Designing a Sustainable School - an Expert's Guide by Woods Hardwick

July 03, 2011

Rather than provide a 'best fit', the design should always offer a solution which will work for the school and their students; a solution that creates a place for inspiring and cultivating learning, a place that students are proud of, and are happy to be.

Woods Hardwick is a leading architecture firm based in Bedford. Their portfolio of sustainable and successful designs for schools and universities is impressive, and with two further educational projects currently being undertaken, they are now true experts in this field.

Their initial approach evolves from three main factors, all geared towards the same end goal - to design a modern learning environment with the capacity to act as a catalyst for educational transformation, a learning opportunity and a tool for sustainability awareness.

These three factors being to establish ways to reduce disruption during construction, to establish ways to reduce maintenance and running costs once in use and to consider environmentally sensitive and responsible solutions.

Depending on the current condition of the building and the local climate, these main aspects could take quite some time to discuss. However, once a basis for a strategy has been formed, there are subsequently, a number of factors to explore to aid the design process. Factors such as maximising economic regeneration in the area, expanding the sustainable construction industry within the local proximity of the school and ensuring ongoing maintenance of the school is minimised.

It's also of great importance to provide facilities within the school building that help to incorporate sustainability within the curriculum. Having these tools and technologies first-hand enables sustainability to be included in the teaching and learning of science, thus making the learning experience much more exciting and exhilarating for the students.

Within all of these thoughts and processes, it's imperative, of course, to ensure that the school can continue to apply the sustainability principles when it is maintained and refurbished in the future.

When all of these factors have been explored and end goals put in place, the next crucial step is identifying how they will be achieved through building design, construction, operation and management; not forgetting the incorporation of sustainability issues within the curriculum. These will obviously differ depending on the school/university, but there are a number of design ideas that form the basis for such a project, such as:

1. Maximising the use of natural heat gains (such as passive solar, the occupants and equipment in the school) to minimise the need for a heating plant.
2. Undertaking a detailed analysis of thermal mass location to aid the heating in winter and cooling in summer, in different areas.
3. Maximising the levels of insulation using recycled materials.
4. Designing the building to ensure the maximum use of solar gain, day lighting and natural ventilation.
5. Incorporating a water management system that minimises wastage and run-off.
6. Ensuring the energy and water use are as transparent as possible to users and that there are accessible audit and monitoring systems in place.
7. Ensuring the design incorporates many different renewable energy technologies, to generate a significant heat and electricity contribution and enhance the teaching and learning of climate change and sustainability.
8. Including working examples of renewable energy technologies even where these do not make a significant contribution to the energy budget of the building. The aim being to teach students about renewable energy;
9. Ensuring the learning and curriculum areas are flexible and adaptable, thus minimising the need for future development.
10. Ensuring that non-teaching areas in the building will support user health, safety and security.

To illustrate how well this process works, we can use the case study of Priory Rise School in Milton Keynes. Woods Hardwick completed works to the school in September 2008, and on completion, it achieved a BREEAM rating of Very Good.

Some of their solutions in response to factors outlined above included the use of Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP). These take heat from the ground and convert into energy that can be used to heat buildings in the form of hot water and heating during the winter.

Natural ventilation was made more economical with the introduction of a Moondraught Wind Catcher. This ensures that, during the day, when windows are open, fresh air enters through the windward side of the building. When in the room, the fresh air becomes warm air and naturally rises up and exits at high level. During the night, the Moondraught Wind Catcher continues to operate and fresh air is sucked in on one side of the wind capture and warm air removed from the other side.

Also implemented was Brise Soliel across one side of the building, providing permanent sun shading and reducing solar heat gain, preventing glare and reducing discomfort.

The CO2 savings resulting from such measures are impressive - CO2 emissions from the school don't just comply with the Building Regulation Part L2A, but are much lower, of which 11% comes from the Ground Source Heat Pumps. These pumps also provide a significant 32% improvement on the heating load emissions.

For more information about this project, or to talk to Woods Hardwick about a project you may have, go to our website http://www.woodshardwick.com

Woods Hardwick is one of the UK's leading multi-disciplinary architectural practices, delivering exceptional, sustainable designs within the residential and commercial arena. To find out more about our full range of services, go to our website http://www.woodshardwick.com or call us at (01234) 268862.