Hackbridge Primary School
Construction has completed at Hackbridge Primary School for the London Borough of Sutton using Passivhaus standards. The school is heated by an Interseasonal Heat Transfer installation by ICAX with access to a borehole field.
In a Passivhaus design thermal comfort is achieved to the greatest practical extent through the use of passive measures which can be applied not only to the residential sector but also to commercial, industrial and public buildings, including:
- good levels of insulation with minimal thermal bridges
- passive solar gains and internal heat sources
- excellent level of airtightness
- good indoor air quality, provided by a whole building mechanical ventilation system with highly efficient heat recovery.
Passivhaus and Interseasonal Heat Transfer
The Passivhaus Standard was developed in Germany in the early 1990s by Professors Bo Adamson of Sweden and Wolfgang Feist of Germany. The first dwellings to be completed to the Passivhaus Standard were constructed in Darmstadt in 1991.
The combination of Passivhaus and Interseasonal Heat Transfer makes Hackbridge Primary School one of the most efficient, carbon saving schools in the country, and demonstrates that Sutton Borough Council is leading the way in decarbonising heat.
Recycling Heat from summer to winter
As well as heating the school in winter the ICAX system is also designed to provide “free cooling” in the summer in order to help to maintain comfortable classrooms and assist the school to provide the best learning and teaching environment throughout the year.
Free cooling not only reduces that temperature in summer, but also transfers heat to the thermalbank in the ground which improves the performance of the heating system in winter: heat recycling from summer to winter.
See also: Building new schools.
See Ground Source Heating See Ground Source Cooling See Ground Source Energy
