York EcoDepot
Built using the ModCell™ system of prefabricated straw bale cladding panels, York City Council's EcoDepot is the largest straw bale building in Europe at 12,150 sq ft. Its function is to provide office accommodation for the Council's waste and recycling department.
The structure combines a thermally massive floor deck and a laminated timber frame. This combination provides a balance between thermal mass, integrated with an entirely passive natural ventilation system, and the use of low embodied energy materials.
The laminated timber frame supports a thin precast concrete deck just 150 mm thick.
Timber is a renewable material that naturally sequesters carbon into its structure. As trees grow they absorb CO2 keeping the carbon atom to make cellulose and giving the oxygen atoms back to the atmosphere. There are 800 kgs of carbon in a cubic metre of timber.
The laminated timber frame at the York EcoDepot has 71.5 tonnes of carbon locked into its structure, this converts to 263 tonnes of CO2 saved from emission.
Each ModCell panel has 400 kg of carbon locked into its frame; tthe York EcoDepot uses 78 ModCell panels in total (www.modcell.co.uk).
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