Below are a set of questions that I was given the opportunity to ask an architect to help me to expand my knowledge and gain a better understanding of how an issue such as architectural design plays a role in the sustainability level of schools.

Have you ever been involved in the building of a sustainable school?

Not a school but Higher Education buildings

 

If so, what would be some characteristics of sustainable schools?

Passive design which is about orientation and controlling window opening size so that give daylight without too much unwanted solar gain.

Air tightness [THS1] is vital to minimise energy use – to do this simple shapes and volumes are generally better because they allow the junctions between elements to be built to a good standard on site.

Avoiding heating the building with gas / fossil fuel / biomass due to carbon. Instead looking for alterabtive heat source such as using using ground or source heat pumps. In the future the electrical grid will shift towards clean energy making it carbon zero.

 

How important is the role of insulation in building design?

Air-tIghtness and good insulation are key to reducing energy demand. Reducing demand leads to reduction in carbon. Better environment inside for staff students meaning steadier temperature…

 

Is durability and longevity something that should be part of the consideration of a sustainable school?

Longevity is key - quite often a piece of building technology might be cheaper / easier to install at day one but could use more energy over the lifetime of the building. This is summarised as Capital cost vs Operational Cost. Measuring the life cycle costs is important. Some materials might have a high embodied energy but used in the right place can still be sustainable because they may be long lasting.

 

To expand on materials a bit more look at this website which compares materials for a range of metrics – Global Warming / Ozone etc.. Byggeriets Materialepyramide (materialepyramiden.dk)

 

 

Is there anything other than money that prevents the design of sustainable schools?

Planning constraints i.e. fitting into the context of city can limit the orientation and massing / heights of a building proposal. Context also affects window size, external materials etc.

 

 

Are you aware of any good examples of sustainable schools in the UK?

Architype have built several examples that meet the Passivhaus standard

Architype / Browsing / Learning / The UK's Leading Passivhaus, Sustainable Architects

The company I work for collaborated with Architype on this school – Harris Academy

Harris Academy - BDP.com

Architype / Harris Academy Sutton / The UK's Leading Passivhaus, Sustainable Architects

 

 

What purpose does an environmentally friendly school have?

Same as any other school with the added benefit of demonstrating to future generations what can be done in response to climate emergency

 

Thinking of the wider community, what do environmentally friendly schools have to offer?

Schools can be community hubs… An environmentally friendly school will demonstrate to a wider audience what can be done in response to climate emergency.

 

 air tightness = building with good air tightness avoids uncontrolled leaks.

 To ventilate you provide air in controlled way which means you can heat / cool air on way in. Typically as stale air goes out it is used to warm up incoming fresh air… 

 So because you are avoiding draughts and making use of residual heat the energy used on heating is far less.

 Cheaper bills less carbon


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