Sustainability wise, the building has achievedan energy performance rating of “A” due to low CO2 emissions. To achieve such arating, the engineers had utilized a geothermal ground water heat pump for theheating and cooling of the building, which runs 14m deep. Each of the 35offices had been allocated a provision to the geothermal system, which allowsthe offices to “tap in” utilized the system by the tenants, provided piping andspecialized equipment is purchased and installed at their own expense. The design of the building’s façade andopenings has been built in a way to minimize exposure to the sun and reduceenergy consumption. The rain screen aluminum decorative exterior panels on the eastand west sides of the building were fit onto a secondary steel frame structurewith thermal insulation, which “wraps” around the main building constructionand shields it from the sun. All offices feature double-glazing windows withlow energy features, whilst the lobby area features tempered glass panels.
ABuilding Management System (BMS) has also been utilized, which monitors andcontrols the lightning, HVAC, security, fire alarms, elevators and otherparameters of the building, to effectively manage the building’s “heart-beat”and efficiently monitor energy consumption, for example, as the building is notoperating at its full occupancy rate, only two of the four elevators areoperational, to minimize energy consumption. All floors feature standalonelight sensors in the common areas and switch on automatically upon detection ofmovement. Energy efficient LED lightning has been used throughout the building.
Unfortunately, no natural lighting is presentin the common halls of each floor, therefore artificial light must be usedwhenever passing through the common hall area on all office levels. The oval design of the building and decorativealuminum panels, albeit looks creative, restricts the building from have anyhorizontal areas, thereby making it impossible to efficiently utilize the”dead” areas of the building and harvest the energy of the sun for waterheating purposes and/or to install photovoltaic panels.The building does not feature a rainwatercollection system, nor does it have a grey water treatment plant, both of whichcould have been utilized for the watering of the grounds or in the toilets.Toconclude, whilst the building has achieved an A rating, Cybarco, the developerof The Oval, could have taken an additional step forward to achieve a betterenergy rating and sustainability of the building i.
e. utilizing the energy ofthe sun to power the building, of which there is plenty in Cyprus, as de-facto,The Oval only features a geothermal pump system, BMS, LED lighting and thermalinsulation, all of which are commonly used in new developments.
