ENERGY
WINDCATCHERS PROVIDE NATURAL VENTILATION FOR NEW LOSTOCK HALL PRIMARY SCHOOL BUILDING
I
n its most recent Ofsted Inspection, Lostock Hall County Primary School in Lancashire was judged outstanding in all areas and has achieved numerous awards including an Eco-Schools Award, Learning Excellence Awards and National Leaders in Education Status. Its primary and junior pupils are also now on one site following a recent move into a new infant school and nursery facility, which has been built next to the existing Lostock Hall Junior School.
Children at the new school will also benefit from a natural ventilation strategy supplied and installed by Monodraught, the UK’s leading supplier of natural ventilation solutions. Specified by the Lancashire County Architects department and Lancashire County Property Group, Monodraught Windcatcher natural ventilation systems helped the school building meet the requirements of Building Bulletin 101 and Building Regulations Part L2A.
As Property Group project mechanical engineer Andrew Kells explains: “Classrooms are fitted with single-sided ventilation, which meant we couldn’t satisfy the CIBSE requirements on ventilation rates; and by using a simple building energy model we were also able to show that fitting mechanical ventilation wouldn’t enable us to comply due to its higher carbon emissions. However, because we are encouraged to consider the environment when specifying ventilation, Monodraught natural ventilation provided a useful means to reduce emissions while maintaining a comfortable environment for all the building’s occupants.” The County Council has used Windcatchers in other educational and conference facilities, so Monodraught was provided with the sizes of Lostock Hall classrooms and other areas, and its engineers calculated the number, size and type of Windcatcher systems needed to increase the flow of air into the class rooms, create a comfortable environment for the children and staff, and enable the new school building to achieve compliance.
Monodraught recommended Windcatcher systems for Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms and the reception class, and a Windcatcher Sola-boost for both Central Resource and Music & Drama areas. For
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these areas the innovative Sola-boost solar assisted natural ventilation system, which is equipped with a solar powered fan that actually increases the throughput of fresh air as heat from the sun increases, provides additional ventilation when it is most needed. All the Windcatchers are controlled using Monodraught’s iNVent natural ventilation control system, which operates through sensors monitoring temperature and CO2
seven ventilation zones. In addition, as Andrew Kells points out, because windows can’t be left open overnight, the Windcatchers’ night-time cooling facility
levels in the school’s
helps to maintain the security of the building. Using dampers that can be programmed to open fully at night, the Windcatchers provide a downwash of cool air that purges the building, leaving the interior feeling fresh and clean for children and teachers the following morning. The Lancashire County Architects department was also able to specify the shape and colour of the Windcatcher systems to suit the aesthetics of the building, which was considered important in helping to define an overall style for the new school.
www.monodraught.com
ACCESS KEY ENERGY DATA WITHOUT LEAVING YOUR DESK!
W
ith the new SPC DTM data transfer module from Elcomponent, users of the
company’s SPC range of portable energy data loggers can now access information from instruments installed anywhere in the world, without leaving their desk. The SPC DTM module uses GPRS
(General Packet Radio Service) to upload logger surveys to the web. As such the data is available at any location with a PC and an Internet connection and, with the software supplied, the information collected from remote instruments can be reviewed and analysed just as easily and in exactly the same way as it would be if the logger were physically present. For users with data loggers on one or more remote sites, this means huge savings in time, money and carbon emissions as it is no longer necessary to
visit those sites regularly to collect energy data. And, even for users who have instruments only on their local site, the ability to acquire data without leaving their desks is still a big time saver and a major aid to convenience.
Unlike general-purpose data logger packages, the PowerPackPro software has been specifically designed to provide energy managers and engineers with the key information they need in the form that they need it. It allows, for example, almost instant creation of graphs and reports, so that energy cost savings and reductions in carbon footprint can start from day one, and it automatically converts volume data for gas or oil to energy and carbon values. For more information visit:
www.elcomponent.co.uk and
www.spcloggers.com
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