Richmond Hill Primary School
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as PDF The project formed part of an existing design and build framework agreement under an earlier Building Schools for the Future PFI procurement. The project comprised a new build three form entry primary school plus nursery and ASC (Autistic Spectrum Condition pupils) Unit. Total number of pupils including staff 762 persons.
Richmond Hill Primary School : Project images
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Energy and fuel use
Measured data from renewable generation is not yet available.
Fuel use
| Pre-development | Forecast | Measured | |
| Electricity use | - | 106040.87 kWh/yr | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas use | - | 102241.36 kWh/yr | - |
| Oil use | - | - | - |
| LPG use | - | - | - |
| Wood use | - | - | - |
| Other Fuel | - | - | - |
| Pre-development | Forecast | Measured | |
| Primary energy requirement | - | 111 kWh/m².yr | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual CO₂ emissions | - | 24 kg CO₂/m².yr | - |
| Annual space heat demand | - | 11 kWh/m².yr | - |
Renewable energy
| Electricity generation | Forecast | Measured |
|---|---|---|
| Renewables Technology | - | - |
| Other Renewables Tech | - | - |
| Electricity consumed by generation | - | - |
| Primary energy requirement offset by renewable generation | 111 kWh/m².yr | - |
| Annual CO₂ emissions offset by renewable generation | 24 kg CO₂/m².yr | - |
Calculation and targets
| Whole house energy calculation method | PHPP |
|---|---|
| Other whole house calculation method | - |
| Energy target | PassivHaus |
| Other energy targets | - |
| Forecast heating load | 10 W/m² demand |
Airtightness
| Date | Result | |
| Pre-development air permeability test | 19 March 2012 | 0.45m³/m².hr @ 50 Pascals |
|---|---|---|
| Final air permeability test | 10 July 2012 | 0.56m³/m².hr @ 50 Pascals |
Project description
| Stage | Occupied |
|---|---|
| Start date | 18 July 2011 |
| Occupation date | 03 September 2012 |
| Location | Leeds North Yorkshire England |
| Build type | New build |
| Building sector | Public |
| Property type | |
| Construction type | Other |
| Other construction type | steel framed with timber SIPs panel construction |
| Party wall construction | |
| Floor area | 3454.1 m² |
| Floor area calculation method | Treated Floor Area (PHPP) |
| Building certification |  Passivhaus certified building |
Project Team
| Organisation | Leeds City Council |
|---|---|
| Project lead person | Interserve Construction Ltd |
| Landlord or Client | Leeds City Council, Built Environment, Childrens Services |
| Architect | Space Architecture |
| Mechanical & electrical consultant | Hoare Lea |
| Energy consultant | Passivhaus Certification: Warm Associates |
| Structural engineer | Billinghurst George & Partners |
| Quantity surveyor | |
| Consultant | |
| Contractor | Interserve Construction Ltd |
Design strategies
| Planned occupancy | 672 pupils (3 form entry + nursery + ASC unit) and 90 staff |
|---|---|
| Space heating strategy | Centralised high efficiency gas fired boilers located in the Ground Floor Plant Room provide heating via low temperature radiators fitted with low surface temperature covers. |
| Water heating strategy | The same boilers also provide hot water regulated by point of use thermostatic mixing valves. Sinks to classrooms and toilet areas were centralised along the central spine and stacked vertically to minimise pipe runs. |
| Fuel strategy | Specific client requirement for bio-mass not to be adopted. |
| Renewable energy strategy | No requirement for renewables to be adopted. |
| Passive Solar strategy | Building orientation was optimised in so far as was possible given the size of the building and the operational and educational needs of the school. |
| Space cooling strategy | |
| Daylighting strategy | To meet the requirements of a BREEAM Very Good - i.e. 2% |
| Ventilation strategy | The building was zoned for the ventilation of the building accommodation with two first floor plant rooms and internal roof plant containing MVHR Units that served the teaching spaces, communal areas and Kitchen. Supply and return ducts were located in Classroom bulkheads with ductwork sizes and routes arranged for optimum performance. The MVHR units were located within the thermal envelope and immediately adjacent to the external envelope to minimise any heat losses. The Kitchen was provided with its own dedicated MVHR to deal with gas cooking and other equipment catering for all of the school. |
| Airtightness strategy | All envelope options were thermally modelled and SIPs panels offered the best solution in terms of performance whilst reducing risk and optimising quality control. The SIPs panel system allowed the airtight envelope to be erected very quickly and to a high degree of quality control. This enabled the windows and curtain walling to be installed in advance of external facings.The biggest risk identified for the contractor was the air tightness of the envelope. Tests were carried out at three stages during construction. In reality we exceeded expectations in terms of air tightness such that it took the pressure off other envelope performance issues such as thermal bridging via the piled foundations. |
| Strategy for minimising thermal bridges | Contaminated ground and piled foundations up to 25 metres deep meant that the principle thermal bridges were to the substructure.Varying conditions to perimeter of slab edge and incorporation of a load bearing thermal insulation between slab edge and ground beam presented the greatest challenge in terms of thermal bridging. |
| Modelling strategy | Building modelling undertaken in PHPP. SBEM used for Building Regulation compliance. |
| Insulation strategy | U-value exterior wall - 0.11 W/(mK)Plasterboard on timber battens on 50mm PIR insulation [0,025 W/(mK)] fixed to 252mm thick timber SIPs panels (Hemsec PIR insulated panels [0,025 W/(mK)] supported on structural steel frame. External facade a combination of facing brickwork and rendered / coloured rainscreen panels.U-value roof - 0.07 W/(mK)A combination of single ply roofing on 125mm PIR insulation and standing seam aluminium roofing on 195mm mineral wool insulation supported on 252mm thick timber SIPs panels (Hemsec PIR insulated panels) suported on structural steel frame. Plasterboard on battens to underside of SIPs (for fire rating).U-value floor slab - 0.06 W/(mK)225mm Powerfloat concrete slab on 500mm of expanded polystyrene insulation [0,033 W/(mK)].Slab edge and slab thickenings on 200mm foamglass insulationAverage U-value windows - 0.97W/(mK)Raico curtain wall, Therm+ 50 H-I system and Gutmann Mira-Therm PH 68 PS windows.Timber frames with powder coated insulated aluminium facings and cover caps. The average U-Value includes the Gutmann S70 powder coated aluminium doorset (non-passivhaus). |
| Other relevant retrofit strategies | |
| Contextual information | Balancing the educational needs and requirements together with the most efficient envelope design were the biggest challenges. However the Form Factor increased the need for improved UValues. Special features: BREEAM Very Good rating. Fully sprinklered building to meet insurers requirements, no requirement for renewables to be utilised and a specific requirement for no bio-mass to be adopted. All curtain walling and window glazing to meet Secured by Design standards.Abnormals: Contaminated ground and piled foundations up to 25 metres deep. Re-provision of rugby league club pitch, associated fencing and spectator barriers. |
Building services
| Occupancy | The final occupancy figures are as the Design Strategy. The building will not be fully occupied until 2014 as the new school incorporates the decant of pupils from a number of existing schools over the next two years. |
|---|---|
| Space heating | Generally as described in the Design Strategy. Radiators are provided with low surface temperature (LST) covers which limit the touch temperature to 43C. Each radiator is provided with a thermostatic radiator valve (TRV) which can be adjusted to alter the output and the temperaturewithin each classroom. Once the room is up to temperature the radiator will modulate its output to maintain the specified temperature. Radiators within classrooms are provided with tamper proof locks over the TRVs to deter children fromtampering. Heating served by high efficiency gas fired condensing boilers. |
| Hot water | Generally as described in the Design Strategy. Hot water provided by centralised high efficiency gas fired condensing water heaters. Water temperature is regulated by point of use thermostatic mixing valves to discharge at 43C to prevent scalding. Distribution pipework thermally insulated to minimise heat loss. |
| Ventilation | Generally as described in the Design Strategy. The building arrangement was such that the possibility of naturally ventilating during the summer months was not an option and consequently the ventilation system is designed to run all year. |
| Controls | CO2 censors are provided in the classrooms and the MVHR units have summer bypass fitted to the heat exchnager for summer use. |
| Cooking | Gas cooking (some inherited equipment) which was not ideal but what the users wanted. The kitchen is provided with a dedicated mechanical ventilation system sized to cater for the equirements of the cooking equipment below the canopy. The ventilation and gas supply are interlinked by a gas guard system so that gas is only allowed to flow to cooking appliances once the ventilation system has been turned on. Should there be a fault with the ventilation system the gas supply will automatically be turned off until the fault is rectified. |
| Lighting | Internal lighting is provided by means of a range of energy efficient, high frequency fluorescent luminaires; and the lighting levels in each area have been designed in accordance with the recommendations of the C.I.B.S.E. code for lighting. Automatic lighting control has been provided wherever appropriate to circulation and tolet areas. The Classroom area lighting is controlled by means of a combination of manual switching, absence detection and automatic daylight dimming. The absence detector also incorporates a daylight sensor which has additional control over the row of luminaires adjacent to thewindow wall. |
| Appliances | Aside from air tightness perhaps the more pressing issue was the Primary Energy Demand and the following factors that could prejudice achieving the 120kWh/(ma):-Sprinkler system requirements for heating the storage tank and the pump house.ICT equipment requirement for teaching (hardware performance and overhead projectors).All pupil wash basins to have a hot water supply (not typical in European Schools). |
| Renewable energy generation system | Not applicable |
| Strategy for minimising thermal bridges | Generally as described in Design Strategy. The contractor imposed a strict quality control regime on site during the construction of the airtight envelope. Great care was taken during the ground works to ensure all rigid insulation boards (EPS and Foamglass) were neatly and tightly fitted. The envelope sub-contractors were involved early in the process and established a buy in to the Passivhaus principles. A permit to penetrate procedure was instigated for all following trades and sub-trades to ensure that the integrity envelope was not compromised. |
Building construction
| Storeys | 2 |
|---|---|
| Volume | 24552m³ |
| Thermal fabric area | 981321 m² |
| Roof description | Generally as described in Design Strategy. |
| Roof U-value | 0.07 W/m² K |
| Walls description | Generally as described in Design Strategy. |
| Walls U-value | 0.11 W/m² K |
| Party walls description | Not applicable |
| Party walls U-value | - |
| Floor description | Generally as described in Design Strategy. |
| Floor U-value | 0.06 W/m² K |
| Glazed doors description | Generally as described in Design Strategy. |
| Glazed doors U-value | 1.50 W/m² K installed |
| Opaque doors description | Timber/composite doorsets to External Store and Plant Room provided by AM Profiles with steel facings to meet Secured by Design standards. |
| Opaque doors U-value | 0.80 W/m² K installed |
| Windows description | Generally as described in Design Strategy. U-Value below is the average U-Value including the non-passivhaus doors.Glazing: St Gobain Planitherm+ Planilux laminated and Diamant toughened outer.Three differing glazing build ups were used depending on whether they were incorporated into the curtain walling, the windows or the doors. All to meet UK Secured by Design standard.Ug-value = 0,6 W/(mK)g-value = 64 % |
| Windows U-value | 0.99 W/m² K - |
| Windows energy transmittance (G-value) | 64 % |
| Windows light transmittance | 70% |
| Rooflights description | Not applicable |
| Rooflights light transmittance | - |
| Rooflights U-value | - |