Buildings School case study
low-carbon heating and cooling throughout the One of those areas is the kitchens, where lights,
Outcomes
teaching spaces. ventilation and empty refrigeration units are worked
Initial findings
Passive cooling satisfies a large part of the cooling very hard throughout holidays, mainly because no one
So far initial findings at
requirement and eliminates the need for mechanical knows they have been left on. Lighting controls in large
Leigh Academy include
cooling. The building takes advantage of exposed open communal spaces are also being left on. This has
several positive results:
concrete ceilings, with the floor void, risers and been exacerbated, on occasion, by light switches being
The building services are
building structure all used as heat sinks. placed out of sight, although in most cases at Leigh performing well
Displacement ventilation distributes the air through this is limited by PIR (passive infrared sensor) and The earth tubes are
the floor voids to enable contact with the exposed presence detection devices.
providing a large part of
the cooling
thermal mass of the building to provide passive The prolonged use of the academy’s audio-visual
cooling. facilities, which include a media editing suite,
The natural ventilation
in the winter gardens is
Additional passive thermal mass transfer is provided broadcasting facilities and several large ‘show and
providing “comfortable
using earth tubes buried 1.5 metres below ground tell’ screens, is adding to the energy drain. And the
air movement”
running for 40 metres. These draw the underground building and energy management system has taken Gas consumption for
air – which is warmer than that outside in the winter a long time to integrate into the school’s day-to-day
heating, hot water and
catering is expected to
and cooler in the summer – through the concrete tubes energy management.
be lower than industry
into the teaching areas. Moreover, a significant amount of energy is going benchmark figures
Says Warne: “The earth tubes are providing a large into the advanced ICT facilities in the school – far more
contribution to the cooling of the building, especially than allowed for in previous Department for Education
But problems appear to
lie in certain areas typical
in the very warm weather in June [this year], and and Skills or Building Bulletin benchmarks.
to school buildings,
the natural ventilation through the winter gardens including:
provides comfortable air movement and allows the very Energy drain Lights and ventilation are
heavily serviced ICT [computer and technology] areas And there lies the problem, says Warne. ICT in schools
worked very hard in the
kitchens throughout the
to dissipate their unwanted heat to the atmosphere in is far more complex and dense than many offices or
holidays
the summer months.” workplaces, and with large screens and high-powered
Empty shelves are kept
Deep-plan, wind-driven turrets are also used in parts blade servers there is little to help reduce carbon
chilled
of the school with no windows to allow outside air in emissions, especially as the extracurricular activities
Lighting in large
and to help achieve sufficient air change rates. The grow with the success of the school, hours of operation communal spaces is
passive ventilation turrets also provide natural light. increase and processor power grows. “The success of
left on
The bespoke wooden light wells, designed by BDP, the school [in its range of activities] is the failure of the
Prolonged use of the
rise 1.6m above roof level and are 0.8m in diameter energy strategy,” he says.
audio-visual facilities are
using more energy than
at the top. The ICT spaces were designed to keep cool
anticipated
The fabric of the building has an air tightness of holistically, with large ICT teaching spaces on open
Currently the building in
5.9 cu m/hr per sq m. balconies within the building, allowing the heat to rise operation is consuming
into the indoor winter gardens where it is recycled in
energy at a level equal to
that of a contemporary
Under-performance the ventilation system during the winter and dispelled
new school
However, through their POE investigation so far, BDP at a high level in the summer, with no need for
engineers have discovered a number of additional additional mechanical cooling.
areas, typical of most schools in operation, where In areas where ICT was in an enclosed space, cooling
performance is poorer than expected. was provided using heat pump variable refrigerant >
www.cibsejournal.com September 2009 CIBSE Journal 29
CIBSEsep09 pp26-30 leigh acadamy.indd 29 20/8/09 18:48:23
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