient than required by Building Regulations”.
The press release states that “efficient building design and on-site CCHP will help achieve carbon reduction targets of 50% by 2020” – which needs to be further clarified (ie which carbon reduction targets, and 50% of what baseline?).
Some further useful information and graphics are provided in the following Marks and Spencers presentation which highlights that:
- the Westfield M&S is 30% more energy efficient than other M&S stores
- the store achieves a 44% improvement on heating/cooling operational carbon efficiency by using CCHP
- 99.5% of cooling is delivered through the on-site CCHP; and
- a 100% per cent of heating from the on-site CCHP