Completing South Asia’s first certified Passive house retrofit of a factory building, near Colombo, Sri Lanka, Jordan Parnass Digital Architecture (JPDA) has proved that climate is no bottleneck for achieving buildings with ultra-high-performance efficiency. This pioneering project in addition to being a model creates a green economic catalyst for sweatshop-free commercial establishments in the future.
Setting a high standard for sustainable, energy efficient facility which provides a high level of comfort to the workers, this Star Innovation Center, the product development facility is intended to be a model for the garment industry worldwide.
In comparison to the conventional efficient industrial buildings, 75% yearly energy savings is expected from this project which is one of the world’s only two certified Passive House factory buildings.
While maintaining high ethical, social, environmental and safety standards committed by the client, the project has significantly reduced the wastage, fossil fuels and carbon emissions required in demolition and new constructions by selecting to renovate an archaic building.
So far high-performance buildings have been built only in the North European Style climates where heating is a major requirement. Star Innovation Center is the pioneer to bring in the Passive House Technology to the tropical climate where it is constantly warm throughout the year with very high relative humidity.
The building and its enclosures are carefully designed and engineered to ensure the working conditions are comfortable throughout the year with sufficient natural light, filtered fresh air, constant temperature of around 24 °C and low humidity.
Remote Monitoring of energy usage along with air tightness testing, quantitatively confirms the performance of the building in achieving the savings for the client while providing the comfortable working conditions for the employees.
To show the possibility of high-performance buildings in tropical regions as well as to facilitate technology transfer, the integrated project involved local architects, fabricators, engineers and builders from the onset of the project.
Besides being an inspiration for the local building industry, this project by JPDA has set a path to not only reduce the carbon emissions but also to end the sweatshop conditions of the workers.
Charles Komar, CEO of the Star Garments group is appreciative of Jordan and his team’s diligent work in successfully executing the project despite the challenges faced. He is also happy with the comforts offered by the Passive House building and is looking forward to energy cost savings in the years to come.
About the company JPDA – Jordan Parnass Digital Architecture is an award-winning practice that combines sustainable architecture, experience design, interiors, and branding. They are world leaders in employing Passive House to a variety of building types. The company is passionate and committed to bringing high-performance buildings which along with reducing energy usage and improving productivity also ensure healthy living.
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