BUILDING SCHOOLS FOR THE FUTURE
STRICTLY
FOR THE GIRLS
he picturesque Staffordshire and washbasins. Swimming is an mounting system providing an unobtrusive
T
village of Abbots Bromley is important area of school activities and the and stylish finish in keeping with the rest
home to Abbots Bromley School all year round use of pool facilities is vital of the building. Each panel is constructed
for Girls. This is a thriving in maintaining the strength of the school’s using highly translucent toughened solar
private boarding and day school swimming teams which compete in safety glass which optimises light capture
for girls, with around 300 students aged national events. in cloudy conditions and is hermetically
between 4 and 18. It has a reputation for Vale Heating & Plumbing of Pershore sealed and filled with dry argon to
excellence aimed at ensuring every girl specified 32 solar panels in 2 fields, each eliminate mist, condensation or corrosion
achieves her full potential both of 16 panels. They chose Buderus solar from airborne pollutants. The panels use a
academically and socially, and offers a panels for their build quality, their high continuous meandering copper pipe to
curriculum covering a wide range of energy yields and because they are circulate solar fluid through the system.
subjects. designed especially for large-scale This arrangement helps to eliminate
The prestigious school includes some commercial applications. A high hotspots across the field of panels by
of the finest education and sports facilities performance range of Buderus pump providing a more even temperature
in the area, including new science stations and accessories allow for distribution, which in turn creates fewer
laboratories, dance studios, music rooms, individual fields of between 10 and 50 pressure losses and reduces the need for
a chapel, Astroturf sports pitch, athletics solar panels to be installed. Multiple fields ancillary solar pumps.
track, racket sports centre, swimming pool of panels, and split systems are also Installation was carried out by Vale
and an equestrian centre. possible for bigger commercial Heating & Plumbing of Pershore They are
The school equally pays particular installations. a heating, plumbing and solar installation
attention to environmental issues and has Although the solar system in this company operating throughout the
recently completed the installation of a installation meets the usage pattern of the Midlands providing commercial and
new Buderus solar thermal panel system pool without the support of a separate domestic heating, bathroom and general
to provide energy efficient heating for its boiler, a particular feature of the Buderus plumbing installations.
swimming pool complex. This new system controls platform is the intelligent solar Vale’s Brian Marshall says “We were
replaces an existing 30-year old solar optimisation function which enables particularly impressed with the Buderus
system which was one of the earliest seamless integration with Buderus boilers. solar thermal system because it proved to
larger scale, commercial solar panel By selecting fully compatible components be simple to install as an in roof
installations in the country, installed at a for both the boiler and solar parts of the installation, thanks in part to the quick-fit
time when using solar for power system, continuous communication can socket connections that linked each panel
generation was in its commercial infancy. occur, ensuring that heat generated by the without the need for tools.”
However the old system had become solar collectors is fully utilised, before the Abbots Bromley School can now be
outdated and inefficient and had suffered boiler is bought into operation. This assured that the swimming pool will
panel damage and pipework deterioration significantly improves efficiency and maintain a constant temperature and will
over the years. provides additional energy savings of up deliver significant savings in fuel costs and
It was recognised that a new, modern to 10% by reducing boiler start-ups by future maintenance. It will also reduce the
solar system was needed to provide the 24%. school’s carbon footprint in keeping with
necessary heat for the swimming pool and The flat plate SKS 4.0 collectors have the schools declared environmental
the hot water needs of associated showers been installed using the Buderus in-roof principals. www.buderus.co.uk
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SUSTAINABLE FM | MAY 2009
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