It is one of the Environment Agency’s flagship buildings and it has now won a prestigious national award for its energy performance.

The judges for the National Energy Efficiency Awards selected Red Kite House singling it out as a perfect example for all offices, saying: “This is how every workplace should be – supremely comfortable, flexible and energy efficient, with bus and cycle routes right to the door.”

Built in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, and sited on the banks of the River Thames, the basic building had to achieve a BREEAM "excellent" rating to meet the requirements set out in the agreement for lease. It was agreed that the office would be a three-storey, naturally-ventilated building with an internal floor area of approximately 3000 square metres.

It uses natural ventilation rather than air conditioning and its rainwater collection system harvests enough water to satisfy 40% of the building’s water needs – with any excess directed to a nearby pond.

The building uses photovoltaic cells to generate 23,000 kwh of power per year and solar hot water panels on the roof supplement its water heating.

Lucy Smith, regional environmental management adviser at the Environment Agency, said: “We are delighted to win this award, which recognises the commitment we have to reducing the amount of energy we use.”

“One of the best accolades for the building was during the hot summer we had in 2006, when several external visitors sitting in reception commented on how nice it was to visit a building where the air conditioning actually worked properly – of course the building has no air conditioning, just great design!”

“It is such a simple concept, but one which makes such a huge difference to the amount of energy the building uses, helping us to lead by example in reducing our energy footprint.”

Brian Hughes, the Environment Agency’s project manager for the development, said it was proving an extremely popular working environment for its 250 staff. “Last year was a very good test for the natural ventilation,” he said. “We had days where the outside temperature was 35 degrees but staff inside were still able to work in a well-aired environment where the temperature stayed below 30 degrees.”

“Although the inside of the building was hotter than you’d get in an air conditioned building, we always had air flowing through, so it was still a comfortable place to work," Mr Hughes added.

The full environmental enhancements of Red Kite House are:

• Photo-voltaic cells generate electrical power. These clad the south-facing ‘brise-soleil’ – a canopy which projects about three metres from the roof over the front of the building and provides shade to the interior. They generate approx. 20% of the estimated electricity demand of the building. These cells will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide being discharged to the atmosphere by about 12 tonnes per annum.
• Solar panels provide hot water. These are installed on the roof and meet about 40% of the demand for hot water.
• Rainwater harvesting system collects and re-uses rainwater. This system collects rainwater from the roof for re-use within the building for toilet flushing. It meets about 40% of the total demand for water.
• Ventilation turbines support the natural ventilation. The building has no air-conditioning. Roof-mounted, wind-powered turbines are installed on the roof to help draw air through the windows and the upper floor of the building.
• Motorised windows allow an inflow of cool air at night. The building has been designed so the ceiling acts as a heat sink during the day. It is cooled down at night when windows on each floor are opened at night via a motorised system.
• Sustainable drainage from the car park. The Environment Agency is actively promoting more sustainable forms of drainage from all developments in order to reduce the impact of run-off on river systems. The car park serving the office will allow rainwater to soak through into the ground, whilst non-permeable areas will drain to a reed bed.
• The annual saving in energy purchased/imported from the national grid (as a result of energy saving and energy generating features at the site) is estimated at 33,600kWh, equating to 17.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum.