The new state-of-the-art building of the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology was made possible through European Regional Development Fund and Government of Malta funding, amounting to around €17 million. The aim behind the building is to provide the University of Malta with a Faculty of ICT geared for excellent grade education and for interacting with national and international ICT players, on both academic and industrial levels, and from both research and collaborative perspectives.
The building has no open able windows but it is fully climate controlled through a centralised controller. The internal climatic conditions, such as temperature, introduction of fresh air and extraction will all be managed by an automated system. Heat recovery units have also been installed in key areas such that the fresh air being introduced inside the building is pre conditioned by the extract air resulting in increased overall efficiency. The rooms shall be furnished with presence detectors in order to switch off lights and air conditioning systems automatically if the room is vacated. The underground parking will be automatically ventilated. It is envisaged that this centralised climate control system, together with the use of advanced outer façade materials, will significantly reduce the energy demands of this building thus helping minimise the environmental impact that the addition of another building on campus will have.
In general, the air-conditioning units are of the VRF type with inverter driven compressors in order to optimise running efficiency under partial load conditions.
Although the building houses its own dedicated electricity sub-station to ensure a stable supply of power, it is also equipped with a standby generator for emergency power provision and shall be suitable to run the essential loads.
Another feature of the building is its own rain water harvesting. Even in case of water supply interruption, the building can rely on its own voluminous subterranean water reservoir. This water reservoir shall be used to provide second class water in flushings, provide water for irrigation purposes as well as for fire fighting systems.
The type of light fittings shall vary depending on the application and location, but in general they shall all provide a high lumen output per watt and are therefore energy efficient.
The building is furnished with a PV array on the roof which shall serve the dual purposes of providing shading to the roof, thereby decreasing the fabric heat gain and also generate power for direct use by the building.
The building is also furnished with security and safety systems including a fire detection system, fire fighting system (with inert gas suppression in the server rooms), CCTV and access control.
The structure itself is a four-floor edifice offering approximately 6700 sq m of floor space in total, configured as two blocks connected via a central multi-storey entrance, lobby, stairwell, and lift area, with a ramp-accessed underground level 70+ car park. Yet, attention was given to the overall skyline of the University’s Msida Campus, by making sure that the elevation of the building did not in any way encumber the view from any of the existing University buildings. The various areas in the new building will include teaching labs, research rooms, tutorial rooms, undergraduate study areas, post-graduate rooms, research labs, and more.
Posted on Monday, 11 March 2013