Low energy visions – but where's the numerical evidence?

Organised by the Inegration of New and Renewable Energy in Buildings Faraday Partnership and the Urban and Economic Development Group with support from the Co-operative Insurance Society, the competition invited ideas for a mixed-use scheme on a 2·2 hectare site on the edge of Manchester's city centre.

The winning entry from the school of the built environment includes a high density mix of industrial, business, retail, housing, agriculture and recreation. The primary energy strategy incorporates chp plant run on refuse-derived fuel and wood chips.

But judges expressed some disappointment with entrants' overall understanding of the technical challenge, despite encouraging multi-disciplinary teams to enter.

"Many entries showed appealing or intriguing visions about how urban developments might make use of new and renewable energy systems to become more environmentally sustainable, but failed to demonstrate how this might actually be achieved," commented judges.

A lack of experience of sustainable techniques was also evident: "Many entrants seemed to believe that natural passive-stack or cross ventilation systems would work simply because they had drawn little arrows to show where the air should go," said judges.

They added:"There was a distinct lack of convincing numerical substantiation of the performance of proposed buildings and their energy systems."

The designs will now be presented to the property arm of the Co-operative Insurance Society to help raise awarness and educate staff on the issues of sustainability.