FEATURE FOCUS: SUSTAINABILITY
A lesson in hot water efficiency
buildings that provide optimal learning environments while avoiding unnecessarily high energy bills, an increasing number of newbuild school programmes are now moving towards Passivhaus design standards.
Why? Passivhaus buildings are designed in such a way that they require less energy to achieve comfortable conditions all year round. This makes them well suited to low carbon heating, with air source heat pumps (ASHP) widely viewed as one of the favoured technologies. The challenge, arguably, lies in the hot water design, which is the main focus of this article.
Hot water design A
s schools increasingly prioritise a more sustainable operation, a growing number of local authorities are adopting Passivhaus standards for their new build school programmes. Rob Erwood, Sales and Specification Director at Baxi, discusses the benefits that Passivhaus can bring schools and the role of hot water design in delivering a lower energy project.
In the drive for net zero, designers must continue to innovate with new and existing technologies to produce buildings that use less energy and help meet public sector sustainability goals. School buildings, which can be big energy users, are a case in point. In a bid to create more sustainable
While school buildings built to the Passivhaus standard are designed to require less energy for heating, the hot water design is central to achieving buildings that are truly energy efficient, environmentally friendly and economical to run. Riverside Primary School is a case in point. Riverside Primary is one of the first Passivhaus standard primary schools in Scotland and the first to achieve certification. The new multi- million-pound Riverside Primary School brings together North Muirton and Balhousie primary schools, providing modern learning space for 500 children with additional provision for a nursery and additional support needs (ASN). The project is part of Perth and Kinross Council’s ongoing capital programme of school upgrades and improvements through hub East Central Scotland
38
www.education-today.co.uk
Limited (hubco) to enhance the environment for learning and teaching across the area. Instrumental in forming the energy strategy for the new school building was the multi-disciplinary design, engineering and project delivery company BakerHicks Motherwell, appointed by Perth and Kinross Council to provide mechanical and electrical design services for principal contractor Robertson Tayside.
Avoiding large scale energy usage At Riverside Primary School, Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs) provide the primary heat energy for the school building with separate systems for the heating services, including radiators and underfloor heating and kitchen domestic services, where the ASHP provide preheat to the hot water cylinder.
The hot water strategy, however, was one of the main challenges, as David Coulter, Associate Engineer and Certified Passivhaus Designer at BakerHicks, explained.
“When designing the system as we needed to avoid large scale energy usage. We wanted to explore using all-electric point-of-use solutions that would only generate energy when required, for example during break or lunch times. So, we asked Baxi for help with the solution.” Point-of-use electric water heaters or cylinders can provide an efficient option for schools in areas like washrooms and kitchens as they only use energy when hot water is required. This
December 2023
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
