Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) headquarters
Woods Bagot's built the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) headquarters in Masdar City in 2015. This office building comprises 7 floors and has in total a built-up area of 32065 m². The IRENA HQ design prioritises the use of passive design strategies, whereby the building has demonstrated a greater than 50% reduction in the cooling demand. The passive design strategies include enhanced thermal performance of the building envelope, an integrated shading strategy, and maximum daylight and views. The building demands 42% less energy than global energy-efficiency standards due to passive design and smart energy management systems.
Project info
- Construction phase
- New construction
- Building type
- Non-residential building
- Detailed building type
- Office
- Net floor area
- 32065 m2
- Stories
- 7 stories
- Construction type
- Steel Frame
- Original construction year of the building
- 2015
- Project contact
- Tarig Tag Alasfia
- Contact email address
- info@irena.org
Project team
- Developer(s)/owner(s)
- Masdar (Abu Dhabi future energy company)
- Architect(s)
- Woods Bagot
- Energy efficiency consultant(s)
- Burohappold engineering
Building Rating and Certifications systems
- Rating and certifications systems
- Pearl Rating System for Estidama
Building Envelope
External walls
- U-Value
- 0.2 W/(m²*K)
Roof
- U-Value
- 0.2 W/(m²*K)
Openings and windows
- Overall u-value window
- 1.4 W/(m²*K)
Basement floor
- Description of construction
- N/A
Technical Building Systems
Ventilation system
- Type of ventilation
- Mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery
- Description
- Special low-power air handling units provide cold air to the ventilation system. The AHU are fitted with high-efficiency rotary thermal wheels for sensible and latent heat recovery. Up to 75% of the energy in the exhaust is recovered.
Space cooling system
- Primary space cooling system
- Description
- The cooling system is supplied by the water-based district cooling network of Masdar city. Special low-power air handling units provide cold air to the ventilation system of the building.
Space heating system
- Primary Space heating system
- District heating
Water heater system
- Primary water heater system
- Solar Thermal collector on the roof
- Description
- The building incorporates a solar thermal system, which supplies 75% of the building’s hot water demand.
Lighting system
- Primary lighting system
- LED (Light emitting diode lamps)
- Efficiency
- 100
Shading devices
- Type of shading system installed
- Static (fix) shading systems as part of the building architecture (e.g. Maschrabiyya, porch roofs, pergolas)
- Description
- Permanent shades installed outside the windows maximise the light entering the room while minimising the heating effect in the room. All buildings in the city have been oriented along the direction of typical wind flow. This helps to keep the temperature of the city noticeably lower than the outside, which in turn helps to significantly reduce air conditioning–related power consumption.
Photovoltaics
- Total module area
- 1000 m²
- Description
- PV rooftop system produce 305,000 kWh annually
Other technical building systems
- Description
- PV rooftop system produce 305,000 kWh annually on an area of 1000 m²
Final Energy Demand
- Total specific final energy demand
- 121 kWh/(m²*a)
