Vol 4 Test 9 Part 3

Section three, you will hear two industrial design students called John and Debbie discussing research for a presentation on a new building. First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 26 on page five.

Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 26. Hi, John.

Speaker 1
Hi, Debbie. Should we get ready for our presentation?

Speaker 2
Yes, well, we have to give a presentation to our seminar group about education house, the new government building that uses cooling heating and water in an environmentally friendly way.

Speaker 1
Let's start with a diagram of the building so the other students can see what it looks like.

Speaker 2
Well, here's a very simplified diagram with symbols to represent key areas of the design,

Speaker 1
Shall we look at it and see if we can explain the different processes?

Speaker 2
Yes. Firstly, on the left hand side of the roof, there's a cooling tower. Yes, this is

Speaker 1
Where hot stale air from inside the building rises naturally up a chimney are their exhaust fans mounted on the roof that push the air out.

Speaker 2
Okay, moving along the top of the roof to the right hand side, we have the weather station. This monitors how cold the outside areas. Once this is assessed, then the information is fed to computers and these activate the necessary heating or cooling processes.

Speaker 1
Okay, let's talk now about the cooling processes.

Speaker 2
On the right hand side of the building below the timber shutters is the part they call the shower tower.

Speaker 1
This is where water falls through a three storey tube sucking in air from outside as it falls. The unusual thing about it is this fresh air actually helps to cool the building.

Speaker 2
Yes, it's amazing, really. Okay below ground level in the basement on the right hand side is a tech, which forms another part of the cooling process. The tank is full of small metal balls, water passes through this tank each time it does this, the balls absorb the heat from the water making it cooler without using any energy. What should we talk about next? Well, you see the balcony below the light shell what happens to the rainwater is fed down from the roof. And this is where it's used to water the plants that cover the outside wall.

Speaker 1
What about the square above the light shelf? It represents a window doesn't it? Yes,

Speaker 2
That’s important to point out. Because the upper floor windows get more daylight than the lower floor ones. The windows at the top of the building are smaller than those at the bottom. This means energy is saved higher up in the building because not as much heat is wasted through large windows.


Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 27 to 30 on page six.
Now listen, and answer questions 27 to 30.

Speaker 1
Let's continue the presentation by giving our opinions on some of the features of the building. Let's talk about what we thought was surprising about the building.

Speaker 2
Yes, it's not out of the ordinary in terms of size. I mean, it's well under the height of the surrounding buildings. Also in the past, I think people would have been surprised by the vegetation on the facades, but that's become quite common now.

Speaker 1
That's right. But we both agreed that the access to the building through a shopping arcade is quite unusual.

Speaker 2
Yes, the way in is behind a small cafe, which is not what you'd expect. Now, should we mention the findings on staff productivity in the building? According to one article, the access to greenery and vegetation is increasing productivity by relieving stress. Yes, I remember that article. Researchers have been monitoring this for a couple of years now. So the results are clear. But to be honest, I think it's pretty obvious that you feel calmer seeing greenery around you.

Speaker 1
Yes, we've been reading that in newspapers for agents, haven't we? So I wouldn't bother to mention it.

Speaker 2
Okay, so we haven't mentioned the edge space yet, you know, the place that's been marked for social interaction between workers where you can have a coffee and a chat. What are your thoughts about it? Well,

Speaker 1
I'm just amazed the management allowed it. I'm sure all the staff love to get away from their desks. I would. I'm just not sure how much work I'd get done if I had an edge space to go to.

Speaker 2
I agree. Okay, let's think about the water system. Now. They want to supply 100% of their own non drinking water needs by recycling water. And it looks like they are on target to complete this stage of the project by early next year. But you know, I don't think the staff are going to respond well to this.

Speaker 1
I agree. People just don't like using too much recycled water, even though it's been proven to pose no health risks whatsoever.

Speaker 2
Well, I've really enjoyed researching this building.


That is the end of section three. You will now have half a minute to check your answers.