ADF06_03-11 6/26/08 4:28 PM Page 6
Future Generations
How new generation products
can make for better schools
by Barney Parks, Sales and
he Government’s flagship £45bn system, with boards manufactured from
Marketing Director, Sto Ltd.
school building programme is good recycled glass granules, offers a fine textured
news not just for our children’s seamless finish that combines an aesthetic and to start the cooling circuit, and for heating it
education, but for all those involved acoustic solution. only needs connecting via a heat exchanger, to
Tin the design and delivery of The acoustic requirement for different spaces the heating system.
educational buildings. When considering their within a building will depend on their function.
design and construction, it is essential that So an assembly hall, classroom, gymnasium or Behavioural Studies
these buildings should provide a long lasting, swimming pool, corridor or stairwell will each We hear much today about the additives in food
healthy, functional environment for those who have different challenges to overcome. and drink, pollution from traffic and the
have to teach and study in them, together with Reverberation time (RT) is the most widely used detrimental effect they can have on the health
those responsible for their maintenance. parameter for assessing acoustics within a and behaviour of children. However, indoor air
room, measuring sound and how long it takes is reputed to be three times more polluted than
Sound Advice for that sound to fade away, within the room. outdoor air and, according to the US
With hundreds, and sometimes thousands of Acoustic panels with aluminium lining on the Environmental Protection Agency, it is
children in a school, acoustics are important to rear are ideal for humid environments, such as considered to be one of the top five hazards to
the functioning of the building, and to promote swimming pools and gymnasiums. human health. Paints and finishes are amongst
a feeling of well-being for its users. Yet sound Another version of these acoustic panels can the leading causes of indoor pollution, releasing
reflecting surfaces such as concrete, metal and be equipped with a grid of capillary tubes low-level toxic emissions into the air for years
glass, which are common features of modern through which hot or cold water can flow, after application.
architecture, result in a low level of sound providing an invisible and silent room heating The source of these toxins is a variety of
absorption. High levels of chatter from children, system in winter and cooling system in summer, VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), which
long reverberation times and undesired sound so creating a more pleasant environment for until recently, were essential to the
reflections can have detrimental consequences. teaching and learning. This offers a 70% saving performance of paint. Paint manufacturers are
Using porous, sound absorbent materials will in energy costs compared with air-conditioning. now striving to develop VOC-free paints, but
alleviate the problem, and an acoustic ceiling A cold water supply point is all that is needed while many claim to be low VOC, few really are
See inside back cover for Reader Enquiry Card or go online: www.adfonline.eu6
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