Breathing Buildings, a leading provider of controlled hybrid ventilation systems, has supplied ventilation to High Point Academy, a secondary school for students with complex learning difficulties in Wednesbury, West Midlands. The 90-pupil school features classrooms that are designed to be safe and calming for autistic pupils, it includes a range of specialist rooms that enhance the children’s experience. In addition to this specialist learning environment, the two-storey school benefits from Breathing Buildings’ NVHR (Natural Ventilation with Heat Recycling) hybrid ventilation units that help provide good indoor air quality and keep the school warm in winter and cool in summer. This boosts comfort and health which is essential for the pupils’ learning and wellbeing.
The school was built by Tilbury Douglas and was delivered under the Department for Education’s free schools’ programme. M&E contractor David Paradine Ltd specified and installed the Breathing Buildings ventilation units to provide cost effective, energy efficient and comfortable, draught-free ventilation. Eleven pairs of NVHR+ 900 units with heating coils were installed in the school’s classrooms while three roof mounted S1500 E-stack units were installed in the main hall. The NVHR+ 900 was ideal for the project since it incorporates a heater into the NVHR system allowing room pre-heating, and enhanced control over the temperature of air being delivered to the space during occupancy. This meant that radiators were not required in the classrooms. As a SEN school it was also very important to ensure that noise levels were low and so attenuation was vital in this project.
“We have worked on a range of education projects and have been impressed with Breathing Buildings’ ventilation. The company offers great design support, and its hybrid ventilation solutions are easy to install and use, providing great indoor air quality and comfort for the pupils and staff,” said a spokesperson at David Paradine Limited. “Furthermore, since NVHR+ 900 incorporates a heater, it meant that radiators were not required, saving on the cost of installation for the school, making the SEN school safer for its autistic pupils, and resulting in improved thermal comfort for pupils and staff.”
Breathing Buildings’ NVHR® hybrid ventilation system is designed specifically to meet the robust ventilation criteria set out for schools in BB101. Its ultra-efficient facade-based mixing ventilation allows single-sided, enhanced natural ventilation in deep plan spaces whilst making the most of internal heat gains to deliver superb thermal comfort and indoor air quality.
The award-wining NVHR® offers energy efficient hybrid ventilation, offering almost 50% reduction in energy savings and operating costs, this is a huge benefit in today’s energy crisis with tightened budgets. Boasting the highest energy efficiency and air flow within the acoustic limits required for its school application, NVHR® comprises both natural and mechanical ventilation. Allowing low-energy hybrid natural ventilation, even in buildings with limited facade and roof space, highly efficient mixing fans mitigate cold draughts in winter and provide a ventilation boost in summer. Supplied with external and internal temperature sensors and an intelligent controller, the system monitors conditions to create an ideal indoor environment, boosting both productivity and wellbeing enabling the students to thrive. NVHR® optimises indoor air quality, comfort and efficiency by automatically switching between natural, hybrid and mechanical ventilation, maximising benefits.
Featuring easy-to-use controls with manual override the NVHR® allows schools without a Building Management System (BMS) to benefit from the technology while also offering full BMS integration. Importantly, room temperature and CO2 sensors further ensure comfort in schools and compliance with BB101.
The NVHR+ 900 incorporates a heater into the NVHR system which allows room pre-heating, and enhanced control over the temperature of air being delivered to the space during occupancy. The combined heating and ventilation unit means the two services are integrated and optimised to provide the most efficient use of heating and electrical energy.
The Breathing Buildings S1500L E-stack ventilation system is designed for rooms which have access to the exterior via the roof with occupancy levels of approximately 100 persons, making them ideal for school halls, libraries, studios and sports centres. In summer, low-level opening windows bring warm, fresh air directly onto occupants and the S-Series units with their roof terminals act as a high-level exhaust vents. In winter, a mixing ventilation strategy operates – this eliminates cold draughts and the use of preheating radiators/heating batteries and hence has major energy saving benefits. By using this patented E-stack strategy, incidental heat gains which arise in the room are used for heating the incoming air during cooler weather. The heat gains in heavily occupied spaces (e.g. school classrooms) are sufficiently large that S is not needed until the external air temperature falls below 7°C.
Breathing Buildings’ multi-award-winning NVHR® range won the Energy Efficient Product of the Year Award at the prestigious Energy Awards, and also recently won three awards for providing ventilation to the East Anglian Air Ambulance project with the Breathing Buildings’ NVHR® range.
For further information on NVHR® and E-stack ventilation, as well as other products and services offered by Breathing Buildings, visit www.breathingbuildings.com or call us on 01223 450 060.