Willmott Dixon aims to provide a pointer to achieving low carbon healthcare facilities with its £17 million contract to design and build the UK's first BREEAM 'outstanding' Primary Care Centre.

Health facilities are traditionally high consumers of fossil fuel energy, so Willmott Dixon and Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust wanted to demonstrate how it is possible to create a highly energy efficient community health facility in Houghton-le-Spring in Sunderland.

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The super 'green' Primary Care Centre uses renewable energy from 20 square metres of solar thermal panels, 300 square metres of photovoltaic panels and a ground source heat pump supplying natural heat from the ground to the entire building.

A further innovation is the E-stack ventilation system. This utilises a 1m wide 'thermal wall' that runs through the middle of the building which, together with a concrete plenum at its base, keeps fresh air coming into the building at a constant temperature by using its thermal mass. The wall also incorporates chimneys that extract air to roof level via low powered fans.

Willmott Dixon hopes to have the BREEAM 'outstanding' score confirmed in March, with the facility due for completion in May 2011.

(CD/BMcC)