Sin El Fil, Lebanon
ACE Headquarters
As one of Middle East’s leading consulting design engineers, ACE has taken on the challenge of constructing a LEED accredited building, leading the way by example to demonstrate its commitment to save and protect the environment and provide its occupants with health and comfort. ACE has committed to creating a green building for our HQ in support of maximizing efficiency, productivity, and comfort of all the occupants. The ACE Headquarters is a commercial type building for office use located in Sin El Fil, Cardinal El Sayegh Street, Lebanon. The building was designed to achieve LEED Gold certification using the latest technologies in Power reduction, Solar Energy usage, and utility savings.
Description
LED lighting was used all over the project to achieve effective task lighting where needed as well as general lighting with minimal power usage. The lighting is controlled by the multi-zone occupancy sensors along with a freely adjustable desk lamp (task lighting) to enable the occupants to adjust the lighting to meet their needs as recommended by LEED credit IEQc6.1. The building was optimized to use natural lighting during most hours of the day. Cooling and heating of the project spaces were optimized using energy-efficient equipment, thermostat controls, and adequate ventilation. Hot water pre-heat is done via roof-mounted solar panels. Solar Energy was used to provide power supply for the building data center. The solar photovoltaic system supplies a given load of around 8 KW and net meter the rest of the energy back to the grid in a hybrid grid connect/stand-alone system. The photovoltaic system promotes sustainable development and will reduce pollution. All fans and pump motors are provided with variable frequency/speed-driven inverters closely matching the demand. In addition, all the associated ductwork and pipework have been oversized in accordance with ASHRAE to reduce the friction losses. All the cooling plants have been configured to serve dedicated zones with individual controls. ACE's new building has been designed with a green roof on top as well as some solar water heaters; this means that not the whole roof area can be utilized for photovoltaic panels. The roof design was optimized so that up to 18.48 KW of photovoltaic energy can be installed on the building roof. State of the art PV panels was chosen for the application. Each panel gives around 140 Watts and has an area of 1 m2. Inclination angle and shading factors have been taken into effect in order to maximize efficiency. Multiple ECMs were implemented during the design phase of the project. The building automation The system will monitor and control individual spaces to determine when each strategy is implemented as well as provide performance feedback. Operation parameters of ECMs will notify/alarm building operators of conditions that may adversely affect energy savings performance. In addition, each floor will be metered and monitored for electricity, water, and environmental parameters for the benefit of appropriateness, rigor, and repeatability in accordance with (IPMVP). Each floor shall be provided with electric meters, continuously metering the usage on each floor.
Project info
- Construction phase
- New construction
- Building type
- Non-residential building
- Detailed building type
- Office
- Net floor area
- 5384.82 m2
- Land plot size
- 20882 m2
- Stories
- 7 stories
- Construction type
- Mixed construction
- Original construction year of the building
- 2012
- Project contact
- Elie Safi
- Contact email address
- elie.safi@ace-intl.com
Project team
- Developer(s)/owner(s)
- ACE/Mr. Hani Hakim
- Architect(s)
- Elie Safi
- Construction contractor(s)
- Jesco for Concrete, Bifem Paralu for curtain walls, Elcir for wood, Carlisle for Water proofing systems, Mitsulift for conveying systems and ACE for remaining works.
- Energy efficiency consultant(s)
- ACE
- HVAC consultant(s)
- Khater Engineering
- Building services
- Offices for engineering firm and related amenities
Building Rating and Certifications systems
- Rating and certifications systems
- LEED
Building Envelope
External walls
- Description of construction
- Concrete walls - Steel Framed, 300mm thickness, Absorptivity: 0.675.
- U-Value
- 1.945 W/(m²*K)
Roof
- Roof type
- Concrete ceiling with hollow blocks
- Description of construction
- Total 475mm thick. HW concrete 360mm, Cement Plaster 10mm, Vapor barrier 5mm, Polyiso insulation 40mm, and top tiles 40mm. Absorptivity: 0.7
- U-Value
- 0.458 W/(m²*K)
Openings and windows
- Glazing type
- Double glazed
- U-Value glass
- 1.9 W/(m²*K)
- G-Value glass
- 0.3
- Frame material / description
- Aluminum frame
- U-Value frame
- 2.77 W/(m²*K)
- Overall u-value window
- 2.37 W/(m²*K)
- Description of construction
- Concealed structure Aluminum curtain wall system.
Basement floor
- Description of construction
- Concrete retaining peripheral walls 300mm thick with epoxy paint over exposed concrete and low VOC paint over fairface concrete wall finish.
- U-Value
- 1.611 W/(m²*K)
Technical Building Systems
Ventilation system
- Type of ventilation
- Fans
- Description
- Roof Exhaust fans for restrooms and Mechanical ventillation for Basements
- Manufacturer(s) / products
- Systemair / Parking fans, Fresh air fans for technical rooms in basements, Exhaust fans for restrooms.
Space cooling system
- Primary space cooling system
- VRV System / FAHU+CU
- Description
- VRV System / FAHU+CU cooling systems for open space offices, offices and general areas.
- Manufacturer(s) / products
- Hitachi/ VRV system and CIAT, Lenox for FAHU+CU
- Secondary space cooling system
- Mounted single-split or window air conditioner│Usually a visible smaller system mounted outside the wall or above the window just supplying one room
- Description
- mini Split units cooling for technical rooms (UPS room, Battery room, Server Room)
- Manufacturer(s) / products
- McQuay/ Split units
Space heating system
- Primary Space heating system
- District heating
- Description
- VRV System / FAHU+CU heating systems for open space offices, offices and general areas.
- Manufacturer(s) / products
- Hitachi/ VRV system and CIAT, Lenox for FAHU+CU
Water heater system
- Primary water heater system
- Solar Thermal collector on the roof
- Description
- Vacuum tube solar system
- Manufacturer(s) / products
- SunRain/ Vacuum tube solar system
- Secondary water heater system
- Dedicated electric heater (dedicated = just hot water generation)
- Description
- 6KW Electrical boiler.
- Manufacturer(s) / products
- ELBI / Electrical boiler
Lighting system
- Primary lighting system
- LED (Light emitting diode lamps)
- Description
- LED lighting downlights for general and office spaces lighting.
- Manufacturer(s) / products
- Zumtobel / LED fixtures.
- Secondary lighting system
- LED (Light emitting diode lamps)
- Description
- LED desk lighting fixtures for each office. LED lighting 3.2W consumption each.
- Manufacturer(s) / products
- PAN/ Desk Light 3.2W LED. Ref. TAV30024
Shading devices
- Type of shading system installed
- Manual systems (e.g. roller shutters, folding shutters, external blinds)
- Description
- Sun Shade curtains
Photovoltaics
- Capacity
- 18.48 kWp
- Total module area
- 1322 m²
- Description
- "The solar photovoltaic system the new building in Sin El Fil supplies a given load of around 8 KW and net meter the rest of the energy back to the grid in a hybrid grid connect/stand alone system. The photovoltaic system promotes sustainable development and reduce pollution. ACEs new building in Sin El Fil has a green roof on top as well as some solar water heaters; this means that not the whole roof area can be utilized for photovoltaic panels. 18.48 KW of photovoltaic energy has been installed on the buildings roof. The PV panel used gives around 140 Watts and has an area of 1 m2. Inclination angle and shading factors have been taken into effect in order to maximize efficiency."
- Manufacturer(s) / products
- Mideast Power Systems (MPS)/ Solar Photovoltaic System
Final Energy Demand
- Energy carrier (1)
- Electricity
- Annual heating demand
- 6.35 kWh/(m²*a)
- Annual cooling demand
- 15.87 kWh/(m²*a)
- Annual lighting demand
- 26.1 kWh/(m²*a)
- Annual hot water demand
- 0.96 kWh/(m²*a)
- Total final energy demand
- 92.33 kWh/(m²*a)
Financial Aspects
- Project construction cost
- 6535982 EUR
- Estimated costs of energy efficiency and renewable energy measures
- 653596 EUR
- Certification costs
- 15000 EUR
- Financing sources
- Loan
- Financing/funding institution
- IBL Bank
