ACCON carried out a comprehensive air quality
assessment of the proposed development for a
new Healthcare Village facing onto East North
Street and associated parking on Frederick Street.
The development site itself is adjacent to the
heavily trafficked A96 and the site is also close to a
designated Air Quality Management Area.
The purpose of the assessment was to determine
to what extent air pollution constrained the
proposed health care development and the impact
of the development upon local air pollution.
Crucial to the study was the nature of the
development and the appropriate assessment
criteria. TG(09) states that the annual mean should
be used for hospital buildings, due to the sensitivity
of patrons, however it could also be argued that
the proposed development did not fall into this
category as the building would primarily comprise
treatment and consultation rooms which are not
related to health concerns which might otherwise
be affected by poor air quality.
The detailed air quality assessment considered the
overall levels of hydrocarbons, nitrogen dioxide
(NO2) and particulates (PM10) in the vicinity of the
site. Verified air pollutant concentrations indicated
that at two of the three prediction locations it was
likely that air quality limits would be exceeded or
had the potential to constrain the development.
Additional modelling of the pollutants at height
showed that by installing a whole building
ventilation system on the second floor within the
internal courtyard of the development the building
could be supplied with filtered air which would be
below the air quality limits.
The predicted pollutant levels also indicated that
the impact of traffic associated with the
development would be insignificant.
Visit the ACCON UK Ltd website for more information on Aberdeen Healthcare Village