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rooms, changing rooms for both school and community
use, and an entrance foyer that can be used as an extension
of the school. “If it feels over temperature, they can have a
look and decide if they would like to open a window or not,”
observes Liddell. It’s very much a building where the user is
very involved, as opposed to it being done by a magic black
box. There is a degree of control being done electronically,
but the primary opportunity is for them to be able to override
that if they want.”
For example, automatic blinds are used to stop the school
overheating in the summer, while roof lights provide a high
The building is described as > This is aided by using no emissive materials, says Liddell: level of daylight to help cut the use of artificial lighting and
a “high-carbon sponge” that
“A big reason why we ventilate a building is the emissions reduce the electricity load.
soaks up carbon dioxide –
from new materials in a building – paints and glues. We had Liddell describes the building as like a “high-carbon
every kilogram of wood stores
1.8kg of CO2
a whole policy of no potentially toxic materials at all. sponge” that soaks up CO2, with every kilogram of wood
“That has reduced the M&E [mechanical and electrical] storing 1.8Kg of CO2. Liddell’s team has calculated that it
content of the building to 13 per cent by cost, which is a lot will store more than one million kilos of CO2, which more
lower than a conventional school,” which Liddell believes to than accounts for the 50,000 Kg of CO2 used to transport
be nearer 25 per cent. the superstructure to Scotland by lorry.
He adds: “Basically we’ve cut out the mechanical According to PassivHausUK, there are around 7,000
ventilation system, which is unusual for passive schools dwellings built to PassivHaus principles in Europe.
because these normally have a heat-recovery ventilation However, the system has been slow to catch on in the UK,
system. So, in that sense, it doesn’t formally comply with says Liddell. “We were looking at this system with the Finns,
the German description of a PassivHaus building. Swedes and Norwegians to see whether it was a technology
“That’s deliberate. We feel it’s quite important that the for northern Europe, but we have had great difficulty getting
people using the building become involved in its energy industry in the UK interested. Therefore the only way we
conservation strategy, as opposed to it all being done by some felt we could get them interested was to build [a PassivHaus
magic box.” structure]. “The more such buildings are built and pass
All the furniture has also been made without using high- all these tests, the more people will become interested in
emission materials, such as varnishes and glazes, which PassivHaus. But what I’d like to see – instead of having to
makes a huge contribution to the indoor air quality, Liddell import these buildings from Austria – is people making
says. The school uses linoleum flooring throughout and has them in this country from British timber.” Currently, Liddell
no PVC wiring. is aware of only one Scottish manufacturer offering a similar
construction system that doesn’t use glue, though this, too,
Evaluation is currently imported.
The more such
There is no performance data on the school as yet, although Acharacle has already created a lot of interest, however,
Liddell expects to have some in a few months’ time, and is and Gaia Architects are now aware of three manufacturers
buildings are
contracted to carry out post occupancy evaluations (POEs) interested in developing a British version using British
built and pass
over the next two years. timber. As for the school itself, it is envisaged that it will stand
all these tests,
The school has five classrooms with monitoring systems for another 100 years. So plenty of time for it catch on. l
in each to feed back information on how the building is
the more people
performing, so its 62 primary and nursery pupils can see what
www.passiv.de
will become
the temperature is, the daylight factor, and the humidity and www.passivhaus.org.uk
interested in
CO2 levels. The children can also see the water and energy
www.europeanpassivehouses.org
consumption levels for the school, which has a nursery, a
PassivHaus.
www.gaiagroup.org
multipurpose hall, separate dining hall, music practice
Logistics Austro-Scottish success has cultural hiccups
The foundations of Acharacle Primary School the building and supplying the triple-glazed headaches on-site between the UK contractor
were constructed by a Scottish contractor, windows, as well as some of the finishes. and the Austrian team. For example, the UK
MacGregor Construction, which was also The project took 13 months in total, is very stringent on health and safety – which
responsible for all the drainage and stairwells. overrunning because of logistical issues, with caused “one or two tensions” because the
The Austrian team, Sohm Holzbautechnik, the school being in such a remote part of the Austrians have a much more relaxed way
was responsible for building the highlands and experiencing bad weather. In of working. The Austrians also have a very
superstructure in an Austrian factory and ordinary circumstances, importing a ready- different work ethic to the UK, wanting to
then installing it in Lochaber, wall by ready- made superstructure should speed up on-site work round the clock, with shorter lunch
constructed wall. The Austrians were also construction by 20 per cent. hours and a willingness to work during
responsible for generating the air tightness of A difference in culture caused a few weekends.
30 CIBSE Journal July 2009 www.cibsejournal.com
CIBSEjul09 pp28-31 passive.indd 30 25/6/09 15:19:36
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