Eco-friendly accommodation for soldiers training on Salisbury Plain has been nominated in this year’s prestigious Defence Sanctuary Awards.
Soldiers will be the first to benefit from new transit accommodation that not only enhances their living space but is also carbon efficient. It is nominated in the Sustainable Construction category – which recognises outstanding conservation and sustainability efforts across the MOD.
The new accommodation has been installed by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) working with industry partner Landmarc Support Services and its contractor and modular building specialist, Reds 10. Reds 10 designed and constructed the accommodation off-site before it was transported and installed at Westdown Camp.
The building has an Energy Performance rating of ‘A’ thanks to air source pumps and electricity being generated from solar panels installed on the roof. These generate the accommodation’s complete heating and hot water requirements.
The building provides up to 43 bed spaces which can be sub-divided as needed. The innovative design means that different military units whether trained soldiers or cadets, male or female, can be accommodated within the block together.
Showers, ablutions and drying rooms are also part of the complex, improving the overall experience for personnel by removing the need for troops to move to different buildings.
The buildings are equipped with SMART building technology, which provides detailed information on how the building is being used, its hot water usage and occupancy rates.
This enables DIO to monitor the energy demands of the building and see how it can be optimised so that zero-carbon emissions - or as close as possible - can be achieved. It will also provide data for improvements in the design and specifications of future modular constructions
The build has been delivered as part of the Ministry of Defence’s £45-million Net Carbon Accommodation Programme (NetCAP).