Design&Construction of Sustainable Schools Volume 01 Lessons From School Buildings In Norway And Germany Introduction Preface 1/2 Norway Green for go! Amber for consider Red for no! 7/10 Norwegian Schools 3/4 German Schools 5/6 Germany Green for go! Amber for consider Red for no! 11/14 Case Studies 01 Kjeldås Primary School 15/18 09 Hechinger Eck Primary School 47/50 02 Oserød Primary School 19/22 10 Loretto Nursery 51/54 03 Oddemarka Primary School 23/26 11 Pliezhausen Nursery 55/58 04 Kvadraturen High School 27/30 12 Steiner School at Kirchheim Teck 59/62 05 Eilert Sundt Secondary School 31/34 13 Schäfersfeld Grammar School 63/66 06 Vanse Primary School 35/38 14 Pfennigäcker Nursery 67/70 07 Borhaug Nursery School 39/42 15 Further Education College in Herne 71/74 08 Borhaug Senior School 43/46 16 Comprehensive School in Gelsenkirchen 75/78 Credits 79 Preface This publication is part of a series of work sponsored by the This publication has grown from a project that started in May Scottish Executive to encourage the design and construction 2003 when the Gaia Group undertook a study tour of schools of sustainable schools in Scotland. It follows on from designed by it’s Norwegian colleagues plus some sustainable previous guidance on School Design (2003) and Sustainability schools by others. The tour party comprised Gaia staff, a (2004), published in support of the joint Scottish Executive number of public and private sector architects and engineers, and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and local authority education officials. school estate strategy Building our Future: Scotland’s School The initial focus of the tour was on passive design techniques Estate. and, in particular, on natural ventilation methods. It was Sustainability, in its widest sense, is at the heart of the discovered that even with a design temperature of minus strategy’s vision for new and refurbished schools which 20ºC in winter, a number of the schools visited were support learning and teaching, and are an integral part of the achieving very low energy use targets - achieved through community, both today and for coming decades. an approach combining energy conservation and the use of passive heat gains. Good school design has an important role to play in delivering this vision, not just in physically creating the healthy and Whilst the tour was very instructive on the technical aspects ecologically-sensitive environments in which learning and of environmental design, it also gave an insight into the teaching can take place but also in demonstrating and imbuing involvement of schools with their wider communities and in pupils an awareness of the need for us all to develop more an approach to education, both of which differed to those sustainable ways of living in general. prevalent in Scotland. Since the launch of the strategy the Scottish Executive has, Following very positive feedback from the Norwegian tour, in partnership with others, been promoting the sharing of Gaia decided that a second tour to look at sustainable good practice in school design through national conferences, schools in Germany would build on the lessons learned workshops, guidance publications and other projects. An from Norway. The German tour took place in October important element of this work has been to seek out lessons 2004, with equally positive feedback. Again, the tour party and take inspiration from as many sources as possible, comprised Gaia staff, public and private sector architects and including examples of school buildings internationally. engineers, local authority officials and representatives of the Scottish Executive. In this context, Design&Construction of Sustainable Schools looks at some examples of recent sustainable school Recognising the importance of the lessons emerging from buildings in Norway and Germany, with a view to informing the study trips, it was felt that there would be benefit in the development of our school estate in Scotland. The book sharing the case studies with a much wider audience and will be of interest to everyone involved in school design. so the partnership between Gaia, SUST. The Lighthouse on Sustainability and the Scottish Executive to disseminate the material began. 1/2 DESIGN&CONSTRUCTION OF SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLS In this first volume of two, the intention is primarily to The second volume will pick up on these and other themes in engage the interest of the reader in the projects visited and more depth. Given that the schools were of varying merit in highlight the aspects which were of interest to the group. terms of the elements the group were wishing to learn about, The Norwegian visit started from an interest in energy it is clearly sensible to be selective in the second volume conservation, ventilation and indoor climate, but expanded and use the most appropriate examples from the range of into many other areas. The German visit started from an projects in order to showcase the selected specific aspects. interest in materials and health and also diversified into issues of significance to those procuring schools in Scotland. The themes (which establish a consistent design approach within the project descriptions) emerged empirically from the feedback of the participants and reflect the items which were of interest to them. Teacher with three pupils - Kirchheim: Little School Plus + bauplanung - Norwegian Schools The word drifted over the North Sea that Gaia Architects the schools, as on the buildings construction methods and in Norway - and others - were designing schools that were the associated technical systems. heated primarily by a combination of the body heat of the However, there was a third impression, which was stamped occupants and casual gains from equipment. Furthermore, on the collective memory - that of the power of high quality this was being achieved in a climate with a winter design- design - the pride and joy aspect of good architecture. The temperature below minus 20ºC. high point was experienced in the visit to the school at This information was the trigger for a study tour organised Farsund, where despite a lack of what would be considered by Gaia Research in May 2003, during the course of which high levels of environmentally conscious and healthy building it was established that the reality was much more complex, design practice, nevertheless the quality of the architecture and even more interesting, than the mere technical aspects was seen as a significant factor in the longevity, and therefore that had sparked the initiative. partly, the sustainability of the institution. It will see pupils and teachers, (and even educational practice and effective In the first instance, it became clear to the touring group management), come and go; however, as a structure both (which included architects, engineers, educationalists and internally and in its relationship with the town centre it is school clients) that high levels of insulation and airtight likely to be ‘a joy forever’. construction were not enough on their own to deliver energy efficient schools. Most of the projects visited also A scoring system was developed during the tour (red, had culverts or basements through which incoming fresh amber, green). Assessments were made between visits air was being preheated as it absorbed the temperature of and at evening feedback sessions, to seek to identify the the ground, through contact with the duct walls. In a country extent to which various aspects of the buildings visited were where it makes sense to build buildings with a basement transferable to Scotland. (deep foundations below frost line) it is an opportunistic “Fresh air is a human right” benefit to use this area for other purposes. It was quickly Nearly all of the schools made some use of a basement or decided that whilst there was a more limited potential for this culvert for their air intake. Most had hybrid systems, with a technique in Scotland - without such a ubiquitous basement large variation in both their effectiveness and the extent of tradition, nevertheless there were many other aspects of the their environmental credentials. passive design approach, which were readily transferable. The culvert system can also be used to pre-cool incoming air The Kjeldas school used primarily stack effect (a natural during warm weather. chimney) for its regular operation with a back up fan, used only in times of very still weather or during high levels of As the tour progressed, it also became clear that the pedagogy room occupancy. and the community involvement in the school design process were of great interest, and the group began to focus as much Meanwhile, the Kvadraturen school used merely a token on the way in which the buildings were used, the Norwegian amount of culvert and was primarily mechanically ventilated. teaching methods and the extent of parental involvement in The conversion of the senior school at Vanse made as 3/4 DESIGN&CONSTRUCTION OF SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLS much use as it could of the redundant nineteenth century equipment, out in the open in all weathers (no such thing chimneys at the core of the building while still relying on as bad weather - only inappropriate clothing). The catering more conventional supplementary systems. arrangements were also different from those found here, (e.g. Kjeldås, where pupils made sandwiches and saved milk Perhaps the biggest impression was made at the Borhaug cartons for recycling etc), and there was also a distinct lack nursery school where the culvert system was coupled with of soft drinks in cans, and snacks such as sweets and crisps a passive system, whereby a ceiling delivered fresh air in evidence. via a “Pore Ventilation” system (also known as Dynamic Insulation), which had turned out to be so effective via the Design/procurement roof mounted air intake, that the culvert was redundant.